mirrored off water perceptions lose clear focus reflect on that thought
Photo #3 for Blogging U’s Photography 101 course. Subject: water.
Immersed in Thought
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Tag Archives: photography
Home
Home is where you can hunker down for the winter,
knowing that spring will bring familiar blossoms to your window.
Photo #1 for Blogging U’s Photography 101 course. Subject: home.
Forever Love
Assignment #8. Prompt: drawer. Form: ode. Device: apostrophe.
I am cheered to see you again, though it was unexpected. I had thought the drawer to be empty, opening it simply on a whim. Recklessly abandoned inside this dark coffin, you nonetheless thrived, gaining esteem despite my neglect. Bold colors contrast with your diminutive size. A seeming contradiction between flamboyant style and menial purpose. I am not swayed by either extreme. My attraction is not based on appearances, and I recognize that your inconsequential demeanor belies your true power. More contradictions: You await my direction, to do my bidding, and yet it is you who holds sway over my very basic capacity to communicate. And though I value you, I must send you away. Your potential cannot be realized while stuffed in a drawer. So I'm letting you go with one selfish request: Please do not return to me, my “forever” postage stamp.
Haiku Two ~ Rain
rain falls as beckoned quenches thirst then dissipates skyward whence it came
Can the Muse Come out to Play?
Everyone runs through dry spells with creativity.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Rule of Thirds
Most commonly thought of in terms of writing (as in writer’s block), flagging inspiration can happen with any art form. When it happens to me, my inclination is to think, “My God, I’ve lost it. I’ll never come up with an original thought again.” I’ve learned, however, to be patient with it, and instead of chasing after the muse, I let her come to me. And she always does… albeit on her own time schedule.
Some ways I’ve found to jump start creativity:
Try your hand at something new. If you are a painter, try writing a poem. Or go on a photo hike and take shots of anything that interests you. If you are a writer, grab a sketch pad and head out to a community park. Draw quick sketches of whatever you see. If you excel in all the arts, go learn to drive a tractor. Whatever you choose to do, don’t focus on the end result being a masterpiece. That’s not the point. The point is to get a different perspective on what you see and think about.
Get a change of scenery. If you live in the city, take a trip to the country or a forest, or the beach. Fresh air inspires fresh ideas. If you spend most of your time in a rural setting, try tapping into the chaotic energy of a nearby city. Don’t have an agenda, just take in the sights and sounds and ambiance.
Exercise. I’m not much of an athlete, but movement of any kind helps get my brain synapses firing a little better. So dance with your cat. Mow the lawn (my personal favorite). Jog or go to the gym if you absolutely have to. Zumba, anyone?
There are tons of ways to get your creative mojo back online. Just be willing to try something new and different from your usual routine, be willing to let go of expectations for specific outcomes, and be patient. Eventually your muse will come out to play, and it will have been worth the wait.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Rule of Thirds
Haiku One ~ Water
bathroom faucet drips incessant like a toothache reminds me to floss
Serenity: Weekly Photo Challenge
This week’s Daily Post photo challenge is about sharing one’s interpretation of serenity.
It got me thinking about how I would depict serenity in stained glass. Not a serene setting or scene per se, but the actual quality of serenity. Or how would one interpret happiness, joy, sadness or anger in an abstract manner using glass as a medium?
Anger, for example, could be done up in shades of dark or flaring reds and slashing lines and sharp angles. But then it could also be the cold, icy blue calmness of the type of anger that says, “I don’t get mad; I just get even.”
Makes me want to play around with such concepts and see what kind of designs and color schemes might arise.
But on to the photo challenge:
Serenity can be about finding a calm, peaceful setting in nature where one can slow down and restore their sense of balance.
Or serenity could mean spending quiet time in the company of loved ones.
But to me, serenity comes mostly from allowing myself to
be who I really am
wherever I am
in the moment…
… and to have that be perfectly okay.
Visual Fodder
Coming up with ideas for stained glass panel designs is perhaps the most fun part of the whole creative process. Someone asked me once about how I get my ideas. I told him that they just kind of evolve. I just wait, and they show up.
That’s not entirely true. I don’t just sit around waiting for an epiphany. I’d be waiting a very long time if that were the case. What I really do is feed my imagination.
I take walks in nature. I take walks in urbania. (I know, urbania’s not a real word, but it should be, don’t you think? Like, inclusive of cities, suburbs, towns, strip malls… Maybe there’s already a word for that. I’ll give Merriam Webster a call someday to find out.)
I take photographs everywhere I go. Well, not everywhere. That would just be creepy. But by consciously looking for photo subjects, I am training myself to notice things that might otherwise be overlooked. Basically I’m gathering images to study and play with and ruminate over.
And then all that visual fodder begins to shift and sift and coalesce into an image that can be translated into glass. Not to make this sound all ethereal and pretentious (or like a cow chewing its cud… “ruminate?” “fodder?”)
Sometimes the “image” is as simple as a brick-like pattern.
Sometimes it’s as silly as “Three Penguins on Ice.”
Maybe someday I will experience an epiphany. But until that day arrives, I will continue to feed my imagination. There’s not much worse than a starving imagination.
Where do you find your ideas?
Shadowed: Weekly Photo Challenge
The theme of today’s photo challenge, as offered weekly at The Daily Post, is “Shadowed.” The premise is that, “Experimenting with shadows can be a fun and rewarding way to push yourself to try something new with your camera and your surroundings, and look beyond the obvious shot.”
So today I’m posting some “shadow” photos that I’ve taken recently.
But what I think would be really fun and rewarding would be to experiment with using shadow as a main element in a stained glass panel. Note to self: add that to the queue of design ideas to play with.
“The beginnings and ends of shadow lie between the light and darkness and may be infinitely diminished and infinitely increased. Shadow is the means by which bodies display their form. The forms of bodies could not be understood in detail but for shadow.”
Leonardo da Vinci
“Without black, no color has any depth. But if you mix black with everything, suddenly there’s shadow – no, not just shadow, but fullness. You’ve got to be willing to mix black into your palette if you want to create something that’s real.”
Amy Grant
“Shadow is a colour as light is, but less brilliant; light and shadow are only the relation of two tones.”
Paul Cezanne
What Rhymes with Stanza? 