perspective

this is the profile shot of yesterday’s top-down shot of a humble branching winter stem. at this angle, it looks like a delicate calder-esque mobile. yesterday it looked like a broken windshield. perspective is everything.

branching

nothing like a blanket of white snow to reveal the beauty of nature’s scaffolding.

unidentified winter weed stem

drawing with stems

after i recently posted my homage to Joan Mitchell, one of you dear readers suggested i do a series of STILL where i reinterpret modern abstract painters using my bits and pieces of nature. yes! i replied, what a great idea! and i made a mental note to tackle that after the holidays, as it would take more concentration and time than i have for the next few weeks with house guests. and see, i parked the idea in my subconscious, and without even thinking about it, i almost made a Mondrian today–just a few tweaks, and it could have been. the seed was planted (thank you ginny!), and it is already sprouting, even before i watered it. the subconscious mind is fertile soil indeed.

pampas grass stems and hydrangea florets

circles are simple

bouquets, spills, crescents, gradients, grids, hearts, stripes, patterns, spirals, weavings, wreaths, lines…there are any number of ways to make a STILL composition. but my personal favorite is the timeless circle.

collection of lake superior beach rocks

young and old

we had our first snowfall of substance this morning–the kind that builds up enough to make the ground white, and doesn’t melt the same day.  so, while my inner critic said “you should really get outside and photograph those heavy-headed prairie grasses”, my inner child said, “you should really take a hot bath and curl up and read for a while.” the inner child won. so on our first snowfall of the year, i present you with photos of my houseplant–schefflera: new growth and old growth–sort of inner critic and inner child.

schefflera leaves