Nothing Literal Here

Posted by pausesandclicks on 04/29/2016
Posted in: art, Why I Make Pictures. Tagged: , , , , . 6 Comments

I went to sleep last night after ruminating about what “abstract” means in relation to art and sifting through the photos I had taken with this week’s photo challenge in mind.

This morning I woke up dreaming I’d been to a restaurant to start a new job but couldn’t make any sense of the paperwork I was supposed to fill out. The words were in English but I couldn’t read them.  I was frustrated and confused; it was hard to pull myself out of the dream.

I’m pretty sure these two seemingly unrelated events got locked together in my subconscious.  In thinking about the concept of abstraction last night I’d been reading other’s thoughts about it and honestly, had a more muddled view of the concept after my research than before it.  My brain took that ambiguity and paired it with something in my past.

“The goal of abstract art is to communicate the intangible, that which eludes the photograph and normal seeing.”

– Curtis Verdun

Until I started searching I thought I had a good concept of what abstract was.  After my search, I had less of an understanding. I suspect that it had something to do with my medium.  Photography is usually perceived as being quite literal.

In the end, I’ve decided that my interpretation of abstract, through photography,  is an image in which I can get lost, but which calms, rather than confuses me.  It might take me searching but doesn’t leave me frustrated.

It’s a visual space in which I can seek but also rest.

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I spent a few moments in a friend’s art studio recently and photographed these images in her sink, on her palletes and among the things she keeps around for inspiration.

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I enjoy the fact that the byproducts of her art became my art.

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And that her inspiration became mine.

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Her literal…..her workspaces and her tools, became my abstracts.

The next images are me just playing around with what was in my life yesterday.  Every now and then I can’t resist throwing all the photography and art rules away that I was “raised” with, completely relying on technology to take an image from literal to abstract.  Because if I always stay with my original definition of art then where is the growth, right?

“Abstraction allows man to see with his mind what he cannot physically see with his eyes… Abstract art enables the artist to perceive beyond the tangible, to extract the infinite out of the finite. It is the emancipation of the mind. It is an explosion into unknown areas.”

 Arshile Gorky

Sometimes it’s good to walk into those unknown places.

Feathered Guests

Posted by pausesandclicks on 04/21/2016
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One of the things my husband and I loved about being in the military was bringing a group of people around our table to share a meal.

A few years ago I posted about one such meal in a blog I called Fixin’ To Have Some Folks For Dinner.  I’m not much of a cook but thankfully, we had an amazing Enlisted Aide who prepared the meals, and I loved everything about making menu cards and decorating the table.

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In these days of retirement we don’t host nearly as many dinners and when we do they’re much more relaxed.  I still try to set a beautiful table because I want people to feel special when they dine with us but gone are the menu cards and the carefully orchestrated timeline that Sarah was always able to maintain.  Now we do the shopping and cooking ourselves and guests are very often hanging out in the kitchen while my husband finishes the cooking.

More often than not, our dinner guests these days have feathers.

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We’ve spent quite a bit of time maintaining feeders in our back yard since we’ve moved back into our “little crooked house in the woods” and our efforts have paid off.    All winter the birds entertained us and now that spring is here we’ve gained a reputation in their world as being a safe and reliable source of food.

To our delight, this pileated woodpecker, who usually stays way up in the trees and seldom comes near the house, has been a frequent visitor for the past two weeks, staying long enough to allow pictures on occasion.

For the record, we don’t discriminate…every now and then we offer something up for the creatures who don’t fly.

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Dinnertime at our house has definitely evolved since my husband retired.  It warms my heart to see him enjoying something so simple and so very far from what his days used to be about.

That said, isn’t it about time for the man to go back to work?!?

And here’s the real heart of the matter: I once had a young lady tell me that before she began to learn about it, she thought birdwatching was for old people.

I don’t think we’re ready for that designation just yet!

A Future Grieved

Posted by pausesandclicks on 04/14/2016
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , . 21 Comments

Nothing in our future is guaranteed.

Life is one way and then suddenly nothing is the same.

My large extended family is grieving this week.

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On Tuesday my cousin’s 14-year-old son took his own life.

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This was his mom’s Facebook post yesterday.

