Thursday, December 22, 2011

Happy Holidays



The holiday season in San Antonio usually involves a trip down town to stroll the riverwalk and take in the lights on display. A chance to quack at the ducks, eat, drink and be merry. This year was no exception. I'll be spending the holidays with family and couldn't be happier about that. I hope this season you are able to be with the folks you love and love you. Peace my friends.



Tuesday, December 13, 2011

December Mists


As a photographer you are always looking for that sweet light. A light that does more than just illuminate. It becomes a part of the photograph. Foggy,misty, pea soup mornings do that for me. The damp turns my mundane often over looked neighborhood into a place full of possiblities. Who knows what could walk out of the mist with a story to tell. So I spent this morning within a few miles of my home enjoying what a little moisture does to the landscape and my perspective. The flickr link in the right column will show you some of my other favorite images from this morning. This particular tree for many years held a hawk's nest at the very top. The limb finally broke and I guess they decided it was a bad risk to build again. That doesn't keep me from scrutinizing it every time I drive by, which is fairly often, just in case they move back to The Hawk Tree.


Sunday, November 20, 2011

Fall Reflections


I spent yesterday tramping through Lost Maples State Park with a group of fellow photographers. Lost Maples is one of the few places near San Antonio with naturally occurring Fall color and draws huge crowds when the colors start to turn. Despite the large groups of Fall color fans there was plenty of room for everyone. We each had plenty of room to kick some leaves and take photos. We stayed until well after dark. I had forgotten how gorgeous the sky could be in remote areas. Despite the sore back (from lugging camera gear) soar legs (need to get working on those lunges again) and two lungs full of cedar (no ill effects, thank you very much) I really feel like I need to make a point to get out to the far beyond more often.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Vacation is Over








































I had a wonderful time. I saw a whole new place I'll return to again I'm sure. I got to hang out with some of my favorite people on the planet. We'll have stories to tell for a long time. Next time, Pietown!












Friday, September 2, 2011

Candy Corn Etiquette

It is almost the Halloween season and that can only mean..... the return of Candy Corn. That pressed sugar, kinda corn looking candy that appears every year. There some candies I can't pass up. Sixlets, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Butter Mints. Candy Corn isn't a favorite but that's not to say I don't have some etiquette I follow when I do snack on the faux corn sweetness. Naturally the segmented colors pratically demand that they be eaten in three bites. First nibble off the white tip, then the somewhat larger orange middle then finish off the bright yellow bottom. Never place Candy Corn in a pocket for later snacking. They should make lint brushes from Candy Corn. Don't refridgerate the candy. You really need room temperture for optimal munching. Please don't ignore the noses that got knocked off in the bag. Do save them for the end however as whole candies must be eaten first. Okay, I think that's all my freakish Candy Corn rules. Enjoy!

Monday, August 29, 2011

Method Press



I'm Your Biggest Fan was included in the second edition of Method Press. Method Press is an art-filled idea magazine celebrating lo-fi thinkers. Take a trip through the preview. Method Press

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Support or Constraint



Here's something to consider. Are the things and or people in your life supporting you or constraining you? Do they prop you up or hold you back? Are you taking short shallow sips of oxygen or are you breathing deeply and filling yourself with life giving air? Are you strong enough to support yourself? Absolutely. Are you brave enough? I believe that too. Loosen your stays! Fill your lungs and life with enlightened air.


Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Monday, August 8, 2011

Mended




Chipped,broken and burnt
Life has been hard
Pieced back together like
a pottery quilt
Still, wild roses bloom and
soft beauty remains

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Majestic at dawn



I slipped downtown this morning before dawn hoping to catch some street scenes. As I stood outside the Majestic Theatre wishing I could get inside for some photographs I think a star descended.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Fly Like an Eagle



Do you have roller rink memories? I grew up in the country but the small town I went to school in had a old roller rink that I got to skate in once before it closed down. The floor was dusty hardwood and so wavy I might could say it was more like surfing instead of skating. My best friend and I and a cool guy friend spent one afternoon holding each other up as we surfed round and round to Steve Miller's Fly Like an Eagle. I don't know what else was in the juke box at the time but that was all we wanted to hear. The building is still there and I'd love to get into now and look around and see what I can see. These skates I caught while visiting the 70's again and watching Roller Derby at a skate center last week. Good times.

Friday, July 15, 2011

Still the Art of Living



I got the opportunity to contribute to a book along with many talented women who are all artists that share their work on Etsy. We are all members of the Female Photographers of Etsy team. We share a passion for photography and I'm thrilled to be included in such wonderful company. The book is available in many formats at a variety of prices. Click on the heading for a link to the book and a preview. I was tickled to see The Book Kiss featured in the preview pages. Take a peak.

