Meditative Me

This is a sculpture, given me by a friend, to honor my spiritual journey.

I think it is supposed to be Mary Magdalen in the garden. Whoever it is, she reminds me of my meditative self. This Self hasn't been around in awhile, and I miss Her. I hope I can spend some time this weekend reconnecting with Her. I gain so much from meditation, it just seems to be one of the first things to go, along with exercise, when I'm dealing with life. But like exercise, it gives back much more than it takes.

Light and shadow

This week's assignment is to explore the interplay of light and shadow. For the photo to be successful the shadow must play an integral part of the design. All these were shot with ISO 50 film. For purposes of the assignment all "Light/Shadow" photos had to be on a separate roll from the "Light/Texture" photos...which was frustrating. I think the jellyfish here could go in either category, and the photo of Zeus in the "Light/Texture" post could equally well go here.

Light and Texture

The assignment here is to use light to accentuate surface texture. It helps on these to click and enlarge, in order to see surface texture well.

ISO 50, 125@f8


ISO 50, 2@f11


ISO 50, 125@f8


ISO 50, 350@f4

Illustrated Motion

Pinhole camera: Still Life

Fancy Schmantsy

Goodness, Truth & Beauty

I have the assignment this weekend of writing an artist's statement. Which feels a bit disingenuous because I feel like a poser. I'm an art student, not technically an artist, and making that transition -- mentally, if in no other way -- is challenging. Anyway, I've been thinking about what I'm trying to say with my art, what theme holds it together (if any), blah blah blah. I was driving home thinking about Goodness, Truth & Beauty, the threefold of expression of The Trinity, and how I hope that my work reflects a spiritual dimension that's characterized, at least in some limited way, in some measure, by Goodness, Truth or Beauty. Then I arrive home, walk through the door, and am stopped dead in my tracks by the afternoon sun pouring over these simple pumpkins ... and I just knew that I was on track with my artist's statement. Which photo do you like best?

Grateful bird

This bird was part of my table decoration for Thanksgiving, and he was grateful not to be the 'other' bird.

Glass, my version

It's a lousy picture, but here's my graphite version of the glass still life I took the other day.

Wednesday's: Glass still life

This is the set-up for the drawing I'm currently working on.

Shoreline Still Life

Aaaaah

Time to dig toes in sand.

Sex in the salon

At my hair cut yesterday, I saw this message staring at me.

Morning Light

Loved this shot of the view from bed at the resort this past weekend.

Next project ideas

Tonight I spent over three hours (THREE HOURS) trying to come up with a still life subject for my next project, which is due soon so I really don't have three hours to devote to setting it up! Pictured are the four combinations that I came up with. The parameters are: must show line systems at work, must display texture, must be well composed, must show all degrees of value, must be done from life (not a photo), can be executed in charcoal or graphite. Funny thing is...the composition I liked best is the one I like least in the photos! And some of the ones I gave up on in person, I really like in the photos (especially when I cheat and view them in black and white as the project will be). For instance, the pet toys never looked very good to me and seemed to lack complexity. But in the b/w version of the photo, I love the composition (except for that dead upper left corner). So I'm right back where I started...not sure what I'm going to start drawing at 8:30 tomorrow morning!

Mostly shoes

This was today's only photo....and it was taken with a cell phone. It is a set up for a charcoal drawing I'm doing to highlight various textures.

PS. By the way...I'm so glad I captured the artroom kitchen! Some curmudgeon has since scrubbed it of all its personality! The sense of this blog being a historical record has never felt so urgent! :-)

A little bit of everything

This is the scene in the kitchen at the art department where I'm in school. It provides the larger context for yesterday's photo. I doubt you expected a large red California with splatter being rolled on by a disembodied hand. Nor would one necessarily expect a giant upturned purple spider to be on top of the fridge. But hey...it's the art department. I loved the dueling sentiments...."Just Say No to Sex with Pro-Lifers" juxtapositioned against "No special rights for sodomites", with "Save the Males" thrown in for good measure. The whole assemblage cracks me up.

Guacamole and fresh 'maters

Life is just a bowl of 'em

Peachy

Sweet, local, drippy peaches.