In a Fog

I'm finding it meditative editing photos shot on a foggy day on the Galapagos Island of Urvina,  So many ways to edit, so little time!  Not sure which one I like best.

Reflections on my Visit to Seattle

Very cool, modern house in Seattle, reflects the fun had with the Taylor family at Discovery Park, the beach, at home, and on the super, slick slide in the freezing month of February.

Messing Around with Twin Photographs and Photo Effects

While playing with various alternative Photography techniques, I discovered a Effects dial on my Nikon D750 that takes pictures one would think are worthless.  That didn't stop me from using them in the two digital composites revealed above.  Top three:  Cole (with a cold on the couch), then a combination of that original photo with an effects shot of Cole and Wilson.  Bottom three:  Matt Taylor with his twin sons, combined with another effects shot of the threesome plus the dog.  I think I like the bottom result the best, but can no longer remember how I did it. 

Having Fun with Seattle Art and Photography

My trips to Seattle generally result in at least one attempt at a portrait of grandson Wilson.  Unlike his twin Cole, he is more amenable to posing.  However, like any normal 8 year old, posing doesn't last very long (which I can blame for the my inability to capture his likeness).  The result this time is "Wilson and his Toys," a 10 x 14 pen and ink and watercolor painting.  To try to improve on the original, I tweaked the resulting watercolor by doing a bit of over painting in Photoshop, then added a background that was a blurred version of a Home Depot product shot.  All of the elements are shown above, including a refreshingly more appealing photo of Wilson, walking the dog Riley, while wearing a T shirt in 30+ degree weather.

Magnolias

Latest quilted wall hanging tells the story of white and pink magnolia flowers going from bud to bloom.  Center is a patchwork of photos printed on silk surrounded by raw edge applique of various cotton and silk fabrics showing a portion of a Magnolia flower's life cycle.  It's amazing how much time these things take!  But creating art works wonders in taking the mind off the horrors of our current government. 

Yes, I am a Pack Rat

Santa Barbara elementary school photos from 1955 through 1961

I Wish

Now that I've starting writing poems again (for the recently self published Blurb book "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blue Jay")  http://www.blurb.com/b/8507763-thirteen-ways-of-looking-at-a-blue-jay, I started going back through poems I've written in the past.  Most were done for a family writing collective called "Round Robin."  Here's one from 2000 I found particularly relevant to today:

I wish for a fish
A fish of green and violet stripes
In a warm ocean pool
I can swim in
while I'm on a vacation
That lasts forever
In the sun, having fun
Staying eternally young
And in this unrealistic fantasy
The fish will talk to me
And give me words of wisdom
That bubble up through the water
And dry in iridescent drops on my skin
Where everyone else can read them
And learn something

I still wish for an eternal vacation but more realistically, what I'm wishing for today, is a better government! 

What's maybe more interesting is how often one does get what one wishes for.  I had totally forgotten this poem, but realize now my trip to the Galapagos last year, where I snorkeled with beautiful fish, was exactly what I had wished for 17 years earlier.