Friday, July 8, 2011

The Book Cabin




I've built me a cabin of books to be read
I'll read each table,cabinet,footstool and bed

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Preservation




Did you grow up with canning jars? The ones I grew up with weren't blue or closed with a metal bail. They had a metal ring to screw on and weren't complete until you heard that pop from the cooling jars. Every summer for as long as I can remember Mom has put up all kinds of vegetables. Beans,tomatoes,pickles and peppers found their way into the sterilized jars, spent time in hot water or that scary pressure cooker and then graced the pantry shelf waiting for a future dinner table. Sent home to share with family and friends and returned when empty for next years crop. Recycling before it was fashionable. Keeping the carbon footprint small before we realized what big feet we had. I hope you get a chance to eat some home canned food this summer. Savor it if you do.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Paperback Romance





Romance bound in a paperback book
Lived in 496 pages-spine broken to
sip all the sweet flavor

Dreams realized on rough inexpensive paper
Under two bucks at the Great Exchange

Oh Harlequin Romance man where are you?

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Daisy



I got the chance to share my home for a bit with a little dog named Daisy. It didn't work out, thanks in large part to two strong personalities in little bitty bodies. So, its just me and the felines again and I can't see me trying the dog thing again. Little Jimmy was a wonderful fluke and I'm so glad I had him for the short time I did but that relationship can't be reproduced. It's official I'm an unmitigated cat lady, the crazy part even applies sometimes.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

She Waits




She waits.

Her petals bowled gently for rain.
Her stem held sturdy for vase.
Her nectar stored safely for bee.

She waits.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

The Root Touch Up




Definition of ANTHROPOMORPHISM
: an interpretation of what is not human or personal in terms of human or personal characteristics

But they really look like they are in a beauty shop. Right??

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

The Optimist




Optimist

One who holds the opinion that all events are ordered for the best.

One who looks on the bright side of things, or takes hopeful views.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Born Yesterday, err uhm, TODAY!




I can remember sitting in Sunday school class as a child watching the teacher place a cut out Jesus on the felt board as she told a story. I can't remember what the parable was she was teaching us but I remember a question I asked her. "Will there be cats in heaven?" I asked Mrs. Swenson. She responded, "If cats make you happy, then there will be cats in heaven." That worked for me. I'm sure I've spoken to you all about the karmic properties of cats and kittens. I believe the amount of love and care you show a cat or kitten is returned to you greatly magnified. So, adopt a cat or kitten and watch the magic happen.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Bed Love





Have you taken a nap lately?

intr.v., napped, nap·ping, naps.
1.To sleep for a brief period, often during the day; doze.

Why do they say "take" a nap? Why not "find" a nap, "discover", "give yourself" a nap.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Let's Rock






I am a rocker and I rest in the light. Soaking up energy that will make it that much easier for us to move together. I'll rise up to meet you as you prepair to land. I sigh as you settle, creak and wheeze a bit as well. I'm so happy you haven't been subject to want and will gladly accept the extra sweet weight you bring. Sit in the sun with me and we'll rock for a bit. My blade like feet will crush the dust on the wood floor and hum away all cares. Return to your first learned movement in your mother's arms.


Let's rock.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Simplify



I've always been a cottage type of person but lately I'm craving less clutter in mine. I've been drawn to images and photographs of interiors that are full of light and empty wood floors. I realized how far I was from that when trying to capture the light coming through my bedroom windows. I got the table cleared off and I'm happy with the shot but now I need to find a place for what came off the dresser top. I think the place might be a garage sale. It is time to simplify my home. I'm ready to keep only what I really love and let someone else appreciate and find what I've "found" in the past. What I'd really love is a big empty room with lots of windows and old wood floors to use as a studio. No furniture, just lots of wonderful light. Sigh

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Here's your chance to win some wonderful photography




All you need to do is leave a comment on the treasury and you are eligible to win all 16 items in the treasury. Go ahead give it a shot and take a second to see some of the wonderful work being created by the Female Photographers of Etsy.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Tick Tick Ticking



Is there anything better than a feather pillow? Not down, feather. The kind that is a little bit crunchy and fairly regularly pushes a quill into your sleeping cheek. The kind that you can ball up after a couple of years and form into the perfect sleeping rock. The kind that you wouldn't dream of leaving home without. The kind that always makes your bed, yours and immediately familiar. These old feather pillows were inevitably covered in navy ticking that lasted forever. Feather pillows are a weakness of mine. I rarely pass them up and horde them when found to use at a future date. You can pretty much bet that if you spot that blue ticking, its wrapped around those painfully comfortable feathers,waiting to accompany you to dreamland.

