Week 30 - 2018 in photographs

Day 203

 During monsoon season in the mountains the clouds are always a good place to begin a day. In the early dawn remnants of the storm clouds from the afternoon and evening before hang around and add to the early morning show.

Day 204

 I particularly like Day 204 because the dark storm clouds still hung over my house while the sun behind the mountain began to illuminate the fell clouds left in the southeast. 

July is always overly busy and routine seems to dominate the days. Easy to take the camera along on to the deck or a walk down the street or to an errand in Eagle Nest but not easy to get out beyond my valley for a day devoted to light and camera. And even if you could steal a day away it would be too crowded with tourists.

The photograph below is a neighbor's house. He usually has a few cars in the driveway and on his front yard. But on this particular weekend there were nine. I photographed it to record it but then began to play around with it in my photo editing program. Fun time in the quiet of the morning with another mug of coffee.

Day 205

 In day 205 the people are implied. Nine cars are at least nine people. Could be 18 or more. It has been especially hot in Texas and here frankly. But hot here is upper 80's and a couple days of low 90's. In Texas it has been above 100. So they come fishing.

Day 206

I was killing time before a store opened and took a walk above the shoreline of Eagle Nest lake. Usually I can find wild flowers blooming and waterfowl swimming but on this day it was people. Don't people my landscapes. When I uploaded to my computer I searched for artistic alternatives to modify the photos I took. I decided to go with Monet or Cezanne. Any of the Impressionists. It seemed to go with the theme of water and beaches and fishermen. And it obscured the messages on the t-shirts.

Day 207

Day 209

At the end of my walk stands the ruins of Eagle Nest Lodge. And swallowed by the trees it appeared more haunted than usual. Of as if it was an life itself staring out at me. The majority of my snaps on this morning were variations on this subject. Debating if I want to do it as a painting. It might not be haunted but it haunts me.

Day 208

The Creative Process - Play

My new art chair

 During my time as a freelance writer I attended various workshops on writing and keeping the creative juices flowing. The newspaper editor giving one workshop suggested tithing. When you freelance you get to the point you can automatically write to 800 or 1000 or 1500 words. And you know the publications you submit to and can automatically assume the correct voice.

Tithing, which in the case of writing, is giving away your time to write something which has absolutely no hope of publication and totally out of your range of normal. And not writing a press release, which you can do blind folded, for an organization you belong to. Writing something which has no apparent place or purpose. Play. Just play.

I believe tithing is necessary in any form of artistic expression. And not giving a piece of art away to a non-profit to auction, but giving your time away to yourself to just create something out of your range of work.

Ergo the deck chair above. I did the painting and it got ruined (moving work around from fair to fair and venue to venue causes wear and literally tears) by my not being careful enough. I usually take them off the stretchers and roll them up with the aim to do a collage or cut down. Or play. Just play.

Painted Occasional Table 

The little occasional table above is a rescued Ethan Allen which I used as a plant stand for a few years before deciding to develop a design for it. And so it has a flower on it. And a bud spindle to support it. Course it might now be too fancy for a plant stand.

Table in process

Practicality reared its ugly head while I worked on sanding down my next play date: a small drop leaf table. I had bought a series of deep cradled panels a few months back to do some small works. It occurred to me as they sat stacked up on my art table that they can stand on their own on a book case or occasional table. No need to hang. And the could even be bookends. So I decided to paint them as pairs which can be separate or together. Not totally play because it was in my usual style but out of my format box as it were.

Standing cradled panels
Pueblo I and II/8 x 8 x 2

Canyons I and II/ 6 x 6 x 2 cradled panels

Arches I and II/ 5 x 5 x 2 cradled panels

The point of tithing or play is to refresh the mind. And to go outside the box you have put yourself in to be marketable. I have another piece of total play ahead. I small drop leaf table with two stools. I have been mentally tossing around designs to go on the top more in the manner of the little occasional table. And I have one more deck chair painted in reds which I have to find a painting to fit on. So then there will be three.

Week 29 - 2018 in Photographs

Day 196

Another week of black and white. Maybe it is just a matter of a lack of snow and rains leading to a lack of flowers. Or that I have been receiving a lot of compliments on my black and white photos. Or that I have always loved exploring a subject or skill. Next week is back to color, and rains, and flowers blooming so there may well be a strong link. But there are reasons beyond those desaturate a color photograph.

Day 197

The fence which is the subject of Day 197 is just down the street. I walk past it frequently and have taken numerous photos of it but it is tied with red twine which always seems to not fit. Black and white seemed a perfect solution to that problem.

And the reflection in the rain water in the bar ditch was to interesting to not photograph but mud is not a good color.

Day 198

Day 199

The problem with Day 199 was so many things I choose to normally frame out of a photograph; telephone lines, road, and guard rail. All distractions to the fog in the trees and the falling down fence in the foreground. And taking the color away seemed to work.

Day 200

I have played with clouds in black and white for years so nothing new in photo 200. But the clouds in the opening photograph were at dawn. The colors of dawn seemed to take away from the texture and light in the clouds.

My sister is the queen of flowers in black and white. Me not so much. My flowers need their color. But I love the architecture of the thistle bud and colors in the out of focus background seemed to distract so I tried it in black and white.

