photography, instagram and keeping a sharp eye

I have always liked taking pictures as a hobby– first as a child with a little Kodak Brownie camera, moving on to my Dad’s hand-me-down Minolta SLR, going digital with my beloved Cannon Powershot in recent years.    

fungus on a downed limb out the road today

And although I enjoy shooting, photography never interested me much on gallery walls; at least it never did until I shared studio space for a couple of years with a class-A photographer friend, Brenda Kleinfelder.  We were lucky enough to travel to Manhattan years ago, where we spent many memorable hours museum-hopping together.  There she introduced me to the likes of Weegee, Sally Mann, and Diane Arbus to name just a few.

One thing that attracted me to the idea of blogging was the excuse it provided to take lots and lots of photographs.  As you have probably noted, this blog is (usually) heavy on images, light on text.  A picture is truly worth a thousand words as I see it.  Just have a look at Denis Shelby’s outstanding street photography, or the work of Rick White in Japan, Christi on Lopez... the list goes on and on!

Annton’s recent post about her love affair with Instagram resonated with me.  I picked up the habit a little over a year ago, posting photos taken on my phone-camera and following a variety of other Instagramers.  My little Iphone camera actually takes better pix than my Cannon.

During these stressed out days of packing up both house and studio, photography (plus drawing of course) is an effective way to maintain my visual acuity until I can get back to my dyes and brushes again.

The thing that's important to know is that you never know. You're always sort of feeling your way.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/d/dianearbus133425.html#xGbbMgAkDxYOpqmp.99

"The thing that's important to know is that you never know. You're always sort of feeling your way". -Diane Arbus

DC - Tiles

I was lucky enough to receive some very timely photos this week from the incomparable street photographer Denis Shelby:

images of some wonderful tiles which I am pleased to be able show you in response to this week's drawing challenge.

Locally, tiles are not so common, but I gathered what I could.

My friend and mentor Polly Lee made the tiles above as part of a series of work she did in the 1980's.  They grace a shelf in my studio. 

Up at the elementary school, there are mosaic tiles on the exterior wall of the front entrance which were created by the students one year during an Artist in the Schools project.

 The bright colors and sea-theme are perfect for our often rainy harbor town.

Alas, I cannot remember the name of the artist who orchestrated the project. 

I love mosaic work but haven't ever done it myself - well, only one time, thank you Kari, when I made a small paver for our garden.  (Maybe I will show you that some other time).

 I think this is a shrimp.

 The variety of sizes is very appealing in this student's mosaic.

You can find many more examples of tiles over at Ariane's ever so beautiful blog.  Thank you so much for stopping by!  Wishing you a restful Sunday.

Reading Poetry

I read William Blake in January.

 This month I checked out 100 Essential Modern Poems from our library and discovered William Butler Yeats, whose poem ‘The Second Coming’ knocked me out.

 And then I saw this at Nylon Camera, and thought of Gwendolyn Brooks's poem, The Pool Players, which is also contained in the 100 Essential Modern Poems collection:

The Pool Players.
Seven at the Golden Shovel.

We real cool. We
Left school. We

Lurk late. We
Strike straight. We

Sing sin. We
Thin gin. We

Jazz June. We
Die soon.

March is coming, with the return of the Sailor on the first, if all goes as planned.  Maybe love poems will be the thing…

 If you would like to join this week's drawing challenge, leave us word.  Still time to get in.