This past weekend I celebrated my birthday and in the process I remembered that I had totally forgotten to acknowledge Picture to Ponder’s 7th Birthday. The first issue was delivered on December 9, 2004. [click to continue…]
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Fruit
Today’s issue of Picture to Ponder brings my wishes for us all to have a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year, with the riches of love and joy and fulfillment of whatever intentions you may be setting for 2011.
There is also a mixture of seemingly disparate photos and a photo/drawing. Not exactly sure why these choices, I decided to simply go with what showed up for me as I prepared this issue.
These two garlic segments evidently have some special meaning for me. I think this is the third time I am featuring them in Picture to Ponder. Perhaps there is meaning for one of more of you. (If you missed the earlier posts you can catch them by scrolling down the page that comes up for “Garlic” in the search here on this blog)
For the next 5 photos and the Self-Reflecting Queries click on [click to continue…]
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Today’s issue of Picture to Ponder is a slightly different “take” on one of our recurring themes that of “paying attention.” I admit the photos certainly appear to be an odd combination. On the other hand, I hope they bring you the same smiles that I get when I snapped and then reviewed them. More below.
Today’s Featured Photos –
For more photos and the story – [click to continue…]
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Exciting News – My book PICTURES TO PONDER: Inspired Journaling is now on sale through Amazon! Open “Customer Images” on the Amazon page to see more.
I hope that the top photograph brings the same chuckle, or laugh, to you as it does to me every time I look at it. I’m presenting it here in fun and also for the possible inquiries it generates.
All three of TODAY’S PHOTOS are the result of explorations I did cutting both an apple and a turnip during the last Expand Your Vision teleclass series. During that time, I actually wrote, on my blog, about the turnip – a “Metaphor for Aging, As Personified By a Turnip.” Curious, I guess, as to how they would “turn out,” I kept these pieces, rather than discard them
The apple slice was lying flat on my kitchen window sill, the turnip pieces in a tiny dish. For the “portrait session”, I placed the face on a little plate stand and reversed it for the second round. It is the same slice presented in two different views.
The texture of the dried apple slice brings back memories of the Apple Dolls that were popular and the one I made during the same time period. If you have never seen an Apple Doll, AppleDolls.org, features them and shows you how to make one.
I was surprised to discover that the turnip pieces turned “rock” hard, reminiscent of the avocado pit cuttings we turned into “beads” years ago when I taught Art in an elementary school.
SELF-REFLECTING QUERIES –
The images and experiences in today’s photographs can be viewed as representational of our lives, demonstrating that transformations are multi-dimensional and can be quite long-lasting, often in unexpected ways.
What in your life, in your memory bank, has taken an unexpected turn and left you with something for which you can acknowledge yourself? Perhaps it would forward you to simply make a list of some of the memorable things in your life.
And, to complete the circle on where we started – the humor in the apple face – look around you. What can you find that will put a smile on your face? It may be require something as simple as picking something up, turning it over or “reframing” it… putting it in a different “environment”, in the same way that the apple slice became a “pedestal” piece.
As always, have fun with these queries.
OPPORTUNITIES for creative activities –
For the writers among you, or wanna-be poets, I suggest downloading the complimentary Artella eBook, Writing the Carousel: Going Full Circle in Colorful Poetry Writing! It includes a progression of exercises that will help you uncover the surprising “turns” of phrases that make poetry effective, and then come full circle by using them in bold, colorful ways.
You can download your complimentary copy at: POETRY WRITING.
I also invite you to check many of the other activities and programs available on Artella Land home page.
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A lady in the top photo with a very wide collar and a “blowfish” in the lower photo. Neither was posed as such. The top photo was a random arrangement of art peels and the lower “simply” a half orange. I was mainly interested in playing with the contrasts of the ceramic dish as background.
Have fun seeing whatever you do/will in the photographs.
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Expectancy? Exposure?
What Awaits?
A juicy, delicious orange,
Nothing more need be said.
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Today’s Picture to Ponder Photos
The upper photo is a very bright Full Moon, early in the evening, adorned with clouds and framed by trees in Green Cay Wetlands.
