new shoes / old shoes

L - iphone / T- iphone

Taylor and I got the hang of Denver public transportation pretty quickly - riding the bus, the light rail and the Free Mall Ride. The free mall ride was the best - getting us quickly to most of the sections of town we wanted to visit. / my kicks are falling apart

looking up / looking down

L - Nikon / T - iphone
click on image for a clearer and larger view

Trail Ridge Road - possibly one of the most spectacular drives you will ever take - it is the highest (12,000 ft ) highway in the US, and takes you way above the tree line to see sweeping panoramas of the Rocky Mountain National Park. We went from a temperature of about 72 to 34 in less than an hour driving up to the Alpine Visitor Center. We were disappointed that was as far as we could go given some time restrictions we were on. We had wanted to cross the Continential Divide and reach Grand Lake before heading back but the sun was setting and we had to get back to Denver. / i think it was freaking mom out a bit that i was climbing up here. i have to admit it was a little bit scary, but worth it for the view. right mom?

grand view / in the saddle

L - Nikon / T- iphone (click photo for a better view)

Day two. Estes Park, Colorado.
We went on a two hour horseback ride in the Roosevelt National Forest. Climbing from 7,000 ft to 9,000 ft on steep and narrow trails - just the three of us with a guide. The views were amazing and the air was fresh and sweet. There were sore bottoms the next day but it was well worth it. / what a great adventure. it was so much fun to be in the saddle again. paint pony = love.

day 25 - breakfast

L - iphone (bottom left) / T - iphone (top right)

Breakfast together. Taylor made chocolate chip scones - so delicious. It was a brief weekend visit but we had so much fun just enjoying the beautiful spring weather - moving from indoors to the warmth of the sun on the deck and then following the sun down to the firepit, continuing our talks.

day 24 - an animal

L - iphone / T - iphone

Well we weren't very clever with this prompt for sure but it was a weekend of the animals - the dogs. Daisy had so much fun being outdoors all weekend long. With her new wireless collar she is free to roam around our big yard - roll in the cool green grass, romp through the ivy and forage around the firepit for the best charcoaled sticks. (does anyone know why dogs enjoy this? both daisy and evee loved picking charcoal bits out of the firepit and eating them)

day 14 - clouds

L - iphone / T - iphone

We had lunch together and brainstormed on her fairytale story she is choosing to write for her children's literature class. I went back to work and she took Daisy to the dog park. Not even the first day of spring yet and the temperatures are like summer - 80º today.

day 12 - fork

L - iphone / T - iphone

Spring break for Taylor this week... dinner at my parents house last night... carrot cake for dessert - the best ever!

healthy / healthful

L - iphone / T - iphone

Taylor worked with me in my metalsmithing studio over the weekend. It was fun having her down there. She made herself a ring that says "bend don't break" and I snapped this phone pic while we chatted because I thought she looked so cute and summery in her little dress and hair all pulled up. She had a healthy glow to her skin after working landscape with her dad the past couple of days, but I don't think she was too happy about the t-shirt tan she got. She's pretty smart about using sun screen just like she's pretty smart about the foods she eats. "Ants on a log" is her idea of a great snack. Whereas I tend to go for the Snickers bar. What's your favorite type of snack?

gathered / arranged

L - Nikon / T - Nikon

Just as she used to do when she was a child - she picked wildflowers for me and gave them to me for Mother's Day. The simplicity of this little arrangement brought a smile to my face better than any bought flowers could do.

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

hope / faith

L - iphone / T - phone pic

" Sustain hope and faith. "

- 54 precious keys to happiness

sea creature / land creature

L - iphone / T - phone pic

August Break 15

Today was a great day. I met my cousin in Watkinsville to go to the Annual Pottery show -50 potters displaying and selling their work. There were so many wonderful pieces there that I coveted. Then we had a nice lunch and drove to Athens to meet T. She took us to see an exhibit of Edward Curtis' - Native American Indian photography - a beautiful collection his work from the book Shadow Catcher. She also gave us a tour of the art building - there were giant paper mache sculptures of safari animals, huge portraits in charcoal, elaborate color wheels, and 3-D wood sculptures. This one of the seahorse is made out of toothpicks. / mom and my second cousin came to visit so i sort of played hostess of athens. i took them a photography exhibit and to the art building and then to the local coffee joint called jittery joes. we were sitting outside on vintage metal glider chairs in the shade and this little guy came up and surprised me. after my initial skittishness and my cousin informed me that this little guy was harmless - then i wanted to try to pet him. i guess i stressed him out by trying to catch him because his chest pumped up all pink. sure wish i had gotten that shot - against that bright orange chair it would have been cool.

prismacolor / sharpie color

L - Nikon / T - Canon

August Break 12

We both submitted our designs for the Dolphin Parade and are anxiously waiting to hear back. A celebration for the opening of the new dolphin exhibit at the Georgia Aquarium will feature 5' dolphin fiberglass sculptures painted by artists. We're hoping at least on of our designs will be chosen.

