Winter Art 2016

Winter Still Life Art, 2016  #0898 

After photographing over 120 still life portraits and now installing them into Monthly Desk Calendars and Weekly Planners I came to the conclusion that I had never created a December winter still life that wasn't Christmasy.

So I gave myself the assignment to create one before December 23rd when the holiday entertaining would occupy most of my time.

What did I know about it?  It had to have blues and whites, include a flower arrangement placed in a white vase and had to be a colorful self portrait that had a winter feel.

Where to start?  While Karl was shopping for the Ugly Christmas Sweaters for everyone at consignment shops I accompanied him through the door but ventured off to the ceramics shelves  to see what I could find.  I didn't know exactly what I was looking for but I intuitively knew that I'd know it when I found it.  At the third store I found this beautiful white figurine of a young woman holding a bouquet of cascading flowers.  I picked it up and wondered if she was "the one."  I asked two of the sales associates if she could be a winter angel and they both agreed.  Thus, she was "the one" and would be the main character in this still life.

I envisioned a white ground cover that represented snow. When I found a large white infinity scarf at Target I thought it would serve two purposes: keep me warm when I wore it and create the illusion of snow cover in my still life.   Things were coming together.

When?  You wouldn't think that the ability to leave early on a Friday afternoon because of a huge snowstorm approaching would be interpreted as the sign to drive directly to the local flower store and buy a blue and white flower arrangement.  But it was. And I did.  The bonus was purchasing white ceramic figurines of bunnies and birds.  So now, it was really coming together in my mind and I knew I would start to work right after dinner.  However, as my mother always said, "clean up one mess before you start another." My desk top where I would have to shoot was a total mess so the first hour was devoted to that task as well as taking down the art on the designated wall that needed to be blank.  Once the wall was blank I had to choose a fabric backdrop from my current inventory. No time to go shop for a new one at 9:00 p.m.  After testing a couple of fabrics I chose one and then had to iron it.

Last steps between 11:00 -12:30 a.m. were to pull my newest books from the book shelf and find a colored liquor that worked with the cool palette.

I did half a dozen test shots with various layouts and then called it a night. At this point I was tired. Tomorrow I would make the best of whatever light came through the east window.

When will there be enough light on a very dark, cold December morning? That is a question for a gambling photographer who cannot predict when or if the sun is going to break through the clouds and how far south will be the angle of the sun if it does shine through.  It may never brighten up the table top and all my beautiful objects d'art ready to be photographed.

The answer is simply to photograph a variety of poses throughout the late morning and early afternoon and have some fun with it.  In fact, I even drove over to the local antique store and hit the jackpot by finding a couple of additional ceramic figurines, birds, to add to the menagerie.  That was a fun surprise.

Time, as always was of the essence for two reasons, the sun was going to move west and be totally out of the picture, literally, and we were entertaining friends for dinner.  I had some tasks that had to be completed so I couldn't play all day.

Not to brag but the result was about half a dozen fun combinations of winter angel, floral, sweets (beverage and cookies) and ceramic figurines.  All my new favorites. I chose this one to display here because it has the required elements of what encompasses my favorite still life portraits.

So this with image I can say Happy Winter!  Enjoy the cool colors and all that winter gifts to us.

Still Life en plein air

Still Life en plein air,  #3198,  2016, 

Honoring the Change of the Season

Honoring the Change of the Season, #3113, 2016 

September Sunflowers

September Sunflowers, #9730, 2016 

Gratitude Still Life

Gratitude Still Life  #9493

Stopped By The Light

Stopped by the Light, #9371

August: Basil, Flowers, Tomatoes

August 6th Still Life #9342 

How do you mark time?  I look out the window and see my flowers, tomatoes and basil growing. Each week I look at their progress and estimate if they can be harvested in time for my birthday wish.

My wish is to be able to eat fresh tomatoes on August 9th.

This year I was gifted with a dozen fresh tomatoes in my urban garden so the timing was lovely.

Dance With The Light

Dance With The Light, 2016 

When the prism light shines -

in that moment,

stop, smile and dance with the light

Magical moments can be the unexpected moments. You're on task to do something, like get ready for work.  Suddenly, you stop in your tracks. You see the angle of light shining through the crystal butterfly shaped prism dancing on the surrounding back wall.  

There's no "real" music playing. But you imagine that you can hear it and the light is dancing to the music.

