off the paper

Being highly creative, ideas constantly spring into my thoughts. I realize that creativity is one of my biggest gifts, so I stay open and ready to receive what comes, often scribing detailed notes; many of them live on paper to this day. The ones that intrigue me do wake me up at odd times to record additional information, marinate for as long as needed until finally ready, they unfold into developed concepts. Some get implemented, others wait a little longer resonating so deeply that I know though their time is not yet, it will come. Then there are those spontaneous gems that require no contemplation whatsoever and off I go! They soar or droop or fall flat; regardless of how they end, I am encouraged by what I attempt, which for me is recycled, not wasted energy.

I used to get quite tangled in my creative web, thinking every idea was THE idea. I know better now. Well just maybe I still get carried away on occasion, but here's what I believe --thoughts feed off of each other moving the process along, leading you to those ideas that are waiting for you to arrive. Even when something seems so right there is nothing wrong when the moment of sureness dwindles because another something surfaces with an urgency that can’t be ignored and you need to shift gears. I had that moment on Thanksgiving just before I dozed off. The perfect combination of passions and intentions intersected in my head and heart and though I won't abandon other projects I am working on, this is one to lift off of the paper sooner than later, it's too impactful not to. As I move forward, only time will determine which other things need more, less or no more attention, each will have mindful focus as the need to multi-task no longer serves me.

Thanks giving (yes, I mean two words) took on a new meaning to me as I finished my notes during the last hours of Thanksgiving day, asked for guidance, settled peacefully in bed, went to sleep, and did not wake up to jot down not nary a note. For some reason I drifted off with a sureness that is calm, knowing, and feels like a comfortable fit, so all I can say is...

keep your peepers open!®

giving thanks

It’s hard to believe that Thanksgiving is tomorrow a reminder, at least for me, that time surely has passed quickly and is just one of the things we can’t get back once it passes by. As so many of us prepare to take a little time off, let us be grateful for all that we are, all we have been given, and all that is uniquely ours. May your table be bountiful, your lives enriched beyond measure by those who share your harvest and if you are traveling, may your journey be pleasurable.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving and…

keep your peepers open!®

moving curves

…the beautiful moves in curves…Bulwer-Lytton.

And in our familiar curves changing beauty can be found if we change our focus.

Speaking of curves, I recently purchased this gorgeous book of historic “memorable and iconic images” put together by Nichelle Gainer. Vintage Black Glamour is worth every wow I uttered and if you check it out,

you will…

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not yet!

Is Mother Nature bidding an early farewell to autumn…

…to welcome winter way before we’re ready?



I hope not quite yet however, listening to the news last evening, all 50 states had unseasonable chilly weather in some part of their state and the snow in some places has people on house arrest for committing the crime of living in an area of the country where 9 feet drifts now block their front doors!!!

Baby, it’s cold outside all over so stay warm and…

keep your peepers open!®

68 degrees

Arriving home late one afternoon, I exited the car and was immediately compelled to whip out my camera. I had been caught in the traffic nightmare that has turned Washington DC into a most unappealing place to drive and something about the atmosphere suggested that taking pictures was what I needed if I wanted to bring myself into peaceful alignment. Outside it was a pleasantly warm 68 degrees, my ideal temperature. As I looked up into the twilight sky, a mix of soft blues, corals and pinks turned so by a rainstorm that came and blew over while I was stuck behind miles of red brake lights smiled down. Being afforded a quick 30 minutes of shooting time in these conditions was the answer to a disagreeable day. Puddles of mirror imaged scenes from above, wet leaves slick sliding under my feet, still branches letting go of cold water drops, I moved without interruption, without caution no need for brakes, the ability to stop as I needed freeing. My entire being drank in the calm each photograph offered until there it was...

I knew it when I looked down, knew it was a peace offering to fade out agitations now behind me, the water blurred edges of lush colored leaves resting on black ridged asphalt giving me naturally an image that I normally can only create using an editing technique. A feeling of satisfied completion fell over me as I took a few angles, closed the lens and breathed in the freshness of 68 degree air after rain on an autumn eve, perfect conditions for a gift. You will find yours too if you...

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lift every voice

Returning home from a much needed day of pamper, I stopped several times to capture autumn.