Friday, March 11, 2011

All Business



I got invited to display my work in a local chain of restaurants and this image was taken today after I finished setting up. I received the invitation as a result of participating in the Garage of Goods in February. I decided to participate in GofG as a result of making a point to make myself and my work more visible. I got word today as well that one of my photographs will be used in an anthology as cover art. Some of you may have remembered a previous post about flying my "freak" flag and putting myself out there. My efforts are bearing fruit with the Spring. Thanks to you all for your continued support and encouragement. I'm just thrilled to see the proof of my beliefs being made manifest. Believe and it will be.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Signs of Spring



One of the sure signs of Spring for me is the cleaning of the Martin houses. Each little cubby is stuffed with straw,grass,feathers,mud,candy wrappers and bird spit. Each woven into a tight spiral that would serve as a perfect model for a deep space black hole. The Martins will arrive soon and use it for a few months. Then the Sparrows move in and add their bits and pieces. Something that I would agonize over they build incredibly quickly. Weaving and stitching the bits and pieces into a home for as long as its needed. Welcome Martins. The houses are raised and we await your chatter over a growing garden.

Friday, February 25, 2011

Travel Plans



Ideas are percolating. This old atlas and monopoly shoe seemed to set the mood for me this year. Ireland,Scotland or some of both? Summer or Fall? I feel like I need to get this years trip especially right. If the Mayans have got it right I may not get to go back again, eek! What's your dream destination?

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Stone Shadows and Light




Does stone speak to you? I listen to it all the time. What seems hard and impenetrable is really a sponge for memory and emotions. The stone absorbs the dreams and prayers of years and keeps them stored to inspire the future. I'm never more at home then when walking through a stone ruin. The closest I can get while here at home are the Spanish missions that trail through San Antonio. Many of the missions are still active churches with worshipers continuing to feed the well of stone inspiration. I sat in the chapel of the Mission San Juan and let the white morning sun and stone enlightenment, fill me.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

A Cowgirl's Dream



I spent part of yesterday communing with the farm and ranch folk at the livestock show and rodeo here in town. Huge barns full of all manner of livestock.
Horses,pigs,goats I'm sure there was a bear in one of the barns. It was fragrant, colorful and a whole nuther world. Just what I love to try to get peeks at. I met a fellow photographer there that is living her dream. Joanne Meekes. She takes photographs of a lifestyle she loves and lives, ranching. She hits the San Antonio and Houston rodeos and the Calgary Stampede selling her work and then spends the rest of her time with her horses on her ranch in Wyoming. She had a style that was unique to her. The kind of artist that if you saw a piece you would know it is her work. She found a passion for a subject and is managing to capture that and share it. I'm still young in my photography and am still looking for that voice that is uniquely mine. I'm thrilled when I come across someone else that got there and is living their dream.   a link to this image https://www.etsy.com/listing/126630182/cowgirl-8x12-signed-photo-11x14-mat?ref=shop_home_active

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Garage of Goods




It is done. My very first, in person sale. I learned a lot from the experience. What's that you ask? Well. First, the shade in February is cold all day long. Sister's and family make the very best support system. Thanks Cheryl and Rachel. Hey, Jesse and Carmen thanks for stopping by. It is a real thrill to be able to talk about my work to people that admire it. To be able to talk about where I took this shot and why. To see a woman moved to tears by the story about my photograph By Hand. It is so exciting to think my work will be hung in someones new home. It was wonderful to be able to share my work and have it apprecited and it makes the chill and sore feet well worth it. If you stopped by my booth and picked up a business card (which were wildly popular by the way) thanks for stopping by. If you bought something, don't forget about your coupon code for future purchases. Thanks so much for being a part of my exciting day.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

8mm



When I was looking for inspiration a memory from my past resurfaced. The family gathering around a projection screen that was always a little awkward to put up. I can hear the raspy swoosh it made as it was raised. Pulling out the old Keystone 8mm projector and firing it up. It always had a unique smell as it ran. Kind of hot and plastic at the same time. The ratcheting sound as much a part of the experience as the sepia relatives I knew only from film. I dug through reels of film while setting up the projector reading the indexes of vacations past. I agree with them. The memories are worth keeping. I'll return and watch them all again.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

House Guest



I've had house guests for the last week,swelling the cottage's cat count to six. This has brought an extensive list of additional chores. If anyone ever tells you that cats are low maintenance you have my permission to snort. Sweeping,scooping,filling water and food bowls. No not that food,something else. Gimme water from the bathroom faucet. But I need to sleep in the rolly chair in front the computer,you sit somewhere else. Tell him to stop looking at me. Whatcha drinking? Let me stick my paw in for a taste. I didn't knock that over. Their "non neediness" was not apparent.

That being said. I laughed at and petted, played and worried over each and every one and would do it again. A break from routine keeps you on your toes and helps you appreciate the blessings you have on a daily basis. This photograph is of one of my house guests, Calvin. He is struggling through health issues but made himself at home and did his best to please me by putting on some weight while he visited, one spoonful at a time. Calvin,Moles and Helo you are welcome anytime, despite what SweetPea may tell you.