Quiet contemplation...

My "Artist's Date" this week...a rendezvous with a beautiful garden and time to just potter around, soaking up whatever images came my way. Ended up with oodles of pictures, some of which have now found their way here

Late summer...

Stumped...

These pictures make me wish I could paint with oils or quilt, there is something about the texture which is lost in photography sometimes

Love After Love...

The time will come

when with elation

you will greet yourself arriving at your own door,

in your own mirror

and each will smile at the other's welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.

You will love again the stranger who was your self.

Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart to itself,

to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored for another,

who knows you by heart.

Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,

peel your own image from the mirror.

Sit. Feast on your life.

(Derek Walcott)

Winds of change...

Dance with the mystery

Destination unknown, but the warm wind signals a change in season and a change in direction...

Realisation...

Journeys...

Sunlight of the spirit breaks out over the peak of the dark hill...

Reflection...

"Happiness is like a butterfly...the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things...it will come and sit softly on your shoulder..."

Existence...

"I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather my spark burn out in a brilliant blaze than be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy, permanenet planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time."

Synchronicity...

Which is more complicated...the What or the How? When we decide on the what, the how often follows. I can think of a few recent examples in my life this applies to. A word of caution to follow though..."watch out what you ask for, you might just get it"...and of course, if we do...then what?

Wave dog...

A dog which emerged through the bubbles left by the waves on the shore...

Manipulation...

Funny how a manipulated image can become something entirely different. This began life as an air freshener and is now...well, no longer an air freshener. The metamorphosis of ordinary to less ordinary. Faces seem to be a theme in my photos of late, though not a conscious decision, they just seem to be appearing.

Replenish...

When all else fails, the sand in my toes, salty wind in my hair, sound of the waves lapping gently and rhythmically and the warmth of the sunset, never ceases to restore my soul...

Snares...

Today was the culmination of a bad week. Feeling very drained and emotionally exhausted. So if life's a spiral, I feel I've slipped down a level and become ensnared on a sharp, spiky and altogether unpleasant bit.

Excavation...

Whilst clearing clutter recently, I came upon The Artist's Way. It had sat, gathering dust, after a futile attempt to see the course through about a year or so ago. How glad I am I rediscovered it. At the time of abandoning it previously I had found many a reason, some valid, some not. So far, so good this time...

Dare to be deviant...

Now I know, this seems like an odd post...stay with me here... I'm not talking deviant in the dictionary defined sense, more in the enlivening life sense. It is so easy for life to become rigid, over-organised and monotonous. It can lose its lustre all too easily- if we let it. Dullness lurks, waiting to envelop us in a fog which deadens our emotions. Now I'm prone to the odd spurt of impulsive frivolity, but I tend to try (at least in the past) to contain them somewhat, as a kind of annual event (or bi-annual if I'm feeling very adventurous). The idea with this is to be aware of the routines we slip into and assess whether they are helpful or a hindrance and whether we want to change them. The possibilities are endless...I might decide to go shopping in purple slippers, walk barefoot in the park, hang upside down from a tree whilst trying to sing or going to a playground and swinging up to the clouds until my stomach squirms instead of into work...it is limited only by imagination, now there's a thought!