intriguing art for bored and lonely walls

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Friday, October 21, 2011

Love Sales

This photograph sold in my shop two days ago.   Do I feel like a kid finding something new and lovely to jump up and down about when I make a sale?  Yessss.    Am I goofy?  Yessss.   

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Where Nearly Everything Is Orange

We went to the pumpkin patch this weekend.  There was so much for the kids to do.    Not only did they have a great time, they were utterly exhausted after running atop a hay bale maze and jumping from bale to bale.   This meant bedtime was not a dramatic ordeal.

While there, we met this guy - an animatronic dinosaur that quite enjoyed "eating" pumpkins.  
I have to say my first thought was WTF

"Hmmmmm," he pondered audibly, as he picked out a pumpkin

"Crush IT!  Crush IT!" chanted all the kids


Mr. Dino snoring while we waited for him to wake up

The Picture I Didn't Take...

Going about my business yesterday, I drove right past an ordinary-looking man sitting on the sidewalk on the street.   He looked like any other "dad" type man, nothing especially bedraggled about him at all.   No fancy jacket, just some sort of non-nondescript long coat, and a multicolored (not in a good way) hat.

What caught my attention was the way he sat with his knees drawn up, as if he were not really expecting anyone to notice him, as if he were lost in his thoughts. 

That and the small cardboard sign, small enough to have been ripped off the top of a moving box, that stated simply "Anything is helpful."

I wanted to pull over and give him my coffee, which I had just gotten at Starbucks, for lack of a more edgy place nearby.    Or maybe my son's hot chocolate - he will never miss it, I reasoned, since he doesn't know I have gotten him one.   Surely this man needed it more; surely he could be made briefly just a bit happier by a cup of coffee or hot chocolate on a 55 degree morning...



The trouble with helping people on street corners is more obvious downtown, where you can see it in many of the eyes of those who ask for help that they are taking you for a ride.    You can see it in the eyes of the urban natives, as they watch the little short girl get approached - already judging me as a silly tourist for not being a total jerk to them.    Sometimes I stop and talk with the more entertaining ones outside the Art Institute.    But mostly, I shake my head and go on my way, as I have been a grownup now for quite some time, and am not so naive.    I feel sad when a super cute chick, who seems put together and intelligent, comes up to me in the parking garage, giving me the line that she needs money for gas to get back to wherever.    I say sorry, I don't have any cash.   But I want to say, SERIOUSLY?

So with these thoughts tumbling around, I didn't give him anything.   I had already gone by anyhow.   But it bugged me all day.   Because my sense was that maybe he was one of the ones that do need help...   And so if I see him today, I think I will definitely buy him a cup of something helpful... Not like that makes me a good person, or like it's going to change his life beyond those few moments of warmth...

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Steps Among Ghosts...

I pass this cemetery all the time. Always, I'm late on my way for somewhere, and on the way back, I'm too tired, the light is wrong, the kids are with me, etc. This time I stopped for an ever so brief few snaps. There was a funeral going on at the other end, such a small burial... I felt intrusive, even as far away as I was. However, I did manage to get these few that I love...



This image is haunting to me, not only because it's so sad but also because she seems to be staring right at you...

  




Monday, October 10, 2011

Erosion

A little snap I took earlier this year, along with one of my poems.   It's funny how that chapter of my life seems like several hundred {thousand} lifetimes ago.    I am not that girl any more.   I remain unsure that this is a good thing, but am grateful that I emerged as more than just a shell of a person.   {I think.}  The oddest part of this non-story is that the villain wasn't a villain at all, but a hero, as it always has been from the beginning.    Which of course makes no sense.   But that's the rub, you see.  None of it made any sense.   Behind my lens, however, I found, as I always do, solace, and clarity.   I'm re-visiting this project to see if I can get it to the place I intended...



e r o s i o n

i've been sleeping through my waking moments {lately}...
waiting for something i can{not}
{de}fine
to stop;
it began so slowly, i hardly realized at first -
like
a drip,
drip,
{drip}ping
faucet -
eroding
my composure -
sickening
my stomach -
tearing pieces of my {soul}
away -
i watch them float like butterfly wings;
my trust wavering;
{belief} quivering;
focus blurred...

