Little Scraps of Magic

Where The Wild Things Are

This past Friday, our classes ventured where the wild things are. Our purpose? To do some water testing and make real what our students have been studying, the wetlands. Armed with cameras, binoculars, cloud identifiers, and knowledge as to what made a marsh different than a bog, we spent several hours wandering through Huntley Meadows. Frogs croaked, snakes slithered, and egrets and herons dined on their own endless buffet. Students collected water sample data and enjoyed spotting the citizens of the park.  All of us battled heat and humidity, and yet, thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Week 20: Nurture

Week 20! So far, I've manged to post, some pics obviously better than others, but I've done it. I'm looking forward to doing a book of these at the end of this year, and if I'm smart, I'll start putting it together now!

Kara and Alex in the black and white version - taken during our usual Friday night mayhem.

You can lots more pics here, over at Focus 52.

 

Tiny Details

Can you spot me? Up late last night and then again in the wee hours of the morning, honing in on the details of learning to use a macro and learning to get off the manual mode of my camera. Note to self: sign up for a course already!

Look across the silver beads and you'll find me several times, relfected here and there.

Loving this one and seeing so many journaling possiblities. I've got an idea that's been percolating for some time now, and I think it's beginning to bubble. Just need to work out a few logistics...

We've got plans for today and are going to have so much fun. Happy Saturday, everyone!

Scattered Thoughts

A journal page from about a month ago...maybe a bit more.

I had cropped and printed a photo I shot during one of our junking/antiquing walk abouts. I outlined with a finely tipped micron pen, and I fell in love with the effect.

I love bottles lined up along a windowsill, particularly those with a bit of a tint to them - pale blues and aquas, soft greens that call to mind the sea.

Light pouring through them fills a need inside me.

I journaled ideas as I sat and listened to a friend; my writing wanders up, down, and sideways, as I quickly sought space to jot down what she said, always being mindful that I still wanted to see those bottles!

I came home very cranky today; nothing major, just a ever growing heap of thinks to do, coupled with heat and humidity. I sat for a bit, catching up on a few blogs, but finding it hard to concentrate. But one message kept showing up - to find time to nurture myself.

So, the candle's burning, filling up the air with honeysuckle. A bubble bath ensued. I'm not touching the schoolwork; it will be forever there, no matter how much I tackle. I'm taking a bit of time to replenish the well, to just be, to relax, and to focus on what is good, and to figure out where I want to go with things and the steps to get there, to spend more time doing what I really really love. 

I'm claiming tonight for me.

Currently...

Outside my window...

I am thinking I'd much rather be at the beach enjoying some steamed clams.

I am thankful for my pansies. They make me smile.

From the kitchen the coffee pot waits for me to come downstairs and grab another cup.

I am wearing a well worn but oh so comfortable pjs.

I am creating a series of journal props using my photos.

I am going somewhere this weekend. I'm not sure where, but I'm itching to get out and indulge my gypsy like traits!

I am reading a series of very light mysteries, nothing that require any real sort of concentration. By the time I sit to down to read, my mind is long gone.

I am hoping to indulge myself in a really good macro lens in the near future.

I am hearing Who-Dey whimpering. He wants out of the back room, but then no one who is currently sleeping will still be sleeping. Sorry, Who-Dey.

Around the house winter clothes are waiting to be packed away, as are all the Easter goodies. I'd rather be playing with photoshop, so they'll probably wait just a bit more.

One of my favorite things is to go buy fresh flowers for the yard. I'm thinking some marigolds for Phil, who loves their colors, and some mint for me, since it reminds me of home.

A few plans for the week:

 - finish up grades for interims, the last set of interims for this year!

 - finish up my goals' material for the final goal session/evaluation meeting

 - work on my photo journal cards

 - figure out this Facebook bit; I bet the "welcome for newbies" would be helpful to read!

 - take lots of photos

 - buy fresh berries

 - continue to catch up on my "Beyond Layers" work

 - watch "Dancing with the Stars"

 - and, of course, see my grands!

 

 

 

Q & A with Seth

Have you had a chance to read this yet?  I've gotten to the point where I'm pretty picky about buying new art books, since so many of them seem to be much the same, or although there may be some lucious eye candy inside, not much is new as far as technique.

But, I'm loving this one. It's not about technique, and there's some eye candy to be sure. Instead, the book delves into the mind, heart, and soul of the artist, exploring the stories behind the work. I'm able to pick it up and enjoy it, whether I have a few minutes or a few hours. Better yet, I'm feeling like I'm getting to know a few online friends and mentors just a bit better.

Seth has an open call out for art work based on 3 questions presented in his book. I've chosen to answer 2 of them, the first being, "Who has had the most impact on your creative life?"

Answer? My dad,his mantra being, "Girl, you've got a brain in that head. Now, go use it. Figure out the answer; you don't need me for that. You can do whatever you've got a mind to do. Now, just go do it. Use the brain God gave you."

And, with that pronouncement, he generally went back to his nap! But, dad had a firm belief in his "girls." He knew they were capable of great things, and he wanted them to prove it.

Dad put the first camera into my hands; he rambled on about the "light" long before I could begin to get what he was saying. He loved photography and now two of his daughters are seldom found without cameras in their hands.

Question 2: "If your artwork could talk, what would it say?"

Answer: This woman has a lot to say, and she simply can not seem to make art without words. She has stories to tell, colors to smear, pounce, scrape, and brush. She adores texture, but really, she's all about the stories, capturing them, saving them for the future, and telling them. Everyday stories that so often get lost. Give her a chance, and she'll bend your ears with her journals.

So, what better use to put some copied journal pages to? Bits and pieces of my story, bits and pieces of everyday magic or even every day hum drum.

Thanks, Seth, for the opportunity to share my art and my stories! I can't wait to see what you do with it all.

