This afternoon I was practicing using a tripod with my point and shoot digital camera. Annika was playing with her tennis ball and became my subject.
They aren’t the best of photos, definitely too much flash, but I couldn’t resist posting them. Hope you don’t mind.
It’s Thursday which means it’s Artist Date Day. In my last post I showed the African Violet Pot I’m making in my slip casting class, and even though it will be a couple of weeks before I finish the project, I thought it would be fun to select a new plant. A visit to the local nursery would also be the perfect place for this week’s Artist date, because it’s certainly colorful and has a creative atmosphere. Both are requisites for an Artist Date.
I love the green house at the nursery where they keep the African violets and orchids. Here are only three of the many gorgeous plants I saw while browsing.
It’s a good thing that I traveled by motorcycle and not car today, or else I would have come home with more than just the one African Violet.
After this lovely white orchid I’ll leave you with a splash of color.
It really was the perfect place to go for this week’s Artist Date.
I recently discovered a free photo editing app called Aviary and it does some fun and amazing things. Continue reading
One of my favorite books is, The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron. It’s a very inspirational book about blocked creativity. In her book, Julia tells us that the we must continually fill the well of creativity to avoid being a blocked artist. One of the ways of doing this is with a weekly Artist Date. Thursday is usually my best day to do this, because generally it’s a free day for me. When deciding where to take myself for the Artist Date, I choose a place that speaks to my creativity and makes me feel happy inside. Yesterday I went to a local market to doing a little fruit and veggie shopping, but yesterday I really took time to look around and absorb the rich colors.
I took photos with my cell phone camera and tried to be discreet. I wondered if the employees might think I was from the health department inspecting their produce. I was really amazed at the rich colors, and even more so when I got home and looked at the photos I’d taken. I have included a few of them here.
Choosing the market for my Artist Date was perfect. Perhaps the next time you go to the market, you’ll slow down a little as I did and take time to look at the colors. Nature really is amazing. I wonder where my next Artist date will take me?
Most mornings I get up early, before the sun, to write in my journal. I sit facing a large window that allows me to see the sunrise. This morning, It looked like we were in for a beautiful one, and I was right. I quickly grabbed my camera and went out to the front patio and this is what I saw. It was a very exciting start to a new day.
Not long after, a work crew arrived to take down the pine tree you see above. I was sad, because that tree had been in our yard since the late 70s. It was one of our earliest Christmas trees. I felt like I was losing a friend. The reason we’d made this decision, was because the roots were lifting our stone wall, and cracking the sidewalk. The roots were also raising the ground behind our house making it difficult for water to flow to the drainage area. I posted a photo of the problem in a previous post. It was definitely time to have the tree removed.
Here you can see what our yard looks like now. It certainly is different. We aren’t quite sure what the new plan will be. Perhaps a huge hummingbird garden, or several grouping of ragweed for the Monarch butterflies. For now we will think about it, and once it is completed, I’m sure I’ll be posting a photo.