Artwerks by Donna » gardens

Is it really a worthy endeavor?

Donna — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 15:48:14 +0000

What prompted the following muse, was working on images of an old adirondack chair that was part of the yard that became a literal park at the hands of my neighbor, Carol Andrews. Carol is gone now, lost to a valiant 3 year battle with cancer. But in the years BEFORE the cancer, she spent so much time beautifying everything she touched. Her house, yard and gardens looked like they belonged on the cover and in featured articles of Southern Homes & Gardens. As her disease progressed however, such pursuits gave way to the necessity of spending all her energy on simply staying alive. This once charming chair is now a pile of rotted rubble, unrecognizable. The butterfly net, tattered and rotting on the ground. The wind chimes are gone, like the subtle music that was Carol’s effect on most every life she touched. Carol’s gardens have been uprooted and burned, or overcome with weeds and brush. Her multitude of decorations that she so painstakingly sought out at yard sales and antique shops, lay in a pile by her garage. Life will never be the same for anyone who knew and loved Carol. It will go on, but it will never be the same. Yet, in the countless images I took wandering around in her gardens, the memories stay alive and well… and so I started thinking…

It’s been a while since I’ve written. There’s been things turning over and over in my head, just been too busy with other things to put it all into words. Busy with things like cleaning house, working on websites, working out. When I think of the things that take up so much time in a day, I’m struck by the amount of time and effort I put into temporal things…things that, in another world and time, would mean absolutely NOTHING to anyone.

If we were hit with some manner of disaster of apocalyptic proportion tomorrow, no one would care that my house was clean, or that my living room needs painting and the floor, refinishing; no one would care about my pedicure. My quest for fitness might prove a worthy endeavor in helping me survive, perhaps a bit longer than otherwise, but no one would care about all the pretty pictures I devote so much time to… or WOULD they?

Pictures document the progression of our lives; they not only preserve the moment that has passed, but the emotion evoked by that moment in time. Pictures of family, friends and loved ones become all the more valuable when that person is taken away from us, whether by the change of direction in our paths, or the finality of death. If an apocalypse fell upon us tomorrow and our present way of life and the blessings that we so glibly take for granted today were lost to us…perhaps forever…would not every image we held in our possession take on a whole new meaning to us?

The creative arts aren’t some frivolous pursuit – the creative arts comprise the expression of all that is in the human soul. Music, dance, films, writing, imagery, fine art and photography in all their myriad forms and applications emerge out of who we are and what we have experienced…what we are experiencing now…and it touches that place in the souls of others that resonates with our own place in space and time – it brings us together in one moment of experience. Sometimes, to partake of the creative expressions of others allows us a peek into worlds and experiences that we would likely never have access to, or even KNOW about, if not for the creative expression of some eccentric soul.

Imagery, whether stirred by what we hear or by what we see, enables us to experience things we might not otherwise experience; it causes us to remember what was and gives us hope for what could be. Remembering is not always a bad thing…not if we allow ourselves to learn from our mistakes and from the mistakes of others, and not if we allow ourselves to be enriched by the discoveries and accomplishments of others. The creative arts gives us the ability to do both. The creative arts are an integral part of the fabric that weaves not only humanity, but all of creation, together, reconciling all the scattered pieces into the ONE life that is the source and essence of all that is. Just as all that we see around us in this material world is but an expression of what IS in a very real but unseen realm, so art gives expression to the very real but unseen realm of all that is within Man, both good (enriching) and bad (destructive).

I began this day thinking that perhaps I spend entirely too much time fiddling with images. But after giving the whole subject a bit more consideration, I feel both proud, and also rather humbled at the same time, that I have been entrusted with such a gift. I have been given the power to document, inform, share, invoke memories and emotion, to join souls together, through my own creative gifting. It is my firm conviction that there is a spark of the creator in us all. What is YOUR special gift? Are you faithful to nurture it, to grow it, share it?