Time stands still as you feel joy and happiness from that simple moment.

You didn't control it yourself. You didn't have to "work" it.  You simply were gifted with this magical moment that made you stop, smile and dance with the light.

Love In Light

"Love in Light" Still Life, #9221

You Are In Every Portrait

Self Portrait  #9136,  2016

Some say every portrait is a self portrait of the photographer.  In the case, it is the truth.

Saturday morning I went to the Mpls. Farmers Market with Karl's daughter, Carla.  She had to buy some Minnesota cheese curds to take back to her co-workers back in Colorado.  I had a small inkling that maybe, just maybe I'd buy some flowers if something called to me. My birthday is coming up and I could make an early still life that was autobiograpical.

I walked through the market and did a comparison shop of what flowers were available at the best price.  From the onset the purples called to me and I knew that the yellow lilies would be the perfect contrasting color.

Got home and double checked that the green background was still up and usable for today's still life. I did however pull the fabric more taut to minimize the striped lighting pattern this time.  Then assembled the following elements:

Poetry books, always Mary Oliver and my new collection by Wendell Berry
Cameras:  tiny crystal Swarovski camera and gold plated miniature camera
Wine glasses: three glasses that represent Karl, his daughter Carla and me with a nice white wine
Glass paperweight which displays a picture of me from 2nd or 3rd grade in my school uniform
Fabric to add color and texture

It could have contained more elements but I've learned that less is more.

Repetitive elements that almost always appear in my still life portraits are
natural light
poetry books
living flowers
beautiful vase
beverage vessels

To my mind they are all representations of love.

The Worldly Owl

The Worldly Owl Still Life, July 2016

Glory

Morning Glory, July 2016 

"Look at everything as though you were seeing it 

either for the first time or for the last time.

Then your time on earth will be filled with glory." 

                                               Betty Smith

                              author of one of my favorite books

                                    "The Tree Grows In Brooklyn" 

poem: The Telephone by Robert Frost

Red Lily, July 2016 

The Telephone   

           Robert Frost, 1874 - 1963

“When I was just as far as I could walk

From here to-day,

There was an hour

All still

When leaning with my head against a flower

I heard you talk.

Don’t say I didn’t, for I heard you say—

You spoke from that flower on the window sill—

Do you remember what it was you said?”

“First tell me what it was you thought you heard.”

“Having found the flower and driven a bee away,

I leaned my head,

And holding by the stalk,

I listened and I thought I caught the word—

What was it? Did you call me by my name?

Or did you say—

Someone said ‘Come’—I heard it as I bowed.”

“I may have thought as much, but not aloud.”

“Well, so I came.”

      https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/telephone-0

poem: Museum

MUSEUM 

           by Keith Leonard (link below to audio and text)

"I walked the three floors

of the local antique store

and imagined white plaques

adorning each room

—but unlike museums

I could touch the displays,

and could take a seat

at a beautiful walnut table—

I could wonder about the moment

its palm-stained patina

went from simply dirty

to expensively antique—that

singular moment the thing

became slightly more

than a thing by simply

continuing to be

the very same thing—all its cracks

thick as the edge of a quarter—

all its smoothed over corners—

all its dark knots flourishing—

and I thought I could live

for awhile in this very

same body—and did, somehow,

and was loved, somehow,

into a third body, which totters

across the living room,

and whose knees I kiss

when he stumbles,

and the difference between

just now and not

is an aperture’s quick snap—

is breath-delicate—

it must have been Luck

—I see it—that saddled me,

the blind horse rising

and falling as the carnival

blared from the brass pipes,

as the carousel twirled

its crown of lights,

and one by one the bulbs

went dark—and so it is,

this life—this goddamn

lucky life—the organ

sounding off the melody,

the platform winding down,

and the horses still bounding."

About This Poem by Keith Leonard

“On a rare day, I’m reminded how paper-thin and tearable existing is—the aneurysm, the cancer, the errant car jumping the curb—and such chance mortality both terrifies me and fills me with gratitude, since many of those I love are still here, somehow, and I’m still here, somehow. This poem was written on one of those grateful days.”

—Keith Leonard"

https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/museum-0

I signed up for the "Poem of the Day" and this was the selection for July  8, 2016.  

