True Places

december, here we come!

{this thanksgiving, we went on a family hike, and came across this pay phone in the forest!} 

so sorry for the long absence:: life just seems to get in the way sometimes.  the lovely thing about winter, however, is that it means more time in the studio, more time shooting, more time for art.

and yet, in other ways, december has landed, and i am not sure i am ready.

in shop news, i am having a little sale over here, with 20% off until tomorrow.  come take a little peek!

how do you plan on squeezing in your creative time during the holiday season?

fire dancer

 

we went to our CSA's Harvest festival, and had a blast.  It all ended with a bonfire and a firedancer:: such a cool way to celebrate the harvest!  

Come check it out!

One of my images is up over at Cafe Mom's Home and Garden Buzz... come take a look!

::the path ahead::

{Big Sur Coast, 2009}

nepenthe

painted fence, 2009

 

phoenix, 2009

I'm a bit quiet over here today, so I leave you with images from Nepenthe, Big Sur.
Have a great weekend!

two rocks in big sur

gone to seed

the end of summer here means indian summer.  it means the fog has retreated, the temperature climbs, and we get our real summer.  it also means that school is back in session, our routine returns, and i can get back to working on making things happen.  

for some reason, fall works better for me for starting new things, instead of winter.  while  in this country we have a tradition of creating new year's resolutions and starting new things in january, i think by nature winter is not a great time for that.  for me, with the heat and warmth comes ideas and excitement and energy.

with that in mind, this late summer i am really going to focus on doing what i envision.  i am going to finish my series and apply for a few shows.  i am going to launch my new portfolio site and find a location for some workshops.  i am going to post more at my new blog.

i am finding that i need boundaries on my ideas if i am going to getting anything finished.  next up, some self-imposed deadlines!

daily patterns

Grate Full :: 2009

Annus Horribilis. This 1992 phrase from Queen Elizabeth is playing on a continuous loop in my head. However, in my case it's more like "August Horribilis". Somewhere between the seriousness of California's fires and the nonsense surrounding celebrity deaths, it seems like there's more than enough trouble to go around.

The real low point for me though is that our family has been burning a trail to Stanford Cancer Center. Which, oh by the way, if you find yourself at Stanford Hospital, make sure to take the audio tour of the art collection. They have some amazing pieces (my personal faves are on the second floor and very Rothco-esque) and if you're really into it, they even have a link to itunes for major events and lectures...another side note, on the second floor they have a seemingly bottomless basket of jolly ranchers (watermelon!) on the surgical desk . . . it's the little things that make me happy.

Speaking of little things, I find that while going about my way on these crummy days I have to force myself to see. By default, I find myself looking for patterns. Always interesting and readily abundant, patterns are everywhere and if you look at even the most mundane things, there is something beautiful to discover.  I especially love to edit an image down to just the basics, a simple composition to find the essence of something I see (and ignore) all the time. I think it was Gauguin who said "It is the eye of ignorance that assigns a fixed and unchangeable color to every object; beware of this stumbling block." 

It's an excellent exercise to remind yourself that seeing something as it really is requires a different kind of mindset, moving beyond seeing to compiling a series and giving the images a  title is part of the fun too. Enjoy. Check these out :

 

 

bumps in the road ::  outpouring :: passageways :: post & reply :: 2009

But enough of all that, it's nearly September 1st and I am ready to turn over a new leaf and look forward to what's left of the year. Can't wait to be back on a regular blog schedule again! And many thanks to everyone who emailed me while I was on this unfortunate hiatus - I appreciate it! 

Our girl had her surgery and is recuperating nicely . . . 

Our Bare Naked Ladies on the Bluff

tower 11