visual mass

visual mass

this was just a fun experiment, given a little extra urgency by the fading light of a november afternoon. this arrangement is laid out flat, so none of these objects is bearing down on any of the others with any actual weight. but they have visual weight, and they give the illusion of depending on each other to balance out the structure, and keep it from falling to pieces. it’s a little bit of magic, like the depth of perspective in a painting that technically lies flat on a rectangle of canvas. what fun, to find a way to create such an illusion. don’t touch. it’s very fragile…

calder-inspired leaf sculpture

  • Kimbersew says:

    I love it!

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  • Carol says:

    This is great it also makes me think of @bookhou husband John’s mobiles

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  • Charmian McLellan says:

    Mary Jo Calder

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  • Moira says:

    I said Calder before I read the title and detail. Love it

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exotic favorite

exotic favorite

i am a girl of the north. the land of subtlety and understatement. and yet one of my favorite plants in the world is eucalyptus, which is an exotic invader in california, has an overpowering smell, and which forms itself into some of the most graphic and unmistakeable shapes, including its phillips head screwdriver seedpods. mama don’t ask me why. i just love him.

seeded eucalyptus

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giving thanks

giving thanks

i am approaching my seventh year of doing STILL blog. my 82 year old mom, who lives three miles from me and whom i see regularly, has only shown passing interest in the project. she is a creative too, so she understand my creative ambitions, but she has never really shown any curiosity about STILL. then yesterday, i picked her up to take her to dinner, and she got in my car with a ziploc bag full of leaves. these leaves in this photo. they had blown across her yard from a neighbors’ tree and she thought they were particularly pretty. awww, mom. i’m so grateful that you are still here to surprise me at 82. happy thanksgiving indeed.

white polar leaves in autumn

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winter garden

winter garden

we’ve had no heavy snow yet here in the north. that means all the garden plants are still standing upright with leaves mostly in tact. i love a winter garden as much, maybe even more than, a summer garden. my favorite part of these gardens are the numerous and varied seed heads. this weekend, take a walk and look closely at the winter gardens. without all the gaudy colors of summer blooms to distract the eye, you’ll see gorgeous structure, volume, geometry and ingenuity. yes, i said gaudy. and i am sticking with it.

happy thanksgiving to all my american friends. wishing you all a weekend that recharges your batteries–whether that is loud family gatherings or quiet nights in front of the fire. i plan to do a little of both.

early winter ferns

 

  • Carol says:

    I love the naked trees of winter

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desktop debris

desktop debris

wow, it is really getting dark early. it’s catching me short. i typically shoot my STILL images for the day in the afternoon. but the last several days, 3:30 pm rolls around, and i haven’t made my photo for the day yet, and it already feels like most of my light is gone. well, it’s november 21st already, so only one more month until the light begins to return. these green leaves, products of summer sunlight, have been cluttering up (beautifying?) my studio table. i am feeling the need to make space for the new. i am preparing to do a big sweep and send everything back out into the woods. but i have to psych myself up for it, because every item on my specimen table was gathered at some point with both attention and intention. it takes me a few days to let go of all those good intentions. but i am up to the task–out with the old, in with the new. it’s time.

assorted dried leaves from summer

  • Felecia says:

    so calming to start my morning with this image before I plunge into the hurly-burly of Thanksgiving prep and guests for the weekend. I’m glad to gather my loved ones around me and know that by the end of the weekend I’ll be ready to disperse them just as you are ready to return nature’s gifts to nature. Happy Thanksgiving and thank you for starting the holiday with such peace and joy!

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