Keep Something Beautiful In Your Mind

Keep Something Beautiful in Your Mind, Still Life #3789

John O'Donohue: "I love Pascal's phrase, that you should always "keep something beautiful in your mind." And I have often - like in times when it's been really difficult for me, if you can keep some kind of little contour that you can glimpse sideways at now and again, you can endure great bleakness."

I read this statement by Irish poet John O'Donohue an hour ago and it make me think of the experience I had recently while I visited a longtime girlfriend of mine. Debbie was my wild hippy friend, originally from Minnesota like me, but we were both living in San Francisco when we knew each other best (1975 - 1985). Passionate about life, love, family, friends and so much more. When she got into something she dove in 100%.

But today she's recovering from a stroke that occurred about two months ago. She is currently going through physical therapy to regain use of her, now paralyzed, left side.  I recently visited her in her private room at Walker Methodist Transitional Center.  She had finished dinner and was in bed watching TV.  We talked about her health and the music concert she'd gone to the previous weekend. She'd bought the tickets months ago long before the stroke and the six weeks in extensive care.  I told her I was so amazed that she and her daughter had rode over and back on a Metro Mobility Van. I saw the photo of them on Facebook with the #strokewontstopme,

While we chatted I enjoyed looking at all the photos and items of comfort packed in her room and especially on her dresser and window ledge.  Simultaneously, she asked for and was administered her evening medicine of pain pills and more.

Being who I am, and how I see things, I couldn't help but notice the beautiful orchid plant on display on her dresser near the window. It was hard to truly appreciate it because of all the other items around it. As the sun shone through the window and across the orchids I was prompted to move everything off the dresser top and onto the floor so that Debbie could appreciate this beautiful moment of sunlight on the flowers.  While lying in her bed, she helped give me directions on how I could compose the portrait so she could see the movement of light and shadows better.

It was only ten minutes or so of enjoying this beauhtiful scene before we lost the sun and everything fell in shadow. But it felt as though we both had shared the gift of beauty together and we both had seen and felt something precious before we had to go back to the reality of her stroke and the long recovery she has ahead of her.

The photos turned out so nice that I had them made into a set of greeting cards which I will hand deliver to Debbie on my next visit.

There are times I feel that my ability/need to see beauty and create photographs is trite. But other times, like on this day, it felt important and significant.


John O'Donohue quote above from:
August 6, 2015
ON BEING WITH KRISTA TIPPET
TRANSCRIPT FOR JOHN O'DONOHUE - THE INNER LANDSCAPE OF BEAUTY
https://www.onbeing.org/program/john-odonohue-the-inner-landscape-of-beauty/transcript/7801

Red, White, Blue

Red, White, Blue Still Life #8722 

Yesterday's still life photos were pretty good as I created what I knew were going to be simply Version #1 with more variations to come. I didn't know what was going to happen next but I was open to change and new flowers coming into my life.  I thought I'd have a chance to purchase some store-bought flowers for myself on Saturday when I was out shopping.

Little did I know, however, that at 9:00 a.m. my neighbor Sarah S. would call to say she picked up a few things for me at the local Farmers Market and she was going to stop by for just a minute.  When she got out of her car she grabbed her things and started to quickly walk to our front door. 

I looked at her and then shockingly looked at the large bouquet of flowers that she was holding in her hand. I couldn't believe my eyes.

With a huge smile on her face she presented the flowers to me saying that she thought I'd like a 4th of July holiday bouquet.

I thanked her profusely and told her that she was a mind reader. I had been wishing that I could get a bouquet of flowers today specifically with a 4th of July themed still life in mind.  What a kind and generous neighbor we have with Sarah S. We're so fortunate that she is our neighbor and we've become good friends. 

Today's  Red, White, Blue Still Life came together with the following elements:

• Red cotton fabric for a background
• Red, white, blue scarf that I had purchased on Friday to wear and also use as a table cover
• Books pulled from the shelves that hopefully, spoke about Americana in general rather than Independence Day, specifically
• Glasses of red wine
• Two white wooden bird sculptures embossed "DREAMS" and "LOVE" that I thought could be interpreted as emotions expressed about America.  

It is also true, however, to say that the words "DREAMS" and "LOVE" also expressed how I was personally feeling today about family, friends, my well being and my country.  I am so grateful for all that I have as a citizen of the U.S.A., as a member of the Houser family, my connection through marriage with the Blomseth family and my dear friends.

