Finally a Barn to explore

The Night Loft

 

 

Hello Friend-

 

 

If we've been in a car together within the last year or so then you probably remember me scanning the road sides for the perfect barn to photograph. If we haven't been out on the roads together then I hope we get to go someday.  Anywho......so the other day Mom and I were out for a drive and I spotted a barn at the Hill Country State Natural Area that clearly needed to be investigated further.  So I put a call out to my photo buds and they agreed to explore it with me.

 

We braved low water crossings, frigid northern winds, pollen for days and an early morning start to see what we could see.

 

 

We found some wonderful light and a barn full of character.  Warm old wood, cool tin walls, dirt floors and a loft where apparently the night sky is kept during the day.  What's not to love?

 

 

 

This does not mean I have finished exploring barns.  In fact, this has whetted my appetite and I will continue to explore each one I come across. 

 

 

I love spotting the little quirks in the structure.  The reuse of found architecture, recycled doors windows and wood bits and pieces.

 

 

 

Good times and a wonderful lunch with like minded photo fiends makes for wonderful memories and photographs.  Give me a heads up if you've spotted a barn you think I need to check out.

 

 

 

 

So until next time dear friend, keep your eyes open and see what you can see.  Oh and you can see me and my work in person on March 12 from 10-4 at the SoFlo Market

 

All the best,

 

Kim





 



 



 

 







 

 





 



 



"my attention is upon it"

I was just reading through the latest Studios magazine, drooling over other folks creative spaces, and ran across a quote. Karen Eberle from Orcas Island,WA described how she starts her work process and she says "I enter the studio, turn on the lights, and walk toward the CD player to make a selection. The music for today is French. I light one of my alter candles and repeat a quote from visionary author Jan Phillips: "I have come to do the work and my attention is upon it." I am at peace.

This really struck a chord with me. As a photographer I'm not always going to a specific place to work. I am in many different physical places but when my "attention is upon it" it is always the same magical place. I tell myself "I am aware of the beauty around me" and I can feel the shift in my perceptions. (this is when I need to be careful around cliffs and when its a good idea to have a buddy along to keep you from walking into traffic) If you happen to be with me you'll hear me mutter about the gorgeous light or urging a cloud along. Catching some fleeting bit of story telling or a memory sparked is what makes the magic happen for me. This is why I get antsy if its been too long since I got out to shoot. I need that perception shift on a regular basis. Thanks to Karen Eberle and Studios magazine for helping me remember that today.

I summon the rain

Summon the water rain mist drizzle
Galvanize the clouds

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.

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.

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

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.

Surprise Christmas Tree

I found this rustic Christmas tree while visiting the country. I'm going to keep my eyes open and see what else I can find this month.

Back to Nature

I not only got back to nature, I got right down there in it. It seems like a really good idea at the time. It was cool. I had yard clothes on so it didn't matter that I was soaking wet when I got up. I was one with mother earth. The birds sang and the world was reflected in each dew drop. Then I got home.... My arms and chest are covered with little itchy bites. While I was communing with nature, lying on my belly some wee beesties were feasting on my vulnerable soft bits. The lesson? I have no idea because I'd do it again in a heart beat.

Ironstone Maiden

I got a message today from a stack of bowls. Let me tell you what the largest one told me.

"Hello Dear, I've been elected to speak for the stack. We have collectively begun to be called 'Ironstone Maidens' and we need to discuss this with you. Decades ago we had a purpose in life. We served and held, sang when washed and gleamed. But just recently, the last couple of decades at least our jobs have changed. Once so practical we are now merely decor. While its nice to be admired we miss the day to day knock and ring of utensils. We never get to catch up with the soup spoons any more and you know how outrageous they can be. We implore you. Take us down, dust us off and let us work. You've never really tasted vegetables until they've cooled in our embrace. Yours most sincerely, The Ironstone Maidens."

Have you used your ironstone lately?

The Paint

Wheel of Time