Though most of my focus was leaves on the trees and ground, I pulled over after I passed a wild tangling of yellow growing high on a corner beside a blue mailbox. A chilly wind was on the move as I stepped from the car, walked back to that corner to inspect the sunshiny blooms glowing even brighter from the light of the sun. This one bright, happy flower seemed to be saying, "Hey there you with that camera…look at me!”

Its folded petal gave this particular blossom such personality; it indeed spoke loudly grabbing my attention as I was actually fixated on another sunshiny bloom. And then it dawned on me, only natures big sounds resonate with me, loud human voices set my feet flying in the opposite direction! So on these days when the sun retreats into the horizon a little earlier and the air feels a bit crisper each day, get out there. Let your voice be heard in some way but remember, not everyone responds to loud words. Choose yours wisely, delivery them in thoughtful tone with purpose and…

keep your peepers open!®

the hours

Whatever time I fall asleep, five hours later I wake up. This has been my sleep pattern for years interrupted only for the four months when, post-surgery, meds sustained me in dreamland for eight plus hours each night. But when I got down to one pill a day slowly but surely my old rhythm returned so rather than toss and turn beneath the sheets, I am productive in the wee hours. Recently I caught a documentary on Dorthea Lange, photographer. One of the things she did (in her words) was group photographs to make sentences and paragraphs; I have always felt that my photographs make their own statements, sometimes speaking exactly what I feel when I shot them, others speaking to me differently when I download and review them. For example, I shot this flower twice, these are the original shots.

As I contemplated the pics later that afternoon, I was drawn more to the ever so slight difference in the degree of the curve of the stem and the muted colors in the background of the first one shown above. I cropped then began to play with it seeing something forlorn in this flower turned away from the fading warmth of the sun on a very chilly and windy day as if it knew that winter is just around the corner and the hours it has are borrowed.

I continued with edits guided by that mysterious something that possesses me for hours on end when I'm creating art, knowing something else needed to speak from this same image; I'll sit quietly and allow you to create your own story for this one.

Thus far for me a single picture has generated sentences, paragraphs and stories though, after watching that documentary, I am curious to discover if a collection of my work can talk a blue streak of spoken word or whisper a volume for the ages slowly, so....

keep your peepers open!®

recycled memories

I have a thing for small boxes and while I don’t collect them, I still have a fascination for them. Perhaps it’s that feeling I get that when opened, a gift awaits. Could be the way they actually open or maybe it’s that I can imagine whatever I like to be in the empty space below the lid. Not all boxes capture my attention so something must be said for materials, finishes, shapes, colors, etc., when it comes to their appeal. That said there are boxes to hold things that once I remove whatever that thing might be, I toss them into the trash or throw trash into them, though whenever possible, I try my best to recycle.

For years now I have put aside the nice little boxes my face soap come in. Each time I open one, it’s difficult for me to discard they are so well constructed and suited for repurposing. Right now I have quite a stash; in the back on of my mind from the very start, I fancied them to become treasure boxes of some kind or used to house gift items in once I fancied them up. After several years, I finally decorated one, compelled to do so because I needed just the right container, for inside I wished to place something special for someone dear to me. My hope is she will love the box as much if not more than what rests inside and remember our connection each time she sees it.

I have a thing for creating memories since they can be recalled anytime we desire, gift, box or not. So make a memory be it tangible or in mind for someone you care about and…

keep your peepers open!®

snoozin'

Hope you had a fun Halloween, I know I did. Though I didn’t dress up, I totally enjoyed seeing all the costumes on kids, adults and doggies at my office and as I moved about DC in addition to the many pumpkins and décor on people’s porches and lawns. I do love a cute pumpkin!

And so now it's November; time has whizzed by faster than a ghost on its way back to the graveyard as the clock struck midnight and one month became another. I woke to the sound of the wind whistling through the trees, the drying leaves crackling with their own sounds as they brush furiously against each other, branches tapping on my window. My room feels much chillier this morning signaling that the temperature dropped when the clocks rolled back. As I reach for my comforter, I am happy that it’s daylight saving time and think I’ll snooze my way through that extra hour savoring every single nanosecond. Turning back over now, maybe you too and when you get up…

keep your peepers open!®