“I just wanted to finally get on here and thank all of you, our extended families, our neighbors, our Ankeny Community family, Little League and AJF family, OLIH church family, and friends for all of your thoughts, prayers, and support that you have been sending to us on the loss of our son, Jake Gardner. We cannot begin to express our heartbreak as he chose to take his own life on Tuesday. I know that you are all hurting too, and I am very sorry that Jake caused that hurt. I do want you all to know that Jake was a happy, active, polite, and loving kid who would help anyone in time of need. He loved to play baseball and recently had even talked to me about playing football again. He also enjoyed video games and the people he played with on the games. He was excited to try and get a job this summer and take his driving classes and get a school permit to drive back and forth to school on his own next school year, and he had a sleepover planned with buddies this weekend at our house, so he had plans to look forward to. I think that Phil and I always had open communication with our boys and made sure that if they seemed down we always talked to them about it. All the experts have told us from our description of Jake’s attitude and behaviors that there were no “textbook” signs that he would want to take his life, so we are all at a loss as to why he would do such a thing. The experts tell me that “sometimes we just never know why,” which is not the answer any of us want to hear. I also want you to know that we are donating Jake’s organs so that up to 6 other people may have a second chance at life. Some good had to come out of this tragic situation. Jake is still giving, even though he is gone from our sight, and I know he would want it that way. I wish I could just hug all the hurt away from each and every one of you. We have an excellent support system offering thoughts and prayers, and that is all we need to heal after this tragedy, so we thank you all for that. Also, if you have been sharing photos of Jake, I appreciate that too. It’s nice to see the REAL Jake – smiling, being a clown, playing baseball…just being JAKE. May God bless us all with peace and comfort.”

I’m in awe of her courage and her selflessness as she seeks to console others and of her and her husband’s decision to donate their son’s organs that others might live healthier lives.

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In Jake’s honor I hope to always be mindful of the people in my life and to be grateful for their presence.

Judy and Phil have three wonderful sons.  The youngest has gone to heaven too soon. Today he is in the arms of angels and in the presence of God.

May all who mourn him be comforted.

If Only My Middle Name Was Ansel….

Posted by pausesandclicks on 04/07/2016
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I’ve never been much of a landscape photographer.

My feeble attempts just never seem to match the intent of the maker of those scenes.

That said,  I’ve pulled a few favorites that exist on my computer at this point in time.

This view of the countryside in Switzerland:

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This landscape outside my front door at our last military assignment:

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This one in which the clouds become the landscape, causing the viewer a bit of imbalance:

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The landscape in the woods near my home in Virginia, as spring awakens:

This, from a walk this past week in Kansas:
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From a few days ago in Ohio:

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And finally, one of my favorite landscape combinations…farmland in Iowa, dominated by windmills:

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“The scariest dragons and the fiercest giants

usually turn out to be no more than windmills.”

Because who doesn’t love a Don Quixote quote?

My Eyes Were Feasting

Posted by pausesandclicks on 04/01/2016
Posted in: art. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 5 Comments

As a photographer, cloudy days make my heart sing.

They make a day mercurial, changing the mood of a scene depending upon the dance the sun is doing with them at any given moment, creating beautiful half-light that shifts perspective in a matter of seconds.

This scene started off a road trip yesterday between Omaha, Nebraska and Kansas City, Missouri.

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I was pretty sure something wonderful was going to be at the other end of the road, I just wasn’t sure what it was going to be.

So I started googling Kansas City….

….and found this: Shuttlecocks by Claus Oldenburg in the Donald J. Hall Sculpture Park at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

Followed by TheFour Seasons by Philip Haas, inspired by Giuseppe Arcimboldo, who was an Italian painter best known for creating imaginative portrait heads made entirely of objects such as fruits, vegetables, flowers, fish, and books.

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I was pretty sure I was never going to even make it inside the doors of the museum.

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I did eventually go inside and if I had an entire week, I would still be discovering the treasures contained within.

What a gift this day was.  Beautiful light, amazing art, the magnanimous foresight of art collectors, and a city that supports the arts with a museum that boosts free admission so the public can enjoy and benefit from the works of masters and artists who enable us to see our world differently.

Thank you Kansas City!

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Latin Beat On A Sunday Afternoon

Posted by pausesandclicks on 03/24/2016
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My dancing self is seriously repressed so it was a lot of fun to watch this scenario unfold when I was visiting my son and his family this past weekend.

Three generations of family with latin blood in their veins, spontaneously dancing in the kitchen on a Sunday afternoon.

Moments like this are what recharge our souls.

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My granddaughter and the beautiful Bolivian/Brazilian grandmother who inspires that dancing!

One Love….Times Three

Posted by pausesandclicks on 03/18/2016
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Being a parent is an amazing thing but it comes with all sorts of responsibility and long term commitment.

You have to keep them fed, warm, safe, and educated in the ways of the world and God. Teeth need to be brushed, clothes need to be washed, meals prepared, homework completed, prayers said, books read, and little bodies tucked in each and every night.

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Being a grandparent, however, is the best role a person is gifted with in life.  It comes with all the love and fun but not nearly the angst or the pressures of day-to-day life.

These are the loves in my life.  They call me Juju and they call their grandpa Lolo.

