Tag: knowing how to look

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I am Lucky as a Photographer

Dezmond in a Fedora

Ali with Tom, the Horse

  • I am lucky because I have been involved in this young woman’s life for over 4 years.
  • I am lucky because she allows me to know her — the real her.
  • I am lucky to be able to point my lens in her direction almost anytime … she doesn’t mind. And she knows how to drop the mask and be herself. And she lets me see that. And record that part of her.
  • I am lucky to have been able to photograph her belly three times now. And the babies. And toddlers.
  • And finally I am lucky to watch healing happen in the heart a girl who was so wounded … and to see her find a partner who cherishes her, who is a good papa, who is gentle and funny and real.

On the Bridge

Here’s a peek at some of the images my lens captured today. Check back for more. We’re still in the stage of choosing which ones we like best.

Ali-Nick-Dez-Adrian02-imp Dezmond in a Fedora Ali-Nick-Dez-Adrian04-imp

Ali-Nick-Dez-Adrian03-imp Nick, Ali and Adrian Maternity Belly Photo

Dez and Tom, the Horse Nick wanted to do the "Lion King" pose Ali-Nick-Dez-Adrian15-imp

Ali-Nick-Dez-Adrian01-imp

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My Hometown: Looking for Light

On my photo walk this week I found myself in such glorious beauty that at times it felt transcendent. It was my birthday today. Charlie and I spent a couple of hours at Cox Lake and on the ridgeline above the lake. Trying to take in the beauty. Trying to take in the light — the incredible crisp, clear, morning light just five minutes from our house.

I could not make myself post just one photo today. Though these are not my best photos ever, still I love the quality of light in these images. So, here are a few, for your viewing pleasure. I hope these images lift your heart as the place did mine.

Grasses and Bokeh Sun Sparkles Cattails in Morning Light Wild Asparagus Catching the Light Melted Snow Drops Reflections in Blue

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thank you God for most this amazing day

blue sky, green leaping leaves

One of my all time favorite poems is by e.e.cummings, a poem I first read when I was 14 years old, living in Virginia. My dad introduced me to e.e.cummings. Throughout my spiritual journey, from Catholicism to Buddhism, to exploring other Christian faith communities and finally finding my spiritual home in Huichol Shamanism, e.e.cumming’s poet-mystic vision rings true to my heart.

We are all climbing to the top of the same mountain on different trails.

May all Beings be Blessed. May all Beings be Loved.

blue sky, green leaping leaves

Here is the poem:

i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes
(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun’s birthday;this is the birth
day of life and love and wings:and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)
how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any-lifted from the no
of all nothing-human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?
(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

– e e cummings

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My Hometown: Color Hunt in the Rain

colorful lichen-covered stone

Have you ever stayed indoors because it’s just too uncomfortable to go outside?  Sometimes we all do that: hide from the elements — wind, rain, heat, snow, ice, sun. When I choose to stay inside and not head out into nature, I often regret it later. Yesterday was one of those days. I seriously thought about not going out in the rain, but Charlie needed his walk and I needed my nature-fix. So, I bundled up, put on a hat, grabbed the umbrella and my camera and took off with my favorite walking buddy.

Rain. Have you ever noticed when it’s raining, that in spite of overcast skies and gray air, the rain has an amazing effect on the colors all around you?  I decided to turn our soggy outing into a hunt for awesome colors. This time of year in Montana, the colors of the land appear to fade but they don’t, really. Prairie grasses morph to tan, gray, brown. Wildflowers seed. Yes, aspens, larch and other trees will soon put on a color show, and the ground shrubs are still colorful, but mostly, when our eyes look out at the prairie, our brains see “gray/tan.”

But. When the rain comes, all you have to do is look a little closer and you’ll see a tapestry of brilliant colors. Here’s one, above — a community of lichens.

Click the photo to see it large — you’ll see the colors better. It’s like getting down on the ground up close to your subject. 🙂

 

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Art and Science Smash-Up: Milk Swirls Paintings

Milk Swirl Painting

milk and food coloring paintingI saw this idea on Photojojo a couple of days ago and immediately thought of doing this with Adia, who is very good at math and science. When I suggested this fun experiment for today, she was all over it! She remembered seeing the project on a website she called “Science Steve.”  Here is an excerpt from Steve’s post about this Color Changing Milk:

The secret of the bursting colors is the chemistry of that tiny drop of soap. Dish soap, because of its bipolar characteristics (nonpolar on one end and polar on the other), weakens the chemical bonds that hold the proteins and fats in solution. The soap’s polar, or hydrophilic (water-loving), end dissolves in water, and its hydrophobic (water-fearing) end attaches to a fat globule in the milk. This is when the fun begins.

