On Labor Day, 2014 I began a new documentary-style photo essay in collaboration with Dr. Mark Ibsen who owns Urgent Care Plus in Helena, Montana. We are telling a story with photos of his patients, of Mark and of his staff. We aren’t sure what the story will be yet — that will come when we see what the photos are telling us. For now, I am going to be spending time at the clinic and with permission from the patients themselves, documenting their time with this passionate, compassionate healer.
Category: photography
Portrait of Life Well Lived
Maybe depth of relationship comes with changes inside me. Changes in that place of rebellion that still burns like a stubborn ember of fire. When I look in the mirror nowadays, I see my facial features softening, melting a little. I look like my mother. I am becoming a beautiful crone. A wise woman. Like her. When I see her through my camera viewfinder, I see myself in 20-some years. And I hope with all my heart, that I am as good and kind and loving a human being as my mom is.
Snow Geese, Calligraphy and a Cold Dawn
Dramatic. Exciting. A truly spiritual experience: being at Freezeout Lake at dawn in late March. Hundreds of thousands of snow geese and other migratory birds use the lake as a rest stop on their journey from California to Alaska.
Throngs of geese erupt from the lake at sunrise and head east to the grain fields. You can hear their wings beating as they fly overhead, and the sound of their calls — it’s shiver-making! Put this breath-taking experience on your bucket list, if you live in Montana or are visiting in the early spring.
A Gift for You – a Calendar for March
These monthly calendars are a gift from me to remind you of your heart’s connection to the Earth. They’re free, downloadable for your desktop or your (actual) wall. I post these calendars the first day or two of each month. Please download them for your personal use — you can print the calendar if you prefer, or make it your computer wallpaper. There is also one for iphones. Please tell your friends these are available. Thank you! May you always feel loved. <3
Selected Sled Dog Portraits Available
I promised to post a gallery of the sled dog photos included in the exhibit, Ancient Bond. So here it is. Each of these is available for purchase as a signed, archival print. (See details below the gallery) Click on the photos to enlarge them. Watermarks are not on the prints.
The Color of Zero Degrees Cold
it takes a day like today:
wide open skies,
not a single cloud,
an almost
(imperceptible)
mist hanging close
to the frozen earth.
it takes this kind of day
to remember
how many different blues are inside the cold,
… how many
different
colors belong to white.
Snow. Is not. White.
(You knew that.)
Ancient Bond: Photographic Portraits of Sled Dogs
Selected photographic portraits of sled dogs and their mushers are available to purchase either unframed, or mounted on archival baltic-birch gallery panels. Exhibit at 1+1=1 gallery will run from February 7th through March 2nd. These signed photographic fine-art prints will be available after March 2nd until sold out. Read on for further details about the Race to the Sky, Montana’s premier winter sporting event and the qualifying race for the Iditarod in Alaska … and for more details about ordering/purchasing some of these beguiling and powerful canine portraits.
Love Dogs? How about Sled Dogs?
If you missed the opening reception of All Things Sled Dog (and Dog) at 1+1=1, you can still see the photos at the gallery through March 2nd, 2014. There are two exhibits by Maureen Shaughnessy at the gallery this month: Ancient Bond, an exhibit of sled dogs portraits emphasizing the dogs’ personalities and the bond with their handlers and mushers… and Charlie’s Closet, select portraits of Charlie putting up with being dressed up in human clothes. The gallery is located in Helena Montana at 335 North Last Chance Gulch.