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?

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

A Magic Bottle

I found a magic bottle on the eve of a new year
Sitting quietly and gleaming like a dream that knows no fear

I begged the bottle's pardon but there is something I must ask
You've lost your stopper bottle how will your magic last?

I have no cork, I'm open, she answered quickly back
The magic pours into me then fills up every crack

It shines into and through me dear for all the world to see
As long as I am open the magic stays in me.




May your New Year and all the years to come be filled with magic and the belief n the potential we all carry inside as long as we stay open.

Kim