The molecules of fat bend, roll, twist, and contort in all directions as the soap molecules race around to join up with the fat molecules. During all of this fat molecule gymnastics, the food coloring molecules are bumped and shoved everywhere, providing an easy way to observe all the invisible activity. As the soap becomes evenly mixed with the milk, the action slows down and eventually stops.

Milk Swirl Painting in ProgressSteve’s description of this experiment explains that it’s important not to stir the colors and the milk with the cotton swabs, but Adia couldn’t stop herself. She seemed much more interested in seeing what would happen when you stir all the colors together (you get a grayish tan color that looks totally unappetizing!)

I convinced Adia to let me to take photos along the way, before the colors were all mashed together. Aren’t these cool? The blue one looks a little like an angry face.

milk swirl painting in blue milk swirl paintings Green and Red Milk Swirl Painting Green and Red Milk Swirl Painting

What You Will Need

  • Whole or 2% milk (must have some fat for the science to work)
  • Dinner Plate
  • Food coloring (red, blue, green, yellow. We also used Neon colors)
  • Dish-washing soap (We used Ivory Liquid, but some sites say Dawn works best)
  • Q-tips (cotton swabs)

How to Make your Milk Swirl Paintings

Pouring milk for milk swirl painting
Pour a thin layer of milk onto a dinner plate that has a lip (we had to level our plate with a shim under one side

 

Beginning of Milk Swirl Painting
Put a few drops of food coloring into the milk
Green and Yellow Milk Swirl Painting
Touch the soapy swab to the colors in the milk and watch what happens.
Milk Swirl Painting
The color zooms away from the swab tip and makes beautiful, interesting shapes. You can keep dabbing the swab onto the colors, add more drops of color if you want.
Green and Yellow Milk Swirl Painting
You can also drag the swab lightly through the colors to make swirls and shapes.
Green and Yellow Milk Swirl Painting
Take photos! These make really cool abstract designs

Milk Swirl PaintingLINKS AND IDEAS:

Photojojo has a very clear, short video showing how to do this science/art project
Steve Spangler’s Science Experiment, Color Changing Milk. He even has a section on tips to turn this fun activity into a science fair experiment.
Here is a detailed description with great progress photos, of Steve’s color-changing-milk experiment.

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Art from Nature: Inspiration and Links

prickly pear cactus

Nature is inside art as its content, not outside as its model.

–Northrop Frye

prickly pear cactus
Find inspiration on your knees

Nature is the source and content of most of my artistic and creative work and it’s right outside our home. In Helena, it literally takes just a couple of minutes to get from “town” out into a more natural environment. But even right in town, all I have to do is get down on my hands and knees with my eyes, my camera, my sketchbook, my sense of wonder… to find something inspiring and worth using in my artwork. Not only am I inspired to draw/paint/photography and write when I take in Nature’s sweetness — I also know when I look closely and pay attention, that I am part of Nature. Try it! It feels so good.

I also love discovering other artists whose inspirations are obviously directly from nature. Danish ceramic artist, Lotte Glob fits that category. I came across her work during the winter of 2006 and since then she has built an incredible home and studio on her land.  It’s really one of the coolest houses I’ve ever seen.

Ceramic bowl by Lotte Glob
Geyser Pool by Danish ceramic artist, Lotte Glob

Glob’s ceramic vessels make me swoon! Her work is intimately inspired by natural forms she finds, especially around the “Ultimate Rock Garden,” as she calls her studio and home on the shore of Loch Eriboll in Scotland.

Glob has a beautiful online portfolio exhibiting her ceramic sculptures, books, fountains, tiles and bowls. These are incredibly beautiful pieces — if you are at all attracted to artwork based on natural colors, shapes and textures, check out her portfolio.

Sculpture of floating stones by Lotte Glob
Two of Glob’s environmental installations, ceramic floating stones photographed in place. She often places her sculptures in nature to take photos of them before delivering them to the buyers.
Bubble on water surface
Photo from Glob’s book of inspiration reminds me of her floating stones

Some Links to Art from Nature