Perhaps they are right…all those people in my life who often accuse me of ‘thinking too much.’ Watching movies like The Road and The Book of Eli probably don’t help…

Scarecrow

Donna — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 22:38:05 +0000

(Click on the preview above to pull up a FULL VIEW of the picture.)

Sometimes, things just don’t work the way they’re supposed to.

I shot this scene in the garden of an acquaintance. It seemed worthy of recording, since you don’t come across too many scarecrows with a beer in hand. But then, if all you had to do day in and day out was stand in a field in all manner of weather and scare away birds, I guess an altered state of consciousness COULD be somewhat useful.

I confess to having added the crow. Bob told me that the scarecrow was mostly for looks, as he had, on numerous occasion seen crows and other assorted fowl perch upon this novelty. Even though I was not fortunate enough to witness said hilarity, I am NOT without my own means to create my OWN Kodak moment.

I had a great image of one of the MANY crows that live near my own small farm, but the setting was quite uninteresting. I had this interesting shot of Bob’s garden scarecrow…quite unique in itself, but it too, still lacking SOMEthing. Hmmmm…

In the original shot of the scarecrow, I had failed to use an effective depth of field that would make the focal point (the scarecrow) stand out, so the busy background was distracting. I used a number of layer techniques, filters and effects to try to bring a more effective focal point back to the scarecrow and her pet. Here’s the final result. Won’t likely win any contests, but I thought it rather cute in depicting one of the many ironies of life.

Lighting Is Everything

Donna — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:42:28 +0000

It’s difficult to get a flower shot that is noteworthy. Flowers are pretty. If you can take a shot that’s in focus and if you have even the most rudimentary sense of design and composition, it’s fairly easy to take a photo that can at least to some degree, reproduce the beautiful thing you saw. Problem is, there are trillions of photos that look just like it in trillions of collections of every moderately talented digital photographer everywhere. I confess, most of my own flower shots fall into this category. But this one, I thought, was unique and dramatic, and oddly, quite accidental.

Late one afternoon following a summer rain, my grandson and I went for a walk in our neighborhood and took some wildflower shots. Around here, yellow daylilies grow wild just about everywhere. Most of my shots were pretty, but from a creative standpoint, just mundane and common ‘pretty flower shots.’ This shot, however, caught my eye as being unique, thanks to the backlighting that I captured quite by accident. Darkening the background added even more drama to the overall lighting effect. Then, duplicating that layer and applying the Overlay Blending option bumped up the contrast and saturation and really made the bloom pop. That was really an accident too.

Well, God bless the accidental accidents. Sometimes they’re just downright GOOD.

(Click on the preview above to pull up a full view of the picture.)

Yellow Butterfly

Donna — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 16:29:36 +0000

I took this shot late one summer season when I had discovered I could get pretty good macro shots with my old Sony Cybershot DSC-F717. There was a fluttering of winged visitors at my paltry stand of sunflowers that I had grown from seeds Wilma had given me. I took loads of shots…the butterflies were far more interested in the flowers than with me, which worked in my favor. What DIDN’T work in my favor was a tendency that still haunts my shooting expeditions to this day. I see something that excites me, and in my excitement to get the shot, I forget all the technical details of getting a good shot, like exposures, shooting modes, focus, etc., not to mention an unsteady shooting hand. I did manage to get a few good shots that day though, in spite of myself…this was one.

(Click on the preview above to pull up a full view of the picture.)

Green Beetle

Donna — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 15:28:52 +0000

There was very little to be done to this photo, other than some of the most common minor adjustments. This beetle pulled off this breathtaking image all by himself, and honestly, this photo does not do his beauty justice. I had planted some fragrant lilies around the base of one of our pecan trees in the backyard and had headed out to get some shots of the blooms after another of those summer rains. I found this little fellow enjoying my new fragrant blooms too, and thought his deep, iridescent emerald coloring would make great contrast on the white bloom. The beetle was between 1-1.5″ long and was as striking as any glittering jewel I’ve ever seen in a jewelry store.

(Click on the preview above to pull up a full view of the picture.)