Monday

 I took this a few weeks ago at Main St. St Charles, MO. It makes me think of  The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe.

And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted - nevermore!

Assignment for the photography show in FAB

Last week I went to the photography show in the FAB.  I chose a photo from an artist named Bob Rickert.  The title of the image is "Mackinac Roofline".  The medium is Digital Image Ultra Chrome Print.  Here is a link to the image I found online:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/bob-rickert-photography/4688589650/

In the link, the image is much more dull than the real version.  The real version's colors are much more brilliant.

Description:  2/3 of the page are a brilliant green with tiny vertical black lines.  1/3 of the page is yellow with a white wooden bench type item 2/3 of the way down.  It is a beautiful green and yellow line composition.  I do not quite know which is the roof and perhaps which is the building.

It is organized in a way that makes the viewer try to figure out what it is.

I do think it is quality art because the colors draw you in and it makes you want to figure out what it is.

Vivienne Westwood

I was reading an online forum and someone posted about Vivienne Westwood.  She was referring to her being older, but having this young spirit and just not caring what others think about what she wears, the color of her hair, etc.  So, as I usually do, when I don't know anything about a person, subject, word, etc., I googled her.  She is a British fashion designer and is credited with bringing modern punk and new wave fashions into the mainstream.

This lead to a series of different portraits and to other blogs.  I found this blog with a variety of portraiture (not just of Vivienne) that I really enjoyed viewing and wanted to share.  http://artportraiture.blogspot.com/

As for Vivienne Westwood, she is 70 years old and here is a photo of her from 2008.

A Fresh Viewpoint

I enjoyed this article by Jim Richardson on the National Geographic website.  He talks about how you can improve your photos with a different or unique viewpoint.

http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-tips/creative-point-of-views-richardson/

How do quirks of the human vision system effect photography?

Interesting discussion about the quirks of the eye in regards to photography.

http://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/7963/how-do-quirks-of-the-human-vision-system-affect-photography

It's never too late

“Life changes the minute you start doing what you love. And guess what, it’s never too late to get started.”—Dave Brown

I saw this quote yesterday and I love it.  This is how I feel about getting started in photography.  There is a creative part to my being that has been squashed for many years.  From broken relationships to single parenthood with a child who was bipolar and wreaked havoc on my life, my life was too busy to cultivate my creativity.  

When I was a child and through my teen years, I always wrote poetry.  I would even wake up in the middle of the night sometimes to jot down a poem or an idea for a poem.  

I went to cosmetology school and that was a creative outlet in a sense.  I was able to create certain hairstyles and I enjoyed that for a time.  However, I soon discovered that there wasn't enough income and I needed to move on to something else.  Moving on to something else did not get me far.  I spent many years working in social services.  No big salary there either. But, it fulfilled my need to help people.  


Photography and flower arranging have always been on the back burner of my mind.  When I lost my job 2 years ago, I got the opportunity to go back to college.  So here I am, and in the midst of pursuing a computer networking degree, I took the first digital photography course. I loved it!  I found some of that creativity that was put away so many years ago.  


So now I am taking the second digital photography course and I am thinking, "computer networking... what's that?"  I am not even interested any longer.  However, I am so close to finishing the degree, I feel obligated to do so.  I am going to continue to pursue  photography and see where it takes me.  I would love to be a professional photographer, but I know I have a lot to learn, and a long way to go.  


I found this watercolor image entitled "Never too late."  It really speaks to me because I have shed a lot of tears, and the bright, rainbow tears represent the lost creativity.