Day 201

Day 202 was the photo I always intended to do in black and white. The ruins of the Eagle Nest Lodge through a break in a lush green forest so doing it without color seemed a contradiction but from the moment I snapped the first photograph I saw it without all that green. Black and white is more mysterious.

Day 202

Week 28 - 2018 in Photographs

Day 189

A poppy and a Rufus Hummingbird got the color treatment this week. It was, however, a week of rain at last which created great black and white images. Water, like snow, can change simple objects.

Interesting to me is all the images, but the poppy, were taken from the same place on my deck.

Day 190

Day 191

Day 192

My trick with hummingbirds is to sit on my deck with my camera in my lap or in hand balanced on my shoulder until they take me totally for granted. I treat them like athletes and take several shots with one depression of the shutter and cull the ones out of focus on the computer.

Day 193

I like the above image because of the spread tail with the sunlight illuminating it from behind. My sister prefers the image below because it is less conventional. I like the speed blur on the wings of both birds. It shows their activity.

Day 194

And this week there were clouds. Lots of clouds. And I took lots of photographs of clouds. In the days to come there will be more cloud photos.

Day 195

Week 27 - 2018 in Photographs

Day 182

 Two atmospheric events seemed to have happened on the same day: Forest fire smoke, and monsoonal moisture. Day 182 is not digitally manipulated. I was out looking for dog toys to restock my chucking supply on the deck and had the camera over my shoulder just in case the goats would maybe come wandering down the road. When I turned back toward my house with arms full this was the sky which made me set all those balls down and take the photograph. Of course the dogs following me around grabbed the balls and took off.

But I got this photograph. The Sardinas Fire, human caused on top of the mountain provided the smoke. The actual column of smoke is off camera to the left. The roof line is my house. And the tree to the left of it was only 5 feet tall when I moved in. This photo is proof it is now taller than my two story home which I bought because it was in a valley with no trees but this one.

Day 183

The tree line begins across the street from me. The Sentinel Tree, the tall one in this photo, has been struck more than once by lightning. In this photo it marks the dividing line of the smoke and the clear sky. The North American Monsoons set up provided the clouds to make for a noisy sky which are perfect for black and white treatments. These four photos were taken standing on my driveway and recording the subtle changes in clouds and light.

Day 184

Day 185

Day 187

The thunderhead below grew from nothing. When it first appeared, the bottom part, I thought it might be a new fire. After a dry winter and no spring rains to speak of the forest is on fire. I live in a meadow but am surrounded by forests. On the day I took the photo below we had a big one, the Ute Park Fire and the smaller one, the Sardinas Fire on either side. 

As I type this there are two others, the Morris Creek fire and the Emily fire contributing to the smoke which you can always smell in the morning. So not alarmist to think any new cloud could be smoke. Monsoon season is know for its thunderheads. 

Day 186

And when the sun sets they turn red and orange and purple and look as if they are on fire themselves. The photo below is the left side of the photo above. I can tell by the trees on the mountain ridge. Photographs were taken from the deck of the house in the first photo.

Day 188

Week 26 - 2018 in Photographs

Day 175

Ocate to Wagon Mound is definitely a road less traveled for me. My post office is in Ocate. I don't have to go there to get my mail because I am on a rural route but I find that valley of ranchers magnetic and take to get to La Cuerva where the Raspberry ranch and green houses are. But on this occasion I took it because the fire closed the short route and I had someone to meet in Wagon Mound. I, of course, stopped to take photographs. A couple in Ocate I had not taken before and then Ojo Feliz and the south edge of the Clayton-Raton Volcanic Field.

Day 176

  
This crumbling house on the eastern edge of Ocate I have photographed before. But on this particular day I was drawn by the way it framed Laughlin Peak in the background. And I have photographed that volcano more than once. I have even painted it.

The travelers on the Santa Fe trail used the volcanic peaks which are scattered across the high plain as sign posts. Settlers used them later to mark where they lived and their neighbors ranch gate should be. You become familiar with the shape of a peak from any direction.  I believe that is Laughlin Peak again between the two volcanic mesas. One day I must find a view of it from the south.

Day 177

Day 178

There is a tree in the saddle of these two remnants of a more violent era. It sits on the right slope. Oh, yes there are other trees on the front and right of that butte. But that one tree in the saddle seems alone. I find myself wondering if just out of view there is a grove of trees. If not how did that one tree come to be there alone.

In what is no longer the town of Ojo Feliz there is this marvelous old shotgun adobe which like that tree in the saddle drew my attention. There was no convenient place to pull off the road so most of these are taken from the window of my pickup truck: creep by photography. It has its advantages. The window can be raised or lowered to just the right spot to be a tripod. And the cab can be a screen from the glare of the sun. You need to know how to fold in your rear view mirror to get it out of the way or serve as another tripod.

While creeping along you have to watch for other traffic on the road, of course. Good idea to have your flashers on. When you have taken the photos you want continue to creep looking for a place to pull off and park for the next trip. Record that in you notebook beside you in the seat with a mention of time of day. If I want to photograph the other side of this building it will have to be in the late afternoon. I wrote that down.

I will go back to Ojo Feliz and maybe this time make it all the way into Wagon Mound.

Day 179

Day 180

Day 181