Inspired

Hace Mucho Calor!

I'm not whining...no, I'm loving it but my body is taking time to adjust.  Going from 0 - 30 C. (32 - 88 F) in a day, takes a little acclimation.

 

 

 art on the Malecon at Barra de Navidad

 

We're in the little town of Barra de Navidad, Mexico, which is just north of Manzanillo on the west coast.  We've been relaxing and doing a lot of nothing since we got here.  Every now and then we look at each other and think we should be out doing something and then we wonder why we feel that way (guilt at not being busy?)...and then we go back to reading or listening to favourite podcasts or playing around with new art apps on the ipod...and that's the end of that!

I'm sure we'll pull ourselves out of this lethargy/inactivity at some point and decide to do some exploring but at the moment the big effort of the day involves a walk to a cafe or beach side restaurant for something cold and thirst quenching.

 

paper 53...just using my finger 

I found this app...paper 53...on the very talented Alicia Burke's website.  It's a digital drawing app and I'm having a lot of fun with it.  It really needs a stylus for finer detail but I did the page above with my fingers.  The basic app is free but adding more colours into the palette and a wider array of tools to work with, are add-ons.  Sketches can be saved in many different "moleskine" journals within the program.  It's not complicated and would be fun for kids too.

 

 using Percolator...I haven't completely figured this one out yet but I like what can be done with it!

The other programs that I've been playing with are several photography apps that were recommended to me by photographer/artist Shane Robinson.  I've spent some time playing around with Percolator, PhotoForge 2, Big Lens, Photo Toaster and Iris Photo Suite.

Percolator takes an image and works circles into into it (as in my image of Molly above)...some abstract fun.  I love what Shane did with this app and would like to work further with it to figure out the blending a bit more

PhotoForge 2 allows limited layering and blending (as with Photoshop),

Big Lens gives an iphone shot the blurred depth of field backgrounds that you normally only get with a DSLR,

Photo Toaster and Iris both have image editing capabilities for iphonography (a step up from Instagram).

Two years ago I stopped lugging my heavy DSLR around with me on trips.  Last year I took my Canon point and shoot and this year all I have is my iphone.  Times change and the new iphone (which I don't have, btw) has the same number of pixels as my old Nikon DSLR!

Anyway, just wanted to let you all know that I'm alive and loving the king size bed that I spend much of my day lollygagging around in and when I'm not there then I'm here...

 

 

sheltering from the sun in our roof top palapa

or even here...

 

bakery cafe in Barra de Navidad

enjoying this...

 

the gluten-free oatmeal/cranberry cookie is mine!

 

And maybe...just maybe...when I do come back here, I'll be out of bed by then!

Sending hugs and blowing kisses to all, dear friends,

 

9 pm Christmas Day

9 pm...Christmas Day...in bed...sick

 

There's no good time to get sick but away from home and staying with friends/family that I don't see often enough to begin with...that's soooo not a good time to be ill.

However, I did manage to tuck into a delicious Christmas lunch in a very swanky restaurant before the damage hit, so it wasn't all sad!  I barely raised my head off the pillow until this morning...just in time to head for the ferry and home.  And I was very well looked after.

Hope your Christmas was a good one dear friends,

This photograph was taken for Mary's Project 24 for Christmas Day at This Old House. My assigned time to document was 9 pm and this was where I was at that time!  I crawled out of bed, snapped a pic with my phone and crawled back in again.  That's dedication for ya!  

Ranunculus Heaven

They say that heaven is filled with all that you believe it is, all that your thoughts focus on.  If that's the case then I'm going to fill my heaven with beautiful Ranunculus (and yes, happy daffodils too).  There’s just something so perfectly sweet about Ranunculus.

 

 

Did you know that they're a part of the buttercup family?  Well neither did I until I began to read up on them.  Wikipedia says that Ranunculus is latin for “little frog” and they are likely named that because many species are found near water...like frogs.

It also says that the buttercup is called “coyote’s eyes” by the North American natives. In their folklore, Coyote was tossing his eyes up in the air and catching them again when Eagle snatched them. Unable to see, Coyote made eyes from the buttercup!

 

 

The Ranunculus that we grow and plant in our gardens are the cultured cousin of the buttercup.  They're derived from a species that originated in the The Middle East, hence their alternative name "Turban Buttercup".

The Victorians developed a “language of flowers" and every flower was given a meaning…ie..red Roses for love, Dalia’s for dignity and elegance and Hyacinth for jealousy.  Ranunculus meant "you are rich in attractions".

 

 

I bought these pretty pink and very rich-in-attraction, Ranunculus a few days ago and have been taking photographs as they open.  The graceful bend of their stems remind me of dancing ballerina’s...they bring me so much joy!

 

 

We’re having a lovely spring weekend here with a friend visiting, a happy birthday party, breakfast out, an antique English carshow (Mr. I's idea of heaven), and all of it mixed in with some serious relaxing...ahhhh, heaven indeed.

Sending hugs and blowing kisses, all around the world..

