Memories

Memories, Still Life #3160

I invite you to walk in to the picture created specifically for a special man who is one of a kind.  So what better way to remember him than to create a still life fine art photograph that is as unique as he is.

A brown background is warm, loving and masculine surrounding the collection of memorabilia that was borrowed from shelves in his artist's studio.  Do you see the artist's business card that reveals his current talents?  Conversely, several other items take you down the memory lane of his youth, from his military dog tags to bullets and shotgun shells.  The cloissone decorated liquer carafe is empty of fluid but full of memories of a friend, now deceased and a symbol of much younger years.  The tiny little brown bear holding a camera has duo meanings: his bear totem and his life as a photographer.

Pick up the stack of books and skim through the titles so you have a small inkling of what he's passionate about.  The titles reveal his love of travel, road trips, cooking and gardening including raising roses, which is why the roses in the vase are significant.

It's lovely that this has been created now while the giver and the recipient are alive, healthy and happy.

Treasure all of the moments with your loved one when you're together in spirit or in person.

The heart hath its own memory, like the mind,
And in it are enshrined
The precious keepsakes, into which are wrought
The giver's loving thought.

                                                             Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Still life photograph is available for purchase at

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/memories-wendy-blomseth.html

Walk Into The Picture #6 Cookies, Coffee and Comfort

Cookies, Coffee and Comfort

Walk into the picture and look at the beautiful table setting.  Isn't it inviting?

What are you drawn to first?  Do you want to enjoy the fresh coffee?  Do you want to nibble on the fresh out of the oven cookies?  How about flipping through the pages of the books?  Or do you simply want to get comfortable in a chair close by and let your full senses take in the whole scene, the sights, the smells, the touch and yes, of course, eventually the taste?

I invite you to take it all in and make the selections as you wish.  

Enjoy this moment of mindfulness.


Available for purchase at https://fineartamerica.com/featured/cookies-coffee-and-comfort-wendy-blomseth.html

Walk Into The Picture #5

Sit, Sip and Smell,  May 2017

Walk into the picture and smell the lilacs.  They are so irresistible aren't they?  In the spring when the flowers are blooming and the air is sweet and fragrant it's almost impossible not to harvest the flowers in the yard, isn't it?

 If you examine closely you'll see three different types of lilacs that have subtle differences, one from the other. The bleeding hearts are always so delicate that you may be afraid to touch them, so be gentle.

Can you help us name the little yellow buds?  My husband thinks they're yarrow but the pictures I see on the web don't match with yarrow.  We've been gifted with them for the first time this year.  Don't know where they came from or how long they're staying but I love them.  And given the decision to pull them or let them flourish, I opted for let them be.

Look at the three books from which you can choose, "Still Life," "Poem A Day," and "Michelangelo's Notebook."   Choose the one that calls to you.  Or, bring your own book and help yourself to the chilled glass of white wine.  Pearls always make any occasion better, in my opinion. You can pass or play.

I invite you to find a comfortable spot to sit and sip and smell the flowers.  Enjoy this moment of mindfulness.

 Fine Art Reproductions Available at Fine Art America:

  https://fineartamerica.com/featured/sit-sip-and-smell-may-2017-wendy-blomseth.html

Sweets

Sweets, #2034,  April 2017 

Sweets for my sweet sister who not only is a very sweet and kind person but also an excellent baker who brought a delicious blueberry cake for Easter dinner.

Red Gold Still Life

Red Gold Still Life #1196, Jan. 2017

Honoring the Change of the Season

Honoring the Change of the Season, #3113, 2016 

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.

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.

Summertime

Sumertime Still Life #8263

Beer, Books and Buds

Beer, Books and Buds 

How Do I Love Thee?

Falling In Love, 2016

"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...

I love thee to the level of every day’s

Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.

 

For the artist who falls in love with their own work ...  "thee" can be anything, from a person to a plant. Today, it was the Light. Capital "L."  For me, a life long photographer, it's always been and always will be about the Light.

At around 5:00 pm today the angle of the sun created a beautiful light and shadow pattern illuminating the fabric that still hung from last week's portrait session.  It was truly breathtaking and caused an internal alarm that almost shook me. I literally fell in love at first sight.  But I knew that I had a finite amount of time to create the artistic still life portrait I desired.

I started with the beautiful flowers purchased last week from Bachman's that were still looking good eight days later. I loved seeing them each and every day this week even though I was aware of  many minor changes as they aged and wilted.

While I was freshening the flower arrangement and changing the vase I was reminded of comments repeatedly shared by artist friend Jim Marion Foreman that "as we create our favorite art pieces we fall in love with them. We develop an intimate relationship with them that, in that moment, is an intense love affair between the artist and the art."

This was more true than ever today.  

I loved the first session of portraits that was just the flower vase when I was merely "flirting" with the sunlight and shadows. Then the Muse, who was my stand-in, caught my attention as she communicated that she too had an extraordinary attraction to the warmth and embrace of the sun. 

To add a thoughtful conversation to the budding relationship I added two big art books "so we'd have something to talk about" and liqueur in a glass so we could whet our thirst after talking.

As the sun went down and the colors became softer and warmer with a golden palette, the final token was shared, pearls. Pearls that spoke of our sophisticated, sexy and sensual affair that lasted only as long as the light illuminated our scene.

Standing in the dark later I couldn't see the vase or the Muse or the pearls but I remembered the deep love that we had shared during those moments together in the sun and the shadows.

How do I love thee?  

Truly, let me count the ways.

How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43)

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, 1806 - 1861

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight

For the ends of being and ideal grace.

I love thee to the level of every day’s

Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.

I love thee freely, as men strive for right.

I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.

I love thee with the passion put to use

In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose

With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,

Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,

I shall but love thee better after death.

The Muse

Muse, 2013