I rendered my design with Prismacolor pencils /i did mine with sharpies.

Funny, these photos were not shot in collaboration for this post but were taken randomly. I just thought they fit together.

Live Greener

T - digital montage

"We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. " - Native American proverb

Taylor and I are trying to live greener one simple green step at a time. It's not easy and we are having to change our ways and be reminded of steps we can take - remembering that every little action helps. It's a mind-set, a lifestyle and I have to admit that I am not always conscious of it.
I got a great little book for Christmas last year from my nephew to help me. It's called "The Little Green Handbook - 145 Simple Steps to Save the Planet". It's full of gentle reminders and new tips for living green, in and away from home. Putting into practice all these little things can add up and if we will all just do what we can we will leave the earth a better place for our children, and their children and so on - Small changes can make a big difference.
A few things I try to remember to do are:

- carry by reusable grocery bag with me

- use a reusable coffee mug instead of getting a paper cup each visit
- reuse the water from the dehumidifier for plants needing water outside
- turn off the water while I brush my teeth
- turn the lights off when I leave the room, always
- unplug appliances (easy enough to do but I don't do it often)
- wash clothes in cold water
- use the dishwasher, instead of washing by hand, letting them dry naturally
- use cloth towels instead of paper napkins, always
- burn soy candles
- use cast iron skillet instead of teflon coated
these are just a few I can think of at the moment.
What's one thing you are currently doing in an attempt to live greener?

Indeed it's not always easy being green. Happy Earth Day!

imagination in Athens

solo post - L, canon

I visited Taylor in Athens today to look at an apartment for next semester. Expecting it to storm all day, I was pleasantly surprised that we had no rain - nice enough in fact to eat brunch outdoors at a colorful cafe. There were buckets of sidewalk chalk placed about for anyone who felt inspired. I have a feeling it was children that left their marks on this wall - creating a pretty nice effect of wildflowers I think... if you squint your eyes and leave your imagination open. / Taylor is wanting a bike now. I think it must be spring fever - Spring has it's way of giving people the urge to get outdoors - to be more active doesn't it? The wall on the side of the bike shop was really striking and I wanted to show you but I did a poor job of getting it all in (must be my old eyes). I cropped off her T's feet, birds beaks and wings... but you can imagine... it was pretty spectacular.

tiny green

L - Canon / T - Nikon

As you may know I am playing along with the flickr group sixty-four colors. I asked Taylor to play along too. When I told her the color of the week was asparagus green she asked if it was "new" asparagus or "old". I told her the rgb color coordinate looked more like "canned" asparagus to me. Pretty funny. I took a photo of this little tiny sea urhcin that I have at work for my crayola color match and she sent me her photo today - a tiny little match box car. cute.
Have you decided to play along with this weekly challenge? There are so many fun flickr groups it's hard to resist wanting to be a part of them all but it's also hard to keep up with them. I'm wondering... Which group do you enjoy being a part of? How many of the weekly photo challenges do you participate in and do you post to them each week?

blue / yellow

L - Nikon / T - Nikon

After we saw these two shots from yesterday, how could we not pair them together. Not deliberately shot together but deliberately placed together tonight.
Two different houses, on different streets, but I think one was inspired by the blue house with yellow forsythia in the side yard and borrowed their blue paint? There were houses of many colors - lime green, plum purple, canary yellow, olive green, slate blue, even bright pink. It makes for a very colorful neighborhood. There is always something new and interesting to see we you visit.
the last time i went to cabbagetown was on a class field trip with my high school photography class. since then, it's had a rough time and 2 years ago was devastated by a tornado. i'm so happy to see people rebuilding - that it still seems to be thriving. unfortunately we were pressed for time so we didn't get time to grab a bite in the cute local restaurant or explore the streets, but i did make some cat friends along the way and successfully snapped some shots for my next photography project!

