AFTER GEORGIA O'KEEFE

Haven't mentioned that July exhibit of mine recently. "After Georgia O'Keefe" is one that was displayed on a wall (as opposed to in one of my ersatz portfolios). It's probably my single most popular photo. That's not saying a whole lot actually, but it is the truth and I enjoy typing it. :-D It is also a fairly old photo and seems to resist any further tinkering, which is somewhat unusual for me these days.

This pic was brought to mind by a painter whose website a friend just told me about: Dorothy Churchill-Johnson. (A link is also under LINKS in this blog sidebar.) My friend said the work has been compared to Georgia O'Keefe meeting Salvador Dali (and I'd agree). I highly recommend visiting the website. Churchill-Johnson's paintings are nothing short of amazing. The actual paintings are on a scale that boggles my mind, and I'm further stunned by the skill and vision involved. At the same time, I was very surprised to see that much of her focus is on revealing close ups (see her Giant Botanicals category) which is similar to what I've been attempting more and more in my photos.

In addition, Churchill-Johnson starts her Artsist's Statement by saying she calls her paintings "visual haiku" and she feels that "focusing lavish attention on the mundane often elevates it to the sublime. Objects become complex in proportion to the attention one pays them." Yes, and yes again! I write a great deal of haiku, tanka, and monoku, and have developed a form called dreamku for writing about our night dreams. And I pair my photos with these small poems, somewhat in the fashion of haiga and taiga -- illustrated haiku and tanka. So I resonate deeply with this haiku connection.

But all this identification of mine aside, do give yourself a wonderful treat and take some time to thoroughly enjoy Churchill-Johnson's visions.

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

* * * *

‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)****

DON'T BLINK [re-named IN A BLINK]

"Don't Blink" is over a year old, but only recently re-edited. I'm still not sure I'm ready to let it rest, but it'll do for now. At least I think I'm well on the trail of the picture I sense in this in photo, somewhere. Of course nothing much pleases me today. Maybe once I get out and about for my clerk shift in our Corner Store my mood will improve. (At least I can buy some candy to sweeten it a bit. :-D)

[Note of 5-17-12: I like the photo as is except for the title, which is now IN A BLINK]

BTW, there was no post here yesterday because Con Ed had scheduled power outages for between 8:00 and 5:00. So I didn't even turn my computer on until late evening. I missed it, reflexively walking over to turn it on many times, but got lots of things done around my rooms I'd been putting off.

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

* * * *

‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)****

BICAMERAL MIND

I admit it. My view of the bicameral mind is weighted on the shadowy side, i.e. the right brain. Hey, I have pretensions of being an artist, yes? But all joking (with a soupcon of truth in it) aside, "Bicameral Mind" is a vision I enjoy quite frequently. This tree and wall are barely yards from the ground floor door of our elevator. And depending of course on the weather and time of day I pass, those shadows offer up different dances. Sometimes shy and wispy, other times in sweeping grand gestures like this one.

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

* * * *

‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)****

SUN FLAG

I chose "Sun Flag" to post today since we could use a little of its brightness. The weather outside my window looks rather gloomy; it may even rain. Though as often happens here the haze could also just burn off by early afternoon. But back to this pic. It reminds me of a stanza in an e.e. cummings poem:

(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)

This is one of those photos I edited and re-edited numerous times for various reasons. When I stumbled in frustration on this crop, I was rather relieved. I'd begun to think I'd have to give up on it.

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

* * * *

‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,




[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)****

MISSING YOU

"Missing You" is another two year-old photo. I chose it to post today to sort of clean my visual palate. :-) I've clearly been on a run here with abstracts and flowers so thought a more architetural pic might be in order. It's one of those photos that I liked a lot more back when I first took it. I also note the focus is a little off. It was taken before I knew I could up the dimensions of picture the camera took, so cropping tended to readily mess with focus. But I also see today that it could make a nice photo-note card for my friends "back East" (in New York city where I lived all my life until 3-3/4 years ago) and elsewhere far flung.

Re: photo-note cards. I don't fuss a great deal. I simply put large plain white labels on the backs of post-card sized prints of my pix on which I then hand-write my greeting. Invitation-size envelopes work perfectly. Once in a while I'll make a six card set of photo note-cards with envelopes as a gift.

For photo-note cards I usually order photo prints online from snapfish.com. There are lots of other photo websites, I just stumbled across snapfish.com first. They have good deals every so often and I'll stock up on multiple copies of various pix. It's cheaper than printing pix out myself. However, I don't have the same control over the end product with the website. Their automatic cropping is occasionally very annoying, and the focus and color not always what I get on my printer. So for prints for framing or sale I always use my own printer.

The issue of color is one that's somewhat frustrating with digital photos as a whole. The colors I see on my computer screen are what I want to see in any print. But this is not to be. I don't even usually see the same colors on someone else's screen. Even what comes out of my printer is ever so slightly darker that what I see on my own screen. (When that's a problem I will ever so slightly lighten my original temporarily so that the final print will be closer to the original.) Then there's the often slightly different hue of colors in prints I order online. I read somewhere that technology will hopefully catch up with the demand for consistency between what we see and what we get. That seems to me to be a tall order. But given the rapid advances in hand-held and other sorts of devices and technology, it does seem quite probable. Of course, all of what I say here about technical issues needs to be understood in the light of my minimal tech skills and knowledge.

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

* * * *

‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)****

CATCHING THE CURL

OK, given my increasing penchant for abstractly editing pix within an inch of their lives, I definitely feel the itch to fiddle away with "Catching the Curl." But I think I'll just hang ten over my keyboard, keep on typing, and leave that itch alone. (Pardon that bad surfer pun.) After all, the shades of color in this rose are luscious and those curves visually enticing. Why muck 'em up just because I can? Sigh. I haven't really convinced myself not to see where I can go with the shapes of these petals and the colors. Well, I can always save this version and try another at some other time. It's a two year old pic and hasn't left home yet. :-)

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

* * * *

‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)****