 

Winter and Words

The winter view from my fathers deck

I’m having a longer than expected visit with my father and getting a much bolder taste of winter than I usually have at the coast. This photo was taken from dad’s deck…a beautiful spot in the summer, overlooking the town and down into the valley. My parents moved into this house when I was just seventeen and I’ve sat on this deck…which catches the cool breezes in the intense summer heat…and enjoyed many an hour in the shade of the weeping birch tree.

Winter on the other hand, is not deck sitting weather and this photograph was the result of a very quick dash outside. It was snowing when I took the picture but I “enhanced” the snow with a texture from Flickr.

 

 

It’s no secret that I love words…especially in my artwork. I have a difficult time not including words somewhere. Words, both written and spoken, inspire me…they seem to kick start the creative juices. I read this quote today on the website of one of my favourite digital artists…Alice Popkorn. Alice’s digital art work is always inspirational and she often includes a link to a beautiful visual meditation video as well as an inspiring quote.

Another of my favourite photographers/digital artists is Dawne Boynton at Quidity 2 and French at Heart. This beautiful and dreamy piece is one of my very favourites of hers.

And I have to mention Jamie Heiden…oh, I am so in love with Jamie’s digital work…and she does it all with photographs that she’s taken near her Wisconsin home. I’ve sat and studied her work for hours and even wrote to ask her if it she adds any hand sketching/painting but no…it’s all done digitally. As someone who’s had some experience with creating digital work, it’s really quite amazing.

What I love about digital art is the ability it gives an artist to conceptualize and create “magic”. One of the first digital artists that I came across who captured a piece of my own creative heart with this particular style of magic, was Aimee Stewart with pieces like this, this and this. BIG sigh of bliss. (I realize there are a lot of links here but if you have a few minutes, they're really worth looking at)

Sending much love out to everyone and feeling great gratitude for all unknown blessings that are already on their way!

Looking Up

 

A Horse Chestnut “conker” ready to shed its soft, spikey protective capsule

 

Looking up at a chestnut tree, I see a seed splitting and opening.  It's outgrowing it's shell and the emerging seed requires that it discards what once protected it.

Opening. Cracking open. Birthing. Potentials.  Can you feel it?  There’s a new energy afoot. 

There are many things in this world that have failed humanity for a very long time.  Imbalances in many areas.  Greed.  Misuse of power.  Revenge.  The pendulum has swung to extremes...back and forth.

The larger solutions may not yet be clear, but person by person we are each realizing our own personal solution is to know our truth and stand in it, in a balanced way.

Neither victim, nor aggressor, but a middle ground.  People are seeking balance…balance in their own lives, balance in the world.

 

Beyond right and wrong there is a field.  I’ll meet you there.

Rumi

It’s good…it’s all good. Like the splitting of the chestnut's shell, it may feel destructive and unsettling at first but we are beginning to listen to the whispers of our hearts. We are standing in our truth and we are doing this both in solitary and in solidarity.

And my heart whispers the words of the Buddha...

 

“when you realize how perfect everything is, you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky”.

Wishing you all a knowing of the perfection of each step of your journey. Thank you so much for visiting.

 

(Looking Up is this weeks theme for 52 Photos Project.  Thanks Bella!)

Colours of Autumn

We’ve had a beautiful fall on the island, although our colours aren’t that new-england-spectacular fiesta.  We get lots of gold/orange/brown tone’s which, when set against the lush dark green of the coniferous forests, are beautiful in their own right…but not the flaming reds which the east coast deciduous maples are so famous for. 

When I was looking around the web for a weekly photo challenge, (because a daily one is sooooo not for me, as I found out this summer) I came across Bella’s 52 weeks project.  It’s good to have a focus like this and yet it's not too much pressure.  I had stopped taking my camera everywhere with me and was feeling quite blah about it but I think shooting with Jaime last weekend got the photography juices flowing again.   It was probably a break that was needed and I’m feeling much more motivated to get back into something low key again.

 

The creative process is a form of meditation that allows me to approach each act of creation with intuition and discovery.

 

 

This week the theme is autumn colour and rather than try to find the perfect show of autumn leaves, I went to the market instead. 

The farmer's market's on the island are full of beautiful root vegetables right now…many with the old heritage varieties.  The nearby pumpkin fields are chock full of glowing orange spheres and all I need to complete the autumn feeling is an apple pie baking in the oven!  I'm off to a late Thanksgiving and very early Christmas gathering with family later today, so I may even find this treasure on the table if I'm lucky.

 

“I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens, but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string.”
- L. M. Montgomery

 

…and I truly hope that your weekend is filled with many little pleasures.  Thank you ALL for stopping by.

 

Photographs and Friends

 

Today was a beautiful day.

It was a day of sunshine and crisp light…a day made for revelling in, as only a sunny day in October day can be. Days like today are meant to be embraced with gratitude and imprinted on the heart and soul for solace in the winter days ahead.

And what made it even more perfect was that I was meeting a new friend, a blogger who lives near by, for a day of photography. Sunshine + photography + connecting with a kindred soul = perfection.