They are one love…times three, each one with a very distinct personality, a wonderful combination of their parents and the two families from which their genes originate.

We had a little impromptu photo session this morning for this blog.  When I envisioned it on the plane to Houston yesterday I had expectations of lovely photographs of these three siblings together, perfectly dressed and posed, all looking at the camera, all smiling.

Yeah, THAT didn’t happen!

And really, why would I expect or want that?

Butt pictures are what they had the most fun with.  And, the fact that we used the word butt.

And isn’t that the best part of grandparenting?  I get to throw all the expectations out the window and simply revel in how much fun it is for little people to stick their butts up in the air and giggle until they collapse in a heap on the bed.

One love…times three…equals fun.

Bottled Harmony

Posted by pausesandclicks on 03/10/2016
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“Great wine requires a madman to grow the vine,

a wise man to watch over it,

a lucid poet to make it,

and a lover to drink it.”

Salvador Dali

On this day in early March these vines appear to be sleeping but the vintners at Potomac Point Winery in Stafford, Virginia know better.

In due time leaves will sprout, grape clusters will form, mature and be harvested, and the wine making process will be in full swing.

A thousand details have to be attended to during that time and it’s a delicate procedure, demanding much attention to science, the right equipment, a fair amount of pleading with mother nature, and most certainly, a dedicated vintner’s passion to produce the final result.

Everything needs to work together in perfect harmony to produce award-winning wine…..

…..culminating in the gathering of friends on a spring afternoon around a table laden with food and the perfect glass of red.

With much appreciation to David (pronounced daaveeed), the wise, lucid, poetic madman who tends the grapes and produces the wine, we, who have love in our hearts, enjoyed last week!

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A Thankful State Of Mind

Posted by pausesandclicks on 03/03/2016
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , . 10 Comments

This has been a roller-coaster of a week with many reasons to be grateful.

My son is a terrific stay-at-home dad who manages the day-to-day lives of three little ones, all under the age of eight. He has just started selling real estate but it will be a while before that translates to an income. His wife has a degree in Energy Management from the University of Oklahoma and is in the oil and gas industry in Houston. As you can imagine, this has been an uncertain time for her industry and the expected lay-offs were due to happen this week.

Grace, true to her name, handled it all with a calmness that escaped her mother-in-law.  She was confident that she had been doing the best job she could possibly do in her field and should the lay-offs include her, she knew God simply had another plan for her.

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I, on the other hand, with an unusually large inherited capacity for worry, prayed and bargained and lost sleep.

Then I got this text…..”My job is safe.”

I cried, raised my eyes, and said a prayer of thankfulness. And then I had to apologize for not having enough trust.

My state of mind completely changed with those four words.

The calm that ensued immediately brought back to mind these photos, taken in 2008, on the top of a Swiss alp.

They were taken on a vacation I was on with my siblings.  We were celebrating my 50th birthday by visiting our oldest sister, who had been living in Switzerland for over a decade without a visit from any of us.  Our parents had passed away within two years of each other and this trip was made in their honor, just the four of us, spending an entire week together, for the first time in our adult lives.

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I believe we were all in a state of mind that we’ll never forget.  I’m thankful for the pictures that immediately bring it back, and I’m thankful for good news, simple little words in and of themselves, that came in the form of a text on my phone screen.

In the words of the priests at my church, just after delivering their sermons…”May God be praised.”

 

A Reluctant Farewell To Winter

Posted by pausesandclicks on 02/26/2016
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This was happening just eleven days ago.

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When the snow started falling I hastily donned layers and boots and headed out with my faithful walking companion.  Xav seems to love the snow as much as I do and I had a feeling this would be our last significant snow of the season.  After visiting our normal trails we eventually headed off in a direction I’ve not yet taken this winter, in the woods behind our home.  I was looking for something we used to visit often in years past but which is hard to find in the summer when underbrush tends to hide it.

It’s been more than six years since I last looked for this old girl and I almost missed her this time.  She’s nestled way back in the woods and it wasn’t until I turned around to head home that I spied her.

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I’ve always wanted to know her story….how she got there and when.

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Way back in the 70’s when I  was in high school my friends and I used to hang out in an abandoned car in a store parking lot.  We spent many hours in it….talking, planning, dreaming and wondering what our adult lives would bring.  I imagine the same has been done out here in these woods, in this car, probably by several generations of teenagers, away from adult eyes and ears.

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I can already sense spring in the air.  Soon these woods will explode with growing vines and new leaves, and the air will be full of sound. She’ll blend back into her surroundings and many hikers will pass by without noticing her but I’ll remember this last winter walk in the woods when the silence was deep and I stopped to contemplate the many secrets she holds.

I’ll miss these winter walks.