not really jonathan adler
when i first put these goldenrod galls in line with each other, i thought, hey, they look kind of like a jonathan adler sculptural room divider, with the bulbous shapes fitting into each other’s hollows. how cool! and then i thought, hmm. jonathan adler. glam. bright. playful. palm springs. and i thought, ok, no. in fact, these goldenrod galls do not remind me of jonathan adler.
goldenrod stems with galls
how i got here.
outdoorsy tomboy to soccer player to engineering major to astronautical engineer to wife to mom of one to section chief to mom of two to homemaker to nature lover to dogwalker to photographer to blogger to artist to product designer to . . . outdoorsy-tomboy-blogger-artist-dogwalker-nature-lover-wife-mom-of-two. this is why i have trouble with some self-help books. they don’t encourage you to get lost enough before you find yourself.
ribbon of locust leaves
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Thanks for sharing your path. I’ve done the same thing with my life. Our types of paths don’t fit easily into the answer for the question: What are you going to be when you grow up?
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small things
i’m grateful for small things on this american day of thanks. among other things, i’m grateful for whatever forces of life and death bent that fascinating little thorny arm into just exactly that shape curved, threatening and yet defensive shape.
winter thistle stem
p.s. happy thanksgiving to all my american friends!
the shotgun approach
i am a rapid prototyper. part of what i love about having to create a daily image is that i can send out a lot of images into the world, and let their accumulation generate a few really good results, rather than agonizing over every photo in order to make perfection every time. but sometimes i do wonder who is out there, and what effect these daily posts are having, and often assuming that the effect is, if occasionally grateful or intense, quite localized and small. then one of the thousands of little shotgun pellets scores a direct hit, and I get to open the new york times, as i did yesterday, and see my nature photos, printed on sheets i developed with target corporation, on a bed in a beautiful minimalist house on orcas island. and that is joyful fuel for a lot of work over a lot of months to come
common mullein (Verbascum thapsus)
steal like an artist
one of my favorite books is “steal like an artist” by austin kleon. it was one of my first and lasting inspirations. today, i am stealing like an artist. i can’t remember where i first saw the prototype for this image, but it was very similar. two folded leaves placed in such a way that they look as if they are overlapping, but also contain enough evidence, if you look closely enough, to show that they are in fact folded and not touching at all. to whichever artist first came up with this idea, thank you, and i hope the universe has been good to you.
folded (unidentified) leaf
Stunningly beautiful