Follow the Light

Follow the Light  #8535

Nothing like coming home an hour early from work and noticing that the urban wildflowers in the alley were in full bloom and the orange Day Lilies were beautiful in the afternoon sun. Even though I am aware of so many people traveling and vacationing now, I'm happy to be home enjoying my local environment and my neighborhood flowers in bloom.

I hear over and over again that some people find the Day Lily to be an undesirable weed while others plant them and wish for their return in gardens each summer.  I'm of the mind that they are a worthy flower that I look forward to each summer.

Knowing that the purple silk background was still installed and ready for a photo I went downstairs to my inventory of vases and chose a tall, clear glass vase that would work well with the long tall stalks of the Day Lilies and other flowers growing nearby.  

Yes, of course, I made several variations with fruit, vegetables, wine and cheese but sometimes there is nothing better than following the  light patterns at sunset on my front porch home studio.  So here it is.  Simply beautiful afternoon light, at sunset, on our urban wildflowers growing within steps of our home.

WHAT WE NEED IS HERE

           by Wendell Berry  

Geese appear high over us,

pass, and the sky closes. 

Abandon,

as in love or sleep, holds

them to their way, clear

in the ancient faith: 

what we need is here. 

And we pray, not

for new earth or heaven, 

but to be quiet in heart, 

and in eye,

clear. 

What we need is here.

Love Still Life

Love Still Life #8489 

I Almost Made It

Almost, Still Life #8508, June 2016

I almost made it through the whole day Sunday without having the urge to create a still life photo on the front porch studio of our home.

Got up early in the morning and after a quick cup of coffee we hopped on our bicycles for a beautiful bicycle ride that took us to the Minnehaha Parkway, to Minnehaha Falls, to the River Road, then up to the Greenway Bike Path and finally home on the 20th Avenue bikeway.

After a nice breakfast Karl started his "labor of love" i.e. getting the BBQ smoker prepped for the four hour beef rib cooking process. That would be his treat for himself, to work his magic at the grill
Neighbor Sarah S. stopped by and said she'd love to go to the Stone Arch Bridge Art Festival in Mpls. if she had someone to go with her.  I volunteered to tag along so spent a couple of hours with her sight seeing all the amazing art on display.  She bought a few gifts for family members and was very happy with her purchases.

Later, while Karl and I ate his delicious beef rib dinner I watched the light change on the porch.  I made no moves toward changing the nice relaxing pace of our dinner and enjoyed every bite.  I even started my usual routine of cleaning the table and washing the dishes until, about 60% through my task I was struck by an idea for a portrait that I thought I could create fairly quickly since I still had the newly purchased and installed background fabric, a lovely purple silk cloth that worked beautifully the day before.

I assembled

• my favorite purple paisley shawl
• the flower arrangement from the previous day
• a short stack of poetry books that I had on the coffee table
• two glasses with port in the bottle left over from last night's dinner
• fresh blueberries in a fruit bowl

In a matter of approximately twenty minutes I made several variations all based on the angle of the sun. This one was the sweetest with the light brightly illuminating he blueberries, beverages and books.

I felt it was a good accomplishment achieved in a short amount of time so I put everything away for the weekend and finished off washing the dinner dishes.

I almost made it through the day without that evening still life creation, but I'm glad I didn't.

Still Life, Father's Day

Still Life #8425 for Karl, Father's Day 6-19-16

So many ideas, so many variations with the portrait elements but, so little time.

On the occasion of Father's Day I felt that I needed something new. That prompt sent me off on a quest to find new elements that would work to create a still life revealing some of Karl's personality, interests and talents.  Lucky for me a newly found shop on Chicago Avenue in Mpls. brought the purple satin fabric and the white  "Love" bird to me.

After my usual exercise of ironing the fabric, Karl helped me choose some of the elements used for the first several variations of the still life focused on

• his passion for the culinary arts BBQ sauces and spices gifted by his daughter, Carla,  
• his package containing Season 3 of The Game of Thrones, 
• whiskey in shot glasses and 
• fresh vegetables pulled literally off the kitchen counter.  

I loved watching the afternoon sun shine on the satin fabric. I couldn't help but think that the rich purple color reminded me of our MN Viking purple and gold team colors which was also appropriate because that is part of Karl's story as well.

I called it a day, literally when it was time for our Father's Day eve dinner and felt good about what we had created.