Sunday, July 