Month: December 2015

As the new year draws closer…

this would be a great time to reflect on your own artistic journey.

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If I’d had some set idea of the finish line, don’t you think that I would have crossed it years ago?

Bill Gates

Going into my second year of weekly blogging I debated about doing the next year in monochromatic but ultimately decided that I don’t like limitations. In my mind, each image clearly dictates its final presentation and rarely do I ever consider publishing a color version and a black and white version at the same time.

My favorite color images are typically the ones that just share a hint of color. I seem to almost physically recoil from images that are too saturated or multi-colored. I suspect it is just an individual thing with how our brains work and how we process information.

I see color very clearly and when color matching for paint or some such thing, I don’t need to carry a color swatch but visualize it and match it from the image in my head. Likewise I rarely measure and can tell just from looking if things will fit, and if they are straight. I clearly missed my calling and should have worked for a moving company!

Numbers on the other hand are for me utterly confusing with the exception of how they relate to photography. Those combinations I find soothing, perhaps because they have such a strong visual result.

As this year draws to a close and sharing from my own personal experience; if you desire to be a photographer or any kind of artist for that matter I can’t stress enough the importance of daily practise. Not only will your creativity increase but because you will become so familiar with your tools, when the opportunity arises for that special image you will be confident in your ability to capture it and bring it to life as you see it.

This will go a long way in helping you to develop your own personal style. I love to look back on images from years ago and visually see where the biggest changes occurred.

A question to ask yourself…do you feel confident in your abilities? If the answer is no, now is the perfect time to make a change and invest in yourself.

May 2016 be filled with joy and inspiration! Where will the new year take you?

 

I know who stole the Christmas tree ornaments…

but can you tell me who was the thief of time?

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decorations for his tree

And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been.

Rainer Maria Rilke

Fifty two weeks of blogging. Fifty two weeks to link images and words. Fifty two weeks of growth and direction.

When I started this project I wasn’t sure how it would look or where it would take me. I worried that it would become a self-imposed “assignment” that would loom like a dark cloud over my week-end.

The time has literally flown by though and this has become an enjoyable part of my week. Much to my surprise I have never had to struggle through the writing of the post and as an added bonus, I have a lot more clarity on my own direction.

It brings me great pleasure to see people from around the world taking a few minutes out of their day to see what images and words I have shared. Time is in short supply for most of us and I wanted to take a moment to thank those of you who have signed up to follow my blog, comment, or just drop in from time to time.

For me this has been a valuable lesson in not having expectations but just going forward and letting things unfold. Do it for yourself first! I know that I harp constantly on creativity and how important is it to feed it but for those of you who struggle with it, I swear that if you make a commitment to yourself to feed your art on a daily basis you will have more inspiration and ideas than you will know what to do with!

Merry Christmas, may the season bring you joy and inspiration and time with those you love… two-legged or four!

In this month of excess…

don’t forget to check in with yourself…and get committed!

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If you deny yourself commitment, what can you do with your life?

Harvey Fierstein

December is my month for reflection; to think back on the year and to consider the next. It is also a month of excess and pressure that flies along at such a pace that if we aren’t careful, we can be left feeling depressed, out of sorts, and like we have missed something.

For me it is a time to set goals and to put those things into play before the end of the year so that when the first of January rolls around I already have a head start. Such has been the case with my first year of blogging.

My goal was to post a weekly post and on that first day as I sat down in front of my blank screen I began to wonder just what I had gotten myself into. Like most other things though if you commit to it, it has a way of finding its own path. For me, because I see my world in images first that seemed to be a natural starting point…the image. Once I had that in place, each week seemed to just write itself.

This has been the second of such challenges that I have set for myself and both times the rewards have been unexpected and far more than I had hoped for. The first of these challenges was to post an image every day with the requirement that the image had to be taken on that very day. I was introduced to this site that had its start in Scotland by a dear South African friend, an immensely talented photographer and painter whom I had met many years ago while spending time in Africa. I posted for two straight years and not only learned far more about the art of photography but I learned about myself and how I see the world around me.

A more in-depth look at some of my images took this further yet and now as I sit ready to hit the publish button on my 51st post, I feel a sense of confidence and even more importantly self that I earned by making a commitment to myself and my art.

So what are you waiting for? There’s no better time to get off of the sofa and follow a dream!

Dreams of a powder day…

are never far away as the season slowly kicks off.

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Keep your face always towards sunshine and shadows will fall behind you.

Walt Whitman

Images like this bring back memories of the most blissful of days. Gliding slowly uphill, keeping a close eye out for fresh powder, pristine and as yet unblemished by those who worship at the church of the chair.

Some may say the idolatry is blasphemous but for one who pays homage to snow in all of its forms I can only say “How much closer to God can you be?” On this day I can recall the silence, it was a day of such bountiful beauty that the spoken word seemed intrusive. It was a day for silence broken only by the whir of the chairlift and the hiss of the board as it slid its way through the fresh snow.

Children of the snow…church of the chair and as a good friend would tell me “When it’s this deep, keep your tip up!”

As she disappeared down through the trees following a line spotted from the chair, I can still hear her laughter pealing like church bells through the silence…