Blog Archives
Beautiful Winter
If you’ve been reading Handprint Soul for more than a day or two, you know that I’m not the biggest fan of winter. In fact, this is the time of year when I usually begin my annual “daffodil mope,” where I feel dead and gray inside until the first daffodils pop up and fill me with hope.
I have to admit though, winter can be pretty sometimes. Though I much prefer sunshine, flowers, and green grass, it’s hard not to appreciate the silver and blue palette of winter.
I woke up to the first decent snowfall we’ve had all year, and I decided to get outside for a tromp through our famous Utah powder before it melted off the tree branches.
I love the way snow looks when it clings to the branches. It makes my neighborhood look like Narnia.
It just goes to show that there’s beauty in everything, even and especially the uncomfortable things.
First Snow
As much as I dislike winter, I’ll admit that this one has been pretty sweet so far. We finally got some of the white stuff after a bone-dry Christmas and lots of glorious sunshine. I can’t complain. January blizzards bring May flowers right?
I wouldn’t call this a blanket of snow though. More like a poorly-knitted afghan of snow. Still, it’s moisture and a beautiful part of nature’s cycle. I got out for a walk to enjoy this little dusting of snow while it’s still here. Maybe winter has finally kicked in…
Though I don’t mind the sunshine.
I love to see blue sky after a storm. It reminds me that nature is optimistic.
Inspiration Field Trips
Sometimes the best thing to get inspired is to take a walk or a drive with a camera and a sketchbook.
Last week we drove to a family Christmas party two hours away to Redmond, a tiny town in central Utah near where my mom grew up, and where I spent quite a bit of my childhood. It’s in the middle of nowhere and probably has more horses and chickens than people. I love the rolling hills and wide open fields.
Recently I realized the the surreal landscapes I often draw and paint are my own versions of this landscape, so I made sure to take a camera and sketchbook to hopefully catch some inspiration as we drove.
Winter and I aren’t the best of friends, but I love the way trees look without leaves, and I love this landscape any time of year. I watched these same hills in the car growing up as we drove down to Redmond to visit family, go to parties, or to camp.
It’s hard to get good pictures at 50 miles an hour (don’t worry, I wasn’t the one driving) but I did manage to get some decent ones. Please excuse the blurriness. I hope you can see what I see in these tangled trees and speckled hills.
I think I need to drive down to visit my aunt, and this time actually get out of the car to take pictures.
Autumn Walks
One of my favorite things to do in the whole world is walk. I usually walk pretty fast, but sometimes I just take my camera for a nice, long, slow walk. Fall is so pretty.
Then, of course, I feel inspired to come home and paint.
Dipping my Toes in Photography
As I posted on Facebook last week: “Oh my goodness. I think I, McKella, hater of all things technology, am developing a love affair with photography. Oh look, a flying pig…”
If you’ve read some of my recent Saturday Links posts, you might have suspected.
I think that says it all. I thought I’d never been interested in photography before, mostly because the idea of creating art with a machine instead of brushes and paint seemed a little distant and scary to me. I know exactly nothing about how to work a camera and I haven’t the slightest idea of how to make art with one.
Painting and drawing I understand: if I want to change something, I just touch it with my finger, a brush, or whatever instrument I’m using and it’s done. With photography, I have to push buttons and adjust things. It’s not intuitive to me at all, and honestly no technology is. Just ask anyone who’s tried to play a video game with me.
Something’s clicked in my brain though. I always thought of photography as a way to document. You take pictures to preserve memories, end of story. I know, I’m a few centuries behind because that’s how painting and drawing started out, but look how far they’ve come.
I think two things contributed to this new-found interest:
1) I now see photography as a way of connecting the inner and outer world. My surrealist paintings and drawings have always been about my inner world. I had very little interest in a lot of things around me because I felt safe in my little bubble.
With all the emotional and creative work I’ve been doing lately, I’ve realized that the key to being a successful artist and writer is to connect and balance the inner and outer worlds, to bring our inner workings into the physical realm. Otherwise, we creators tend to stay inside our own heads where no one can find us. Photography is inherently the intersection of both worlds: it has to involve the outer world because that’s how the medium works. However, taking an artistic photograph is about projecting the inner world onto a physical image, filtering it through the artist’s perception.
2) I’ve been inspired. By four photographers mostly, and all for different reasons. They all have very different styles, but something about each one really appeals to me.
My Mom, and the loving curiosity of her pictures. I wish she had a page I could link to, but she doesn’t. I’ll feature some of her photos sometime.
My friend Mandee and her quirky, bohemian vibe. Also, check out her collaborative blog Three Thousand Words.
Color me Katie and her colorful, whimsical style.
And finally, Nirrimi and her raw, brutally honest edge.
I’m terrified to hit the Publish button on this one, but I thought I’d show you a few of my experimental photos. Keep in mind that I have no idea what I’m doing and that some of these were shot with a AA 5 megapixel POS from Walmart. Some of these are really recent and some are pics I took a few years ago and tweaked a little. If you have tips I’d love to hear them, but mostly I’m just trying to be brave. I honestly have no idea if they’re any good or not, but I had fun creating them.
I’d appreciate tips (comments or email) but I’m not looking for brutal criticism at the moment. I’m not sure where this new medium will take me, but I’m having a ball with it.
I know I’ve got some seasoned photographers out there. Tell me: what originally drew you to photography?
Saturday Links I Love-5/7/11
Four days of uninterupted beautiful weather: a record for Northern Utah. I hope everyone had da great week, and here’s this week’s links. Don’t forget to add your own links in the comments!
I love Tara’s post on laziness at The Organic Sister. It’s something I suspect I’ve always known but never really thought about.
This is an older post at Miss Minimalist, but one of my all-time favorites.
I discovered Creative Everyday this week and I love it! Full of whimsical art and great creative initiatives, so take a look!
Are you in the mood for gritty, edgy photography from a teenage gypsy? Check out We Live Young.
That’s all I have for this week, enjoy your weekend!
