transform / evolve

T - Nikon / L - Nikon

" Let your imagination blossom. "

- 54 precious keys to happiness

She transformed this common dictionary, found at the Goodwill store, into a beautiful piece of herself - herself, in more ways than one. The form is actually a replica of her that we created by wrapping her with paper tape. A long and tiring process that took us over 2 hours. But what a gorgeous day it was to be outdoors and spend time together. The final piece is so cool. I am always amazed at Taylor's thought process and what she comes up with - the placement of certain words and photos have meaning to her that I may not understand but I know that she does not just randomly create - it all has meaning. / spring is the time of year when everything starts to evolve- buds turn into blossoms and cold weather moods turn into lively ones when you don't want to do anything but be outdoors. my art has also been something that evolves- in style as well as in form. i've been experimenting with a lot of things outside the realm of photography and really enjoying it. it was fun to turn something as simple and common as a dictionary page into a work of art and i'm really happy with its process and evolution.

you can see more of the process here

fly / flight of fancy

Sorry for all of the bird photos lately, but I was excited yesterday when I saw that I had captured this bluebird in flight - heading to the new bird house my dad built. There are 5 other bluebird houses, all mounted at the specified height on trees in the back yard (it is said that bluebird houses should be mounted 5 ft off the ground) and I think this one is higher than that, but I guess the new construction is appealing - no previous tenant's mess to contend with.
Next I'll try to capture the cardinals. They usually build in my azalea bushes. Did you know cardinals mate for life? / work still in progress

p.s. When I saw T's pic for today I chose the bluebird photo that I took yesterday to put with it, so I have to admit, it wasn't truly synchronicity this time. - L

hatch / seek

L - Nikon / T - phone

You may wonder what THIS is all about. T called today with an idea for her new 3D project. She wanted to create a sculpture out of a book (have you ever seen Su Blackwell's work?). So we brainstormed awhile over the phone - hatched up some ideas like we used to do when she was home and had an art project. We're a good team. It's ok that I suggested some things isn't it? She wanted to create a nest out of the pages of the book - I'll leave the rest a mystery. So since I had easy access to scrap paper and an xacto knife at work I did a little test and sent her a phone picture of how it might work. Meanwhile she was shopping for used books. / i'm pretty excited about the new 3D project. my idea is to do a sculpture using the pages of an old book. so i went to the habitat for humanity trift store to seek out some interesting books. $4.28 got me the books i thought i could use.

singing / spring?

“The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month.” - Henry Van Dyke
Seems ever since the "first day of Spring" it has been rainy and chilly - today only a high near 50 and the low is almost reaching freezing. But tomorrow it's supposed to be sunny and 70. I believe Mark Twain said, “In the Spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours.” Well I don't know about 136 different kinds but there sure has been a wide range here in Atlanta. Tonight I finished my ring - makes me want to sing. Ok, sorry that was bad. But I am excited to have a finished product that I can wear and feel sort of proud of. Now that I see it photographed I can tell that I need to do some more polishing but if you knew how much trouble I had getting this together you would understand my excitement. Has anyone ever done soldering? It can be pretty tricky. / the buds of spring are supposed to mean warmth and good weather, right? i don't know about that.. because while i was collecting leaves for my 3D design project today my hands were nearly freezing off! four days of rain and cold weather.. i hope the temperature will decide to rise soon.

9:30am / 9:30pm

solo post - L

This morning it was raining, again - but that was fine because I had a few indoor projects I wanted to get done. I needed to paint the cabinet that my dad built for me. It's a great cabinet that's going to hold vases and candles that aren't used every day and need a place to hide. I have to try to match the trim as best I can so I picked up some swatches at Lowes - Rain Cloud, Tempered Sage, Fisherman's Net, Shoreline Haze, Sprig of Ivy... aren't those some great names? The one that matched perfectly was named "Epic". (T will get a kick out of that - she likes to use that word). It's a National Trust for Historic Preservation paint which is fitting since my home is a classic Williamsburg, styled after the Bracken House. Anyway, I primed the cabinet and then went out in the pouring rain to get my Epic paint. The cabinet looks great and I love having a designated place to store all those odd vases and candles. / Tonight from 8:30 - 9:30 was Earth Hour . Did you turn off all your lights, have candlelight dinners or a soothing bath by candlelight? I didn't plan anything exciting because I almost forgot and a candlelight dinner by yourself isn't so much fun anyway. I gathered as many candles as I could (hey now they were all in one place in my new cabinet, how nice). It was a hodgepodge of candles but oh well - lights were out and it was sort of relaxing. I took my shower by candlelight and then had coffee and cake by candlelight. I'm generally very conscious of the lights I'm burning but it wouldn't be a bad idea to do this every night. Not only does it save energy, it forces us to relax for a little while.

emerge / morph

L - Nikon D40x 200mm / T - phone pic
Today was an absolutely gorgeous day. I drove up to Athens to look at another house with my daughter. It was so warm I opened the sunroof! Before I left Atlanta I was outside with my dog and noticed the sproutings of spring. With temperatures like this for a few days I bet we will see more little surprises emerge. I remember one year in particular, on Feb 12th, (1990, the year my daughter was born) that the Bradford pear trees were in full bloom and the jonquils too. unusual. / our newest assignment in my 3D class is to create a "found object" sculpture piece with anthropomorphic or zoomorphic features. my teacher suggested a good dumpster to go to behind the foundry where there would be a lot of metal and wood scraps (without having o deal with food items). my roommate and i went over after breakfast and got to work dumpster- diving. the students doing metal work probably knew we were freshman assigned some crazy foundations class project and were laughing at us, but it was still fun. my finest find was this faucet. my roommate and i decided it kind of looked like a dog or a reindeer. what do you think it looks like - what can this faucet possibly morph into? i need to add more objects to make a full creature. help, i'm having trouble getting inspiration.