mind / mirror

L - Canon / T - Nikon


“Maturity is that time when the mirrors in our mind turn to windows and instead of seeing the reflection of ourselves we see others.”

the way i saw it / the way she saw it

photo by Leslye, Canon / concept by Taylor

"There is a way that nature speaks, that land speaks. Most of the time we are simply not patient enough, quiet enough, to pay attention to the story." -Linda Hogan

Taylor was home this past weekend. One of the reasons she came home for was to have an interview with an art school here in Atlanta called "The Creative Circus". She learned alot about their 2 yr program in hopes of attending there after her graduation from UGA. It sounds like a wonderful place to further her education and she was so excited about it she'd like start right away. Of course I'm encouraging her to get her BA first and then attend.
As long as she was in Atlanta, of course she came home to see me. And of course we went on some photo adventures. She had a project that she was working on for photography class and her concept was to create 'rooms' in the openness of nature. I was lucky enough to get to assist her. The bedroom we built right in our backyard and boy did we get some curious onlookers. The desk photo above was taken down by the river. All of the others (she will have 6 or 8 film images in all) she is creating at different locations in Athens. It was a lot of work but we had fun working on this together. Taylor even tried out the bed in the ivy and said she could have definitely fallen asleep there - the 65º warm day was just right for a nap in the sun.



preliminary photos by Taylor - film camera

i feel like i'm creating my own little "reality" by doing these types of photos. yeah, they're neat when you look at them in person without a camera. but when i look through the viewfinder, the frame closing around my space, it's like i'm the only one who is able to experience what i'm seeing. it becomes a secret place and one that only i might live in- with whoever i choose, of course!

fail / succeed

L - Nikon / T -Nikon

The last 30 min. before leaving the grounds of Shaker Village we discovered what we had been looking for all along – a wonderful field of wildflowers within easy reach and out of the view of others. The family had all left us but we were determined to try for it in the few minutes we had left – we would catch up later. I quickly searched for some sticks, while T changed into her dress – hoping no one would walk up on us – and then there was a dress malfunction. Not as you might imagine. The dress she had wanted transformed into a short bubble dress had been quickly modified with elastic before we left on vacation and as she was putting it on the hem I had created came undone, leaving her hem hanging all lopsided. No matter, that part was hidden in the wildflowers, but the stick "antlers" did not look as we had envisioned so I only snapped a handfull of images and then we left, frustrated that we had not found this location earlier on in the trip. As we drove down the road, trying to catch up with the others, we were upset that we had not done this and had not done that. So many ideas. oh well... another failed attempt but there is always another chance. / These are T's photo, but my words because she is not here and I want to post tonight.
The reunion was extended by an evening with my immediate family (my younger brother; my older brother, his wife and their twins; plus my mom and dad) staying at my cousins river house. T was more than ready to come home but some of us wanted to stay over so she made the best of it. She got excited when we went down to the river and saw a very rustic little cabin – perfect opportunity for another photoshoot attempt. SO she searched for the woods and found a perfect branch that created a full set of "antlers", she had my niece change into her little white dress and my dad had some medical tape that served to attach the antlers to her tiny back. And they went to work. She kept giggling, saying, " this is funny. i'm a deer. " She was such a good sport and I think she had fun with it. T took so many photos that we had to run to the nearest Walmart (15 miles away) to get another memory card. By now the time was running short, the light fading away and we had to stop. Some photos were good, some not so great, but the memories... fantastic. I'd call it a success. But once again as we drove home we thought of so many missed opportunities in that location. Well, it's my cousin's river home, so there are chances to try again right?

city / country

L - Nikon, 200mm / T - Nikon, sigma 30mm

We're back. We traveled straight city highways and winding country roads, seeing more beauty than we could possibly share. The trip had its up and its downs, as most trips do I suppose, but the family reunion was a huge success. We visited a very cool vintage shop in Knoxville, called Nostalgia and a beautiful cemetery in Lexington, but the country proved to be the most pleasurable – no surprise there. Shaker Village in Pleasant Hill is one of the prettiest places you can imagine, so peaceful and relaxing and the weather could not have been better - temperatures were in the 60s most of the time. We had a great turnout for the reunion - lots of great fellowship. After uploading my photos and trying to select the best I have to say I'm too tired to write more. Maybe later.

secret / mystery

I sent this package off Monday - it contained my "mystery" painting. Mystery in that each artist had to sign the back of the canvas so that the artist of each painting remains a secret until after the purchase. I packaged it up and then realized after I dropped it off that I had not taken a photo of the finished painting. I'll probably never see it again. Oh well, you can see pretty much what it looks like here. The auction is in February. I hope my painting will help raise some good money for the community. As long as I have been an artist I admit there are still times I doubt my talent a bit. I wonder if other artist feel this way every once in awhile? I joined a group today that I hope will encourage me to do more painting and share more of my work. It's a book blogging group on "12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women / i don't have a photo from today but i was looking back through some old stuff from about a year ago and came across this. remember mom?
you'd think experienced trespassers wouldn't be spooked by the average thump, especially given the fact that it wasn't even at night. but this house did a good job of making us leave. who knows what made the sound, it could have been the wind but it also could have been someone inside the house warning us not to enter. regardless, mom and i both jumped a couple feet up in the air and got outta there - me vaulting off the front porch after snapping this photo of forgotten journals, and her hopping in the driver's side to make for our getaway. haha i still want to go back - there was so much potential there.