I didn't see the outdoor dining set that Taylor saw before.

green / tree

L - Nikon / T - Nikon

Happy Spring everyone. Hope your day was filled with new delight.

When I bought this car 13 years ago I immediately fell in love with the color. Many people think it's an awlful color but to me it is the color a Japanese maple leaf in spring time. That's how I describe it anyway - Jeep calls it Citron Green. Taylor drives it now and she loves it too. It's almost a one-of-a-kind. As long as we've had it we could count on one hand the amount of times we've seen another one just like it - anywhere. Taylor wants to drive her Kirby forever. She says it just fits who she is. And I'd say it does - unique.
I feel so lucky - she has been home two weekends in a row. I bought her tickets to see Spoon at the Tabernacle, but she also wanted to shoot some more film for her assignment. It's a project on color so first we drove down to Cabbage Town where the homes are bright and crazy colors, and to Little Five Points were the graffiti walls add color to otherwise rundown buildings. It was a gorgeous sunny 75 and we enjoyed being outside together. We ate at Flip (a unique burger joint) to end the day before she headed to the concert.
Since we were together we decided to look at our photos of the day and pick two to post, together. I chose the Jeep because I had planned to use it on a post at Lensustogether and when we saw the one she took of the tree and the green wall in Cabbage Town they seem meant for each other. When she first saw that wall she said, "hey look they're painting it Kirby green" and took a photo - not knowing that I had shot the photo of her car behind our maple tree earlier in the day.
Two 'spring greens' behind bare trees waiting for their new leaves.

she didn't have time to write her portion

belongings / possessions

L- Nikon / T - Nikon - collaborative

Today we did collaborate on our post. I was inspired by Relyn's post who was inspired by another blogger and thought it sounded like something Taylor would enjoy doing so I asked her. She gave me an enthusiastic yes. So here you have it: The things we carry around.
Right now my bag is a mess with lots of receipts and printed pages from the computer but here is a good representation of the common contents within. iphone, Canon PowerShot 780 (for the quick shot), a little Life is Good purse (carries my phone charger), small holder for license and cards, chapstick, mascara (in case I forget to put it on at home - however, I don't apply it in the car - promise), pack of raisins (quick snack if needed), pill box (with aspirin for repeated headaches), reading glasses (because it's getting harder to see my phone messages), CVS coupon receipt (often with an expired date), hand lotion, Starbucks card (I bought it today for myself because it was pretty), computer printouts (for Taylor - order for film from B&H, order for print paper from Adorama, an application form from Quinlan Art Center for the Bird Nest exhibit she entered, and an etsy order of hers I took care of mailing for her), plus an illustration catalog (I got in the mail today and brought it home for Taylor). There's a receipt there from Borders - usually there is book I'm reading in there (especially now that the weather is turning warm enough to eat outdoors), and of course keys (but they are generally in my hand, in the car, or in the ceramic dish inside my door) / these are things i constantly have to have in my possession: my various rings, which i sometimes change throughout the day, my ipod to keep me company in the darkroom, bobby pins to keep my mane of a hair in check, and a roll of film so i'm always prepared, oh and of course my phone.

a little bunny / a little bird

L- Nikon / T - Nikon

Isn't this interesting? I took this photo last night for our post today and Taylor sent me one this afternoon - no conversation about shooting similar content. I had just asked her if she wanted to participate in the sixty-four colors group and for her to send me a photo of the crayon color robin egg blue. But look what happened instead. Both of our images have a mirror reflecting into our bedroom and both images have a tiny little spring symbol - the bunny and the little bird. I love that this happened. I really like her image a lot. I like the reflection and the sunlight hitting her yellow sofa. If she had sent it yesterday instead of the daffodils I would have seen a synchronicity - yet different.

Her teacup with my tea bag, the blue in hers with the blue in the wallpaper, the bird on her cup with the bird in the wallpaper, the creams, the yellows. This one almost excites me more.

Can I just say, I love how this happens, and happens so frequently. I notice it in other diptych groups too. Isn't it interesting how you can almost always find a connection with two images. When I first started blogging it was the girls at 3191 that inspired me. I was always blown away with how their images related in some way even without conversation. I wanted to see if Taylor and I could create a similar blog.

I'm sad that our blog here has been sort of slack but when the synchronicity happens like today it excites me so much - makes me want to keep at it even if we post less often.

Which diptych do you like better?