It’s Spring!

Welcome to Spring!

Pretty soon, everything will be blooming and nature will put on a vast and varied treat for the eyes.

In fact, my lilac bushes and the trees in my neighborhood are already budding.

The Daffodils and Lilies and Mint are pushing through the recently frozen ground…

and giving way to the promise to perfume the air and color the landscape. (that was rather poetic, was it not?!)

Wow! Those photos make it look like they’re really growing, doesn’t it?

Actually, I laid on the ground (the neighbors didn’t look at me like I was crazy at all) and put the camera down in a low spot.

The plants are 1 – 1.5 inches tall at most.

But after the dreary and colorless (that may be a bit dramatic) end of Winter, they seem like mighty giants!

Yay for Spring!

Thanks for stopping by – come back any time. Cheers!

Love Life, Be Brave

I like jewelry.

I also like to wear jewelry.

But the funny thing is, I haven’t really been wearing jewelry for the past few years.

It’s possible that some of you are thinking, this is not a huge revelation or deep insight to share. I know.

Anyway, I decided that one of my (easy-to-keep) 2015 resolutions would be to wear jewelry every day, whether or not I had somewhere to go or something special to do.

Now, this may seem trivial (yeah, who cares?!) or maybe even border-line arrogant (oh, look at her, she has jewelry, brag much?! and la-ti-da!)

But for me, this actually does go deeper than the ‘frosting on the cake’ that is rings-and-things. It has meaning and nuance and, ok, it does make me feel happy to match my accessories to my outfit (or pj’s as the case may be…)

And, I don’t know if this is ironic — maybe it’s just a coincidence — but the first ring I picked up at the start of the new year was this one:

A ring. With a simple but powerful message:

“Love Life  —  Be Brave”

I wear it every day as a reminder. And a goal.

And I think you might agree…

It does have a nice RING to it (see what I did there?! lol!!)

Hope you’re all having a great start to this new year.

Thanks for stopping by – Cheers!

Gone Building

On occasion, I like to drive around and re-visit places I’ve photographed, just to see if anything has changed.

I was saddened, then, when I drove by one of my favorite locales – of what I thought was a beautiful, old, stone building – and saw that it has now been torn down.

Here are my final photos of it, taken earlier this year…

Look at the beautiful old stone (I think it’s limestone, but I’m not certain)

And, quite frankly, the structure seems pretty sound… especially for a building that lasted most of a century! I guess looks can be deceiving – or the land-owner had more important use for this parcel of land.

Alas (you know I love that word!), I guess the old adage is true: not all things are meant to last forever.

Thank you, Nicéphore Niépce for pioneering the field of photography, so memories like this can be kept alive!

(quick knowledge/history bomb to drop: The Frenchman, Nicéphore Niépce, is widely credited as the inventor of photography. He developed heliography, a technique he used to create the world’s oldest surviving product of a photographic process: a print made from a photoengraved printing plate in 1825. In 1826 or 1827, he used a primitive camera to produce the oldest surviving photograph of a real-world scene.)

Thanks for stopping by – have a great day!

Veteran’s Day 2014

In memory of my USAF Veteran Dad, and for all of the Veterans and active military who courageously put their lives on the line to protect our freedoms and serve our citizenship in times of peace, disaster, and need: Thank you!

Note about the photo:
This was taken in a cemetery nearby. It is a statue that marks the grave of this family’s only son (only child!) who was killed in WWII – and it is his likeness. What a beautiful (and sad) tribute.

Remember to shake the hand of a Veteran or active-duty Military person and thank them for their service — not just today but feel free to do it on any day…

And, since it’s getting to be that time of year,  please remember service members when filling out your Christmas Card list:
Holiday Mail for Heroes Campaign (Christmas Letters)
www.redcross.org/holidaymail
Each year the American Red Cross provides assistance to more than 2 million service members and many of our nation’s 24 million veterans. We support military families, military and veterans hospitals and provide emergency communications across the globe. And once a year, we get the joy of delivering holiday cards to veterans, military families and active-duty service members at hospitals and installations around the world. The cards and personal messages, sent by tens of thousands of Americans, provide a welcome “touch of home” for our troops during the holiday season.

Thanks for stopping by – have a great day

And A Year Goes By

Well, it was simply beautiful here yesterday.

Sun was shining.

Amazing blue sky.

Birds chirping.

And the COLORS!

Here, let me show you:

Made me think, “what was it like this time last year?”

So I looked and…

well…

YIKES:

It was snowing!!

Yep, one year ago (yesterday, when I intended to post this!)  was our first measurable snowfall.

Glad there is a difference this year!

Oh Mother Nature… you sure do keep us on our toes!

Thanks for stopping by – have a great day!