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Medieval Times and Camera Love

I really, really, REALLY enjoyed my visit to Medieval Times.  I must confess it wasn't the food, the story, or the medieval atmosphere that permeated literally everything.   It was the low-light practice it afforded me.   Okay and the quality family time for sure, which was utterly amazing.   Seeing the kids stand up and cheer like maniacs when the Black and White Knight won - was awesome.   

Low-light action is something I am always fiddling with.   It gets better and better.   But it is not where I want it to be.  I thought these came out ok though.   I especially love the bottom one of the  Princes Lennore - it reminds me of one of my favorite Digital Blasphemy wallpapers of a magic circle...
 
Blue Knight
Lennore musing on her lost Tristan

Friday, October 7, 2011

Following Your Self

This is one of my favorite photos I have taken recently-ish.   I think we generally know where we are going, what we want, and so forth, at a certain point.   Sometimes I see myself denying what it is I really want, or what I really feel about certain things.   More than than, struggling with belief in myself, and in my art.  Something in my upbringing, I suppose.  

This photo is also for sale in my shop, should you be intrigued...   

Memories of Spring + RetroCamera Love...

Winter is wandering its way over to us here in Chicagoland in slightly chilly fits and starts... But today - today is a beautiful, warm day. The kids are playing with the hose, running amuck in that way I can never seem to mimic now, as a {self-admitted totally boring!} adult....

This photo was taken sometime in the spring while walking along one of the many trails around here. As much as I long for an iPhone (contracts, contracts... sigh) and its Hipstamatic app, I have to say that RetroCamera and some of the Android apps are pretty alright. This is one of my favorite effects, with its filmstrip edges and generous scratches...


Facebook Landing Page...

If you have a moment to "Like" me on facebook, I'd appreciate it!  Also I'd love feedback on my new landing page...  

Finding my focus...

A lone petal on the windshield of my car...  I always love the way the rain makes a natural, pseudo-bokeh texture.  To me, this image speaks to two emotions:  the sometimes need to focus on just one thing, and let everything else fade into the background; and the feeling of being alone, with all the baggage that tends to bring / set free, depending on your mood... 


I couldn't decide which one I liked the best: SOOC on the right; or a vintage feel added on the left.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Who doesn't love the Chicago Theater??

I'm so excited because Tori Amos is coming to town in December!  I definitely plan to go...

Check out my new shop listing as I catch this iconic sign from a different perspective...

St. Mary of the Angels Restoration

Often while driving I see this gorgeous basilica (at least that is the term that comes to mind!) and can never seem to get a shot (since I'm barreling down the highway...).   Going to savethedome.net, I learned that the church is called St. Mary of the Angels.  I just think it is one of the most gorgeous churches I have ever seen.   Is it sacrilegious that I prefer to enjoy the architecture of a church rather than go to one regularly?   Maybe.   But I just can't help myself...  I feel a need to climb something to get a lovely shot of all those amazing angels...


I always wonder:  what would it have been like to grow up having religion be beautiful, at least on the outside?   To sit in a cavernous church - would I feel closer to God?   What would it be like to have concrete religious beliefs instead of the scattered remnants of a forced strict religious upbringing?   Does a person feel more connected to others?  To themselves?  To God?   Would it have made a difference?   Would I be less dysfunctional?   More so?   Do angels really watch over me?  Pondering, pondering...

Hope up high

New in the shop!  One of many beautiful churches I pass by on my way into greater Chicago.   Although I am not overtly religious, I do find inspiration and a sense of hope when I look at the time and love and belief that goes into these structures...


Wednesday, October 5, 2011

It can't rain all the time...


Who knew Picnik could enchant me more at times than my beloved Photoshop??  I didn't see that coming...  

Here's a little Poe / Eric Draven mashup for Halloween...  What do you think?    Is the "zooming in" feeling too subtle? 

I'd love to see some of your Halloween photographs if you want to share...