We met in Fernwood…a fun and funky Victoria neighbourhood…and sipped our Chai’s while we talked about life with all it’s twists and turns, joys and challenges. When we could no longer ignore the sunshine calling us, we headed out with camera’s in hand, walking and talking and finding a million quirky, beautiful, colourful things to photograph.

 

cats posing in windows…

 

The graceful symmetry of white picket fences...

 

 

and quirky pieces of sculpture found in unexpected places.

Jaime is a beautiful photographer and today she taught me more about my camera in one afternoon, than I’ve learned in the past five years. What a relief it is to realize that I’m finally able to begin using the camera as it’s intended to be used!

 

 

One of the most inspiring things I saw today was in a sweet little art school, just beyond this door...

 

 

There was a poem written on the classroom wall and I knew I was meant to see these words today, so I took a photograph of it through the window.

 

As the sun slipped away and the temperatures began to drop, we finally said our goodbyes with plans to do it all again soon.

I hope your weekend was soul satisfying dear friends and that you were able to find time to sing your own beautiful song.

Monet's Garden and Me in 2012

**warning:  the following post contains a shameful overuse of such superlatives as "beautiful", "gorgeous", "stunning" and "lovely".  I apologise in advance, but it was truly unavoidable.

This week something very special arrived in the mail.  Something that was wrapped up in an envelope almost as beautiful as the gift that lay inside.  (I was doing some silent inner squeeling as I opened this!)

 

I was the lucky recipient of one of Georgianna Lane’s georgeous calendars.  She has several new ones ready for 2012 and this one is brimming with 12 stunning photographs that she took this summer in Monet’s Garden near Paris, France.

 

 

Oh my goodness, I just love these colours!  It’s full of soft pinks and turquoises and roses and poppies and windows with shutters and lace. 

 

 

These lovely images will be with me throughout 2012 to remind me of summer, and romantic French gardens and beautiful dreams.

And if that wasn’t enough she even included a photograph of a stunning Parisian door…an amazing blue door.  Have I ever mentioned how much I love doors?  There's so much to wonder about them...what possibilities lie on the other side...what opportunities do they open to?  How many people have walked through them and what are their stories?

 

 

And the sweetest part of all was the little package of Parisian goodies…a card and napkin from a certain very well known French Patiserrie…Lauduree…they’re famous for their heavenly macarons, and a city guide to find my way there!  Oh my goodness…there are just so many things in my life recently, that are pointing me towards Paris.

Do you think that perhaps Georgianna knew about this?

 

Paris is always a good idea.

Audrey Hepburn 

 

Seriously, if you've never visited Georgianna's magical wonderland, you're in for a real treat.  Take a few moments to wander through her virtual garden. (and just in case you were thinking about it, I already have first dibs on carrying her camera bags around for her on her next international photography assignment, so don't even think about it!)

Thank you Georgianna!

 

Focal Point

This is obviously a theme I’m on these days as I've just realized I wrote a post with the title “Focus” not long ago.

 

 

Although I photographed these Irises several weeks ago, I didn’t care for the composition, so didn’t post it at the time.  I haven’t had my Nikon out in awhile so as I was trolling through my files today for something I might have missed, I checked this one out again. (Maybe it improved with age?  Maybe my eye wouldn't be quite so critical?)

 

 

I did a little cropping to look at it from different aspects…first the blossoms…and then the vertical alignment of the leaves…

 

…when I noticed this…a cocoon…attached to a leaf, unnoticed until now.

I love little surprises like this and wonder how many things slip by me unnoticed everyday.  It’s impossible to see everything of course, but I find that taking the time to appreciate and enjoy the often small and sweet gifts of nature is a quick way to balance my energy and put life in perspective.

camera + time + focus = delight

(the Kate equation for contentment)

 

When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs.  When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.

Andsel Adams

 

Wishing all my Canadian friends a wonderful Canada Day long weekend.  My American friends…have an equally fabulous Independence Day weekend…and for the rest of you…celebrate life and enjoy!   (I'm taking my camera out with me this weekend!)

Passing By...

 

 

This sweet little church (St. Anne’s Catholic Church) sit’s in a narrow valley near a small town…just a village really…called Hedley, in the southern interior of BC.  It’s actually just east of Hedley in the Chuchuwayha Indian Village.

I’ve driven past this church at least a hundred times in the past forty years and for the past twenty, I’ve wanted to stop and take a photograph…but we always seem to be in a hurry; a deadline to meet, a ferry to catch.  There’s no easy place to pull over and I haven’t wanted to intrude on the people of the reserve. They likely wouldn’t mind if we pulled in and stopped to take a  picture, but I’ve been hesitant.

On my last trip to the interior to visit my dad this past March, I took this shot from the car window as we were wizzing past!  It’s not a great shot but I was so glad I did it.  I’m now totally pumped to stop when we return later this summer, and take the time to actually focus the camera!! 

I think forty years is long enough to want to do something and not do it.  In fact, forty years is far too long for me to pass something by and not stop to act on my yearnings!

Is there something that you’ve been wanting to do for a long time…perhaps just a small something…that you haven’t yet done?

 

 

(the sun is shining on this end of the island and it's actually starting to warm up a bit...hooray!)