One Sweet Shot - March 2008

Hey sisters, it’s One Sweet Shot Sunday again! Welcome to our monthly inspirational link fest!

My pick this month is the gorgeous photo above captured by the lovely and talented Gayla Trial of You Grow Girl. I was fortunate enough to get to speak on a panel that she moderated at BlogHer last summer which was quite a pleasure. If you aren't yet familiar with her website,  I encourage you to pop over and dig around (the oldest pun in the gardener’s book I know) to discover her wonderfully earthy and soulful images.

And now, on to the other honorees of this edition of One Sweet Shot:

Vixen’s Den is honoring this shot from ProjectMommy.

Write Mama Write is honoring this shot from Steph.

Maggie is honoring this shot from christinator5 .

Rebecca is honoring this shot of her Winter Beauty.

Shelli is honoring this shot from Springtree Road.

Hay is honoring this shot from mommymac.

Lawyer Mama and Maile are both honoring this shot from happy girl lucky.

Redness is honoring this shot from Corey Amaro.

Val is honoring this shot from Jo.

Mrs. Eaves is honoring this shot from Vixen’s Den.

Krystyn is honoring this shot from Beebee Mod.

Andrea is honoring both this shot from romanlily and this one from she saw things.

And Mandi is honoring this shot from Amy Shaba.

To all of you that submitted your honorees, thank you. To all of you that were honored, let this be a little dose of feel good on this fine Sunday. And to the rest of you, sit back and enjoy the clicks!

When There is No Plan B

Even as an Art major in college I knew I would never make it as a fine artist. It was never the Plan. I always knew in my true little artist heart that I would do something creative in my career but I also knew that creating fine art and trying to get it into galleries or even more, sell it was not that something for me. Plan A was graphics. But when I found out the graphic department was impacted and highly competitive, I bowed out of even trying to get in. I didn’t have a Plan B so I just went with the knowing that I would do something creative in my career part and decide that was enough as I set out to get a BA in Art, of course.

I guess from there the steps aren’t really important because now I am doing a million creative things in my career(s) and my experience has been better than I could have ever planned. The best part to having a no real Plan is that you can wander anywhere your path leads you without fear of not following the Plan. It’s pretty great and can really work to your advantage (she’s says speaking from experience).

As far as not wanting to get my work into galleries, I’ll admit, I have had my moments of giving that a whirl with hit and miss results. For the few times I have been accepted into a show (and they have been tiny shows mind you) what grand experiences they were! There is nothing like having something you created on display in a sacred space along with work from fellow creatives, wine in hand, celebrating each other and sharing something magical. I’m just relieved that I didn’t have that kind of thing in my Plan because now, these kinds of events have been moments to savor, like a extra icing on the cake of my creative life.

How about you? Have you ever put yourself out there and tried to submit something to an exhibition? It can be unnerving I know, but as inspired women looking to share our unique perspectives from behind our lenses, we have nothing to lose but an entry fee. And if you did enter a show and a photograph that you shot was chosen to hang on a gallery wall, wouldn’t that just be the sweetest thing? If you are nodding your head yes, then I challenge you, on this leap day to take your own leap and waiver from your Plan; even if it’s only long enough to enter one of your beloved works of photographic art into The Art of Photography Show. You only have until Monday so leap to it. Thanks jpg mag for the head up on this one.

So, I’ll see you at the opening! That’s called positive thinking. *wink*

The photo above is what I would probably consider my very first successful photo projects (a polaroid transfer of one of my sculptures)—my signature is even in my maiden name. It hung in a gallery for six weeks a long time ago and today it hangs in my entry way.

When Art Imitates Life

Yesterday I posted a photo on my other blog with a few lines describing my recent quandary with a certain four-year-old. Nothing terrible, just terribly trying. I thought it was interesting that many of the comments over there mentioned that my struggle was somewhat evident in my photo, no explanation necessary. It was so nice to feel understood in that way. A picture is sometimes really worth a thousand words--none of them spoken--all just translated intuitively through visual communication. I take great comfort in that—in the power of the capture.

Over the weekend, during a low moment, I stepped outside for a little fresh air therapy when right near my front door these tender leaves caught my eye. Tiny droplets from the previous night’s rain were catching the only glimmer of light offered by the morning diffused with weather. The leaves looked so delicate and sweet. It wasn’t until I pulled the images up on my monitor that I noticed a sadness, as the frail foliage seemed to be weighed down with each drop, weary of the burden. I felt through the image what I felt myself.

So, does all this mean we do truly create photographs that mirror the state we’re in? Do we shoot saddled with our sorrow, or jubilant with joy allowing our intimate vulnerabilities to be exposed through our work? Or, do we instead shoot through our exhaustion and despite our weariness in order to seek some kind of clarity, powerful enough to lift us from our fog? Perhaps it’s all dependent on the very moment we click and what we needed more; to express ourselves or to save ourselves.

If you’ve got a shot that speaks volumes for you, you know we’d love for you to share it.

weekend

With each weekend comes the promise that anything is possible. Maybe the anticipation that all of our dreams can come true in two short days is a little much but there is great potential. As you breath in the fresh air of Saturday, seize the day and take your camera with you. And if you choose to make it a pajama day, so be it. I'd love to see you in your flannel finery.

Whatever the plan is for your weekend, let's see what kind of magic can be stirred up.

the gathering

Whether I am arranging the shelves in my living room or the pictures on my wall, I find that the casual grouping of items together is what makes my little vignettes aesthetically pleasing to me. As I move things around, I let my instincts guide me.

Oh, this color looks lovely against this color and this shape is wonderful next to this one.

A little higher… a little lower…wait, higher—there! That’s it!

I can’t always explain why I am doing what I’m doing, but I know what I like when I see it. I know this about myself-- that I enjoy pairing things up, gathering them just so and tenderly composing each arrangement. I guess it’s no wonder then that when it comes to my photographs I have these same kinds of tendencies. I’m not sure I’ve ever really thought about it until I really looked at this shot of our tulip tree buds and I was struck by how much it looks like a little family, affectionately gathered together.

It got me thinking about a number of other images I have captured that seem to have similar, almost human qualities; a loving gesture, a coupling, a birth, a family. As I race through one after the next, almost in disbelief, I see it again and again. I am delighted by my discovery.

I encourage you to look again at your photographs; really look. Set out to rediscover them. See them in a new light. Do you find any elements working together that speak to you of tenderness, nurturing, and love? Do they convey what is important to you in some abstract way that you may not have noticed before? Something tells me if you look close enough, they just might.