A little dusting…

can go long way.

Week 2 – Landscape.  I’ve really been feeling a bit uninspired…   Last week rain, this week it has been reeealy cold and getting myself to get out there and go some where… nope, just too easy to stay put where it’s warm and dry.   And then!  We got a dusting of snow ~ a game changer.   I wasn’t even really looking for that landscape when I took the dogs for their walk.  It’s a usual path, pretty brown, nothing really ever jumps out and says take my picture (unless one of the dogs does something cute), but with just a dusting of frozen white (and the first of the season), the usual path was transformed.  With dogs in tow, I took a couple shots with my phone ~ actually a few more than a couple, because (a) I cannot see the screen on my phone when my transitions darken, and (b) insurance that I am holding my phone steady enough – a challenge also when holding two dogs.   Fingers now sufficiently frozen, we turned to head home and then there it was… the pond, frozen, with these large circles of ice where the snow did not stick, making a beautiful design all across the pond.  Fingers too frozen to break out my phone again and the sun still too strong (talk about blown highlights), I knew I had to revisit it later that afternoon without two dogs and fingers thawed and crossed that my timing would be right and the sun wouldn’t warm things up enough to change the ice patterns.  Almost 4:00, I was pretty sure I missed my opportunity (and the sun on the pond), but I was all bundled up, so what the heck – maybe I would see something else I hadn’t seen earlier.  But oh my!  When I got to my destination, the sun was hitting the pond like a stone skimming across the water  and all those circles were now glistening discs.  Andif that weren’t enough, I had a backdrop of  wispy winter clouds and a touch of beautiful blue sky ~ I have my landscape.

It just goes to show, you don’t have to travel great distances or visit far off places to see something unique, you just need to allow yourself to see… wherever you might be.

Until next time,
Maria

 

Beyond Layers ~ My Story

I have been doing a lot of “house cleaning” lately.  You know . . . re-evaluating, reorganizing, out with the old in with the new; all those things that are inherent with the New Year.  In this case though I am not referring to my actual house; it’s still a mess.  I am talking about my photography and my art.  I thought giving my website and this blog a freshening up (wow, that’s five ways I have basically said the same thing) would do the trick.  Simplifying was the word that kept popping into my head, so that’s what I did. . . or at least tried to do.  But in doing all of this sprucing up (sorry, did it again — last time I promise), I still haven’t gotten it quite right.  If anything, I’ve been even more lost for a direction to take things.  I’ve told myself it’s just the time of year, it’s the “day” job,  it’s the point I am at in my life (one of those milestone birthdays is coming up), my relationships, or heck that I am just over-thinking things.  I think I’ve even blamed the dogs at one point.  And as valid as all these thoughts/feelings are either in themselves or as part of a concoction, the bottom line is that I feel my creativity has hit a plateau.  Oh, I have still been out shooting and making images that quite honestly have even surprised me.  But I have continued to have this nagging feeling, a feeling something is missing, that there should be more . . . that I have more in me and I just don’t know how to get it out there.

And then I accepted this assignment . . . my story.  In writing my story or at least trying to, I came across clues.  Clue 1:  I went back to school ~ which is when & why I started this blog in the first place.  Clue 2:  I joined a photography club, volunteered to be a part of its steering committee, entered exhibits and contests.  Clue 3:  Came up with the idea to form a co-op of sorts with 5 very talented women photographers and now good friends of mine and do the first of what I hope are many arts festivals.  Clue 4:  Just yesterday, Beyond Layers.

I’ll spare you the lengthy edits (and there have been many since I sat down and started this post) and just say . . . Bozinga! I just now figured out all the clues!  No kidding, just now.  Thing is your never done learning, growing, sharing, exploring and it is all of these things that feed and inspire CREATIVITY (or whatever your passion in life is).  It doesn’t matter if you got a late start and it’s not suppose to all come out at once; it’s forever developing & growing & changing.  There’s an endless supply of creativity; we just need to give it enough time develop to see the final outcome (I swear I did not intentionally come up with that analogy).   Before today if anyone had asked me why I chose CreativeLens to identify myself, I don’t think I would have had a very good answer.  I do now because it’s my story.