Re-entry, aka, Week 16

Confession #1: I'm not sure how I navigated from Point A to Point B. I do know it involved filters and such in photoshop, but I had so much fun pushing a button to see what I happened, that I quite forgot to "map" my buttons.

Confession #2: I thought the theme for Focus 52, Week 16 was "Where I Live." Well, not quite! You see, it's "Our Town." And, my creativity low level light was lit, so thinking it was "Where I Live," and not finding much inspiration at the moment, thought to myself, "Well, I live at school." Which I do since I'm there a minimum of 9 hours a day, and most days find myself occupying the building more like 11 hours. And, I've always thought that I'd love to get a shot of the one hallway and the lockers when the kids weren't present. (If the kids were present, you'd hardly see the lockers!) There's something about the stillness and quiet, which you don't generally experience in a middle school.

So, I'm going with this shot; it's just plain fun, and I like the graphic look of it. I'll be playing some more with the original shot, thinking it's going to be a great background for my other art.

Possiblilites. It's really got some possibilites!

Storycatchers

This past Sunday, a day filled with light and laughter, with wishes and hopes, I wandered among tombstones, seeking out names, touching weathered statues, and peering through ornate doors to catch glimpses of light streaming through stained glass. Birdsong and dogwood blossoms filled the air, and I inhaled the peace.

As always, I wondered what stories had been lost to time. Why did this baby die just short of his first birthday, and how did his mama cope? Was this Confederate soldier glad he had gone to war? And, why did this young woman, back in the early 1800s have her maiden name, rather than her married name, on her tombstone? I knew she had married; her tombstone clearly stated "wife of..." I found others like it, and I had to wonder why  - was it a way to be able to trace the family's lineage? So many stories lost.

I wander through dusty antique malls for the same reason, delighting in a ten year old's faded red autograph book, a 100 year old lesson planning book, or cabinet photos with just a hint of a smile. And, as I sorted out my dad's numerous photo albums, I wondered again...Who were these people? Why were they important to dad? What were their stories?

For as long as I can remember, I need to write...stories, poems, memories. The pen flew across the page then, and now my fingers fly across the keyboard, or fill up my journal pages. I record the everyday bits and pieces that make up our lives. I blog for the same reason.

You see, I don't want my story to be lost. I want my children to know the stories connected to the photos, or to the blue bowl, forever known in my mind as the "cookie bowl." I want them to know me, not just as mom, but as a woman in her own right.

And, intertwined with the words comes the art...whether it's messy paint on a journal page, or my photographs. I can't separate the two. But, my art journey is my story...me, the eldest of 4 children. Me, the daughter of a milkman, who loved a good story himself, and a seamstress, who wanted only to raise her babies.

Me, a wife now, for almost 40 years, and the mother of 3 adults, and grandmother to two darling boys.

Me, the math teacher, caught up in the world of fractions, polygons, and graphs. Me, the teacher, who spends her days in the world of middle schoolers.

Me, the woman with the camera in her hand, who causes the workers at the farmers market to giggle as I photograph a head of lettuce or a pile or radishes, and maybe even the weeds growing in the parking lot.

Me, the artist. (I still hesitate to call myself that!) Me, who has been published in books and magazines, but who still wonders, "Am I really any good?" or "Am I just faking this really well?"

Me, the lover of used bookstores, where I found this for a whopping $3!

This passage caught my heart:

"My story is myself; and I am my story. This is all you will know of me; it is all I will know of you.  This is all that will survive of us: the stories of who we are, the ways that people speak our names and remember something we did....what is left of their lives, and what will be left of us, is story."

So, I photograph, and I fill up my journals.

"I am the only one who can tell the story of my life and say what it means."  - Dorothy Allison

Posting to Texture Tuesday:

 - "Edges", multiply at 73%

 - "Extreme Grunge" soft light, 25%

 

She's a Cutie-Patootie!

She really lives up to being a cutie-patootie, doesn't she?

Wanderlust struck today, and off we went in search of adventure.

Discovered that Staunton, Va, being part of the "Bible Belt" closed up on Sundays. While we didn't get a chance to poke around in antique shops or funky one of a kind craft shops, we explored some very cool architecture, and wandered through an old cemetary.

A bit farther down the road, we discovered this antique mall, where the friendly folks didn't bat an eye at my request to take some pics. (Snobby antique places most certainly do...bat their eyes, that is!)

Stopped for dinner at a mom and pop sort of Italian place. I devoured lobster ravioli in some sort of to die for shrimp sauce.

Took the long way home, and I saw far too many mountains and cows. You would not believe the amount of cows between Staunton and Sprinfield!

Details to follow!

P.S. With very little to say about those cows, other than there were a LOT OF THEM!

Keeping Things in Perspective

"From the top of a mountain, we are able to witness life from a different perspective bringing us a new perspective." (Daily Om)

Or, as Janice writes over at Focus 52, shoot from a different angle and you have a whole new photograph.

Well, I couldn't shoot from every angle, since I sat in the front seat hampered by a seat belt, and "Bam Bam" rode facing backwards in his car seat. But, with a bit of angling of bodies, and a great deal of chuckling and babbling, we both definitely enjoyed ourselves!

Here's the typical straight on baby is being buckled into to his car seat shot:

And, then, the fun began!

Pretty much a "blind shot" here - I pointed the camera, clicked the button, and hoped for the best. I also managed to yank the camera back before he planted a finger on the lens.

This poor child seems to lack a torso...

I really didn't have much of a chance to change my angle, but being the very cooperative baby that he is, Bam Bam kept shifting his position.

Definitely no torso here...it's a head on a set of legs!

Bam Bam is constant motion; luckily for me, the seat belts held him more or less still, and I had the chance to get some "different photos!"