just a few shots from the past week. variations on a theme if you will. as i've said, when shooting something, i sometimes take a few dozen of the subject until i get a few that i like . . . i think sometimes i need to get rid of the 'out takes' but then sometimes i revisit them.
and that has me thinking about how much i visit out takes in life - the moments that didn't work so well. i do that a lot at times. you know in a movie, they're often the funniest part - but too often they're that wiffle bat to the groin from america's home video kind of funny sometimes. where it's funny while watching later but not so funny while it is happening.
i opened one of my old journals and the quote reads, 'periods of tranquality are seldom prolific of creative achievement. mankind has to be stirred up. - alfred north whitehead' and then i paused and thought if that's true? do we need irritation and chaos to be creative? i don't know if i agree with that.
the weekend was good...fairly quiet but one of those goods that are just that - good. i had the pug herd so, they are very active and adorable.
update: this is the progess on my quilting project. today our assigned task was to cut the squares and figure a layout. i made some alterations to the suggested lay out (just because i like to make things difficult for myself, right?) and cut some 2x2's in addition to 4x4's. and i have started stitching. i am liking the organic feel to this project so far with the handstitching. i'm embellishing random squares as the mood strikes me. i can definitely see me doing more of these as pillows - maybe a full size in the future if i can find a decent used machine at a good price.
i love going through old journals and rereading, recapturing moments of the past.
ReplyDeleteI'm not disciplined enough for journaling, that's why blogging fills that need for me , and photography of course! Lovely collage too!
ReplyDeleteV
I am so glad you had a good weekend.
ReplyDeleteI just love of the simplicity of the single piece of fruit and its color. So excited for your guest post sweetie. Can you send it over some time this week? xoxo
ReplyDeleteChar, glad you had a good weekend. When I go through old journals they are usually about goals I am going to do...What a lark! p.s. all books are about the same. take care, cinner
ReplyDeleteI know for a fact that chaos does not make me creative! Love your photos! Glad to hear you had a nice weekend...pugs do make it fun ;)
ReplyDeleteIsn't it interesting how the out-takes, seen in a different context, different perspective, suddenly work? Art is amazing that way, very chameleon!
ReplyDeletefirst of all I think having a pet around really adds another dimension to each day, can not imagine not having one...
ReplyDelete2nd love the colors in the quilt...felt details are wonderful!
i have not ever journaled ...i do not write well...but YOU oh my such a storyteller with pen and photo
oh, that quilt is going to be AMAZING!!! love quilts. my grandma used to make them, and i am so glad to have them!
ReplyDeleteI have several old journals here too. Going through them is a winter task, and when I find a particularly emotional passage I think,... "now, why did I worry so much about THAT?" Isn't it nice that we grow more wise and more peaceful as the years pass?
ReplyDeleteOne of your lines really got me reflecting - whether we need chaos to be creative. I hadn't thought so, preferring reflective periods. But, while deeply reflecting sometimes I get in a zone of quiet, where I can't get myself going. Maybe that's where we need a little chaos - that jolt to get our juices flowing?
ReplyDeleteThe quilt looks lovely. I am just going to the site, having totally forgotten today was cutting day! I need a sticky note reminder or something:).
What an interesting line of thought that quote has sent me on. No, I don't think creativity has to come out of chaos. However, it often does.
ReplyDeleteI love that you are quilting. Yay, Char.
I love these mosaics of your
ReplyDeletephotos! Glad you had a nice
weekend. Anxious to see your
little quilt in its completion!
Your mosaic is beautiful and your weekend sounds quite nice. Love seeing the progress on the quilt! Happy stitching to you.
ReplyDeleteI have boxes of old journals, stories, poems and just random thoughts sitting in the basement that I try to avoid most days. But I love to reread old books and find what I wrote in the passages or just fall upon an old poem I wrote in the height of my teenage depression tucked into an old love of a novel.
ReplyDeleteOften, they are hilarious now but felt very raw and aching at the time I wrote them.
For me, depression always bred words. But with age I've lost the fire somehow. sniff. sniff. gasp. sigh. ;)
With that, I've been thinking about buying a used sewing machine, too. I want to make pillows primarily. Love that you are making a quilt! I am always envious of folks that can sew.
Off to have a glass of white wine and think about that perfect red strawberry in that perfect white bowl. Beautiful photograph. You should seriously consider a cook book with your photography. I have this wonderful Mexican cookbook written in the 60's that tells a story with every recipe and I often read it just to read the antidotes. Since, I hate cooking. ha.
~Have a good night and my apologies for the long-winded comment. :)
Your quilt is fantastic! I love it so much.
ReplyDeleteI am going to do one just like yours when I am finished. You inspire me.
x
i think, for many artist, chaos can be what brings a need to create and some of the most wonderful pieces are a result of those times of trouble. But for me, it doesn't come from there - i'm not that intense of a person I don't think. But i'm also not so sure being "stirred up" has to mean chaos or irritation. Can't being stirred come from passion – something felt so deeply that you have to find a way of expressing it?
ReplyDelete....just my initial thoughts.
I do the same....taking dozens of shots of one subject. upload and delete or keep. it's a process but I enjoy it. love the sewing project. walmart actually has some nice machines that are affordable. I purchased one at JoAnns several years ago thinking that it had to be the best since Joann's is all about fabric but I had a hell of a time with that thing. then a freind gave me her singer that she got from wally world it works like a charm. love it. easy to use which is perfect for someone who can't get the sewing thing down.
ReplyDeletevery insightful. i'm the same way with movies. when i have a favorite movie, it is always better to me to watch it a second, third, fourth, fifth time and so on . . . that is when i find the poignant little things that i missed the first time i saw it or the last time i had the chance to see it. each viewing and each new discovery about it only makes me love it more.
ReplyDeletei'm glad you revisit you photo outtakes, because they are just as lovely. it's so hard for me to throw away my outtakes. probably for the same reason.
by the way, i love what you are doing with your quilt - the color choices are really nice. can't wait to see the finished piece.
ReplyDeleteIs that mosaic is supposed to be of your outtakes!?...it is amazing!...I especially love the leaf plate with the peaches...lovely!
ReplyDeleteThinking about your quote I thought well there is a reason that I am not very creative!...I've always been rather tranquil and sedate:)
i love your quilt project. on flickr, i recently discovered a wonderful quilt woman..jude hill, who is basically art journaling through quilting. so inspiring. check out her photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/joodles/ she's got a great blog too, called spirit cloth, there are links below all her pix.
ReplyDeleteJust lookin' at your yummy quilt,it's lookin' good- keep up the good work. Joy joys,Joyce( I'm doing the quilt -a- long tooo).
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