World Gratitude Day

World Gratitude Day is today (Sept. 21st)
It’s not a well-known or even particularly observed “holiday”

But that’s okay.

Let’s just make every day “Gratitude Day”!

It begins like this: “I am grateful for…”

See how easy?!

Thanks for stopping by – have a wonderful day!

Wednesday Wisdom 1

When I was posting daily, I also regularly made posters from my photographs and quotes & sayings I liked.

I kinda miss doing that.

So I’m starting up again (yay!)

This saying came across my computer today – sharing the message with those of you who have supported me from the beginning seemed rather apropos:

Thanks for stopping by – enjoy your day!

C-Squared Art

I did it!

Ok, well… I’m doing it!

I shared the last few times that I’ve been doing some things related to my artwork but not necessarily photographs.

Stage one (I guess) is that I’m starting to take on the business side of art in a more serious way, so along those lines I’ve changed my art business name to:

C-Squared Art

I like it!

Along with that I’ve come up with a new logo!

I like that, too!

And I think it speaks perfectly to the new business name!

In doing some research on it — with a little help from the lovely and talented designer and artist Belinda at Belindabilly ( http://www.belindabilly.com ) who sent me this article: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/08/26/vital-tips-for-effective-logo-design/ — I found that keeping it simple and relatable was the way to go in designing the logo.

It also makes it simple to add to a photo for marketing purposes, too – my current Facebook page profile photo, for example:

There are still many things to learn, both on- and off-line, but I wanted to start the second half of 2014 with a fresh look and perspective.

Feel free to let me know what you think of the new look and name.

Thanks for stopping by – have a great day!

PS: Thanks to Belinda Blakely for her insight, support and down-right awesomeness! Please check out her “Belindabilly” website that I listed above for her fashion and art! She also can design you a great website! 

PPS: Thanks to smashing magazine dot com for the information and for being such a great learning resource (and for being just plain enjoyable to read!)

Unintentional Hiatus

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted – guess I let some other stuff get in the way of writing. (like life-stuff, I suppose…)

Didn’t get in the way of taking photos, though. (yay!)

But boy have I taken some stinkers! No, I won’t share them – I’m confident that you all know how to spot a bad photograph, you don’t need my assistance!

Having said that, I’ve taken some really good nature and florals, too!

I’ve even added a few to my Imagekind site (link to the right and at the bottom of the photograph):

“Toward the Sun” available for purchase at: http://www.artbycarol.imagekind.com

Some days I’m ever-so-glad to be a photographer in the digital world. It makes the taking of bad photos less serious (horrible? burdensome? embarrassing?)

but then I wonder…

What if it’s making me a lazy artist, too?

I mean, sure, I can take dozens (or hundreds) of photographs and sift through them to find the best ones, and then sift through those to find the best or most interesting to show/share/sell – and while it may be a little more time-consuming, it’s a lot less stressful (especially financially!)

But is that “better” than taking the time to set up and only capture a few (hopefully) really good photos?

Or maybe there’s truth in the old saying “practice makes perfect” – and taking many photos allows myself to continue to learn and grow.

Yeah! There’s the positive spin! the silver-lining! the half-full glass!

I’ll just keep doing that!

I’ve also made some progress on the drawings, but I think I’ll only share them again when they’re complete(ish).

And I’m working on a new logo — and subsequent website — to be unveiled in the near future.

Hmm… guess I’m not so lazy after all! (whew! haha!!)

Thanks for stopping by – Enjoy your day!

Drawings – beginning stage

Nature’s beautiful colors are really filling in. It’s been especially fun to be out taking photos of flowers in bloom.

Ahhh… color!

And I’ve been slowing going through, editing and adding photos to my “nature” gallery on my imagekind website ( http://www.artbycarol.imagekind.com ) – only a couple have made it so far.

I also shared recently that I started a couple of drawings, so I thought I’d share them at stages.

This is the beginning stage (after about a week or so) – each with the inspiration piece:

splashing horse

 

daisy

Neither is very impressive looking at the moment, I know.

My talent in art has always come easily to me. I think I’ve been taking it for granted, though.

Instead, I want to remember (and relish in) the passion and challenge and pure joy that comes out of pouring heart and soul into my artwork — whether it be drawing, painting or photography.

And that takes patience – something that does NOT come easily to me!

I think it also may seem like this is not a lot of drawing after an entire week or so. Believe me, I get it!

It used to be that I could – and would – knock one of these out every day (and in college, I had to do at least one a day, if not more!)

But art is a process that, to me, isn’t about how fast you can produce or how many pieces you can do in a day –  remember a few sentences ago I said I wanted to relish in this!

Obviously for me, the process is about slowing down, taking my time, and returning to my basic skills.

So, be patient with me, and we’ll see how this goes!

Thanks for stopping by.

Have a great day!