The lower is a cut Saturn, also known as Donut, Peach in a Ceramic Dish
These two may likely seem to be a strange combination of photographs. “What might be the theme?” you could be asking. The lower peach photo is part of a series I describe on the Photography and Transformation blog, per my intention to post fruit photos daily for a week.
My attraction to the peach photo here has nothing to do with the peach itself. When I view the image, I’m caught up in the almost abstract quality of it, when I don’t think about what the main object is. For me then, it’s simply the play and repetition of lines and textures, as well as, very subtly, colors.
The moon photo also has an abstract quality and feeling and given the colors and shapes are somewhat similar to those in the lower photo, I thought it would be interesting to put them together on one “wall”, our Picture to Ponder page.
Today’s Self-Reflecting Queries
Today, I invite you to look into your life to see:
1. where there may be situations, projects, people that you keep totally separate and distinct – compartmentalized.
2. Is anything, or anyone, standing out, as you look at this here?
3. What elements are there that brings this/these to mind now?
4. Is there any commonality with/among what you are noticing? If so, do you see a way in which putting them together might empower you, them or the situation?
5. If “yes”, I invite you to have fun creating something new.
My Story of the Day leading to these queries:
There is really not much of a story today beyond the photos that caught my attention. As usual, the queries evolve as I wrote.
Actually the full moon photo was an unexpected one in that it was very late and almost dark when I started my Green Cay Wetlands walk. I almost left my camera in the car thinking it would be too dark to photograph. Then that voice in me that reminds me to ALWAYS take make camera, “You never know what will show up,” had me bring it along.
I was so glad I paid attention, for shortly after I started walking, I had one of the “on-rare-occasions” magical sighting, at least for me!
Have you ever experienced glancing up at the moon and seeing it as a HUGE globular, ball of light, which doesn’t last for very long? Although not huge this time, I did, as I was walking, see an extra large and very orange light beyond the trees.
I scurried to catch it, with my thankful-I-had-it camera, and “grabbed” what I could in photographs, mildly chastising myself for not having started walking from the opposite direction, where I would have seen more of the moon show earlier than I did.
Once again, I could dwell on possible missed opportunities or, more powerfully, be with those that did develop.
I’m sure additional queries could come from this for you. If that happens, certainly, be with and expand on whatever it is that comes up.
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Today’s fruit posting is the Saturn Peach (label in supermarket), also known as the Donut Peach, according to pages found on Google, because of its flat shape. Actually, I bought two of them, partially for what I saw as their almost “heart” shape, or so I thought, for photo subjects as well as eating. This peach is also said to be very sweet, tasty and juicy, none of which was my experience.
I had committed to posting a fruit a day and was disappointed when at a late hour I started photographing the peach. The first one I cut was somewhat rotted and bland in taste. I put it and the second, uncut, in the refrigerator letting my disappointment rule my behavior. I didn’t even bother to download the photos until two days later when I took the second peach out to photograph.
Before starting, I checked the first photos and was pleasantly surprised. There was a glistening and lushness to the fruit in looking at it on the screen, an experience I did not have initially. I therefore went out on my patio, for the lighting, and happily started photographing, playing with backgrounds, more photographing, as well as cutting into the inside and grabbing more interesting photos.
Again, I discovered that the second peach also was rotted in part. Between this fruit and the apple photos of last week, I could make it mean something, AND I won’t! I did go back to the supermarket and did mention the poor quality of the fruit to them. I did not attempt to return the two for credit. I figured I got my money’s worth from the photo experience.
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Phases of a Cantaloupe Being Readied for Consumption
Time is running out for the day. I committed to one or more fruit photos per day this week and the cantaloupe, sitting in my photo folder called out. This particular cantaloupe is long gone. Earlier today the images were inspiring poetic thoughts. Not jotted down, they are gone. Maybe later.
The place mat on which the subject poses was made in India – 80% of it is from the banana plant. A cousin of mine who lives in India gifted me with this set. She knows I love my banana “tree” – which is actually an herb. In India, she shared with me, EVERY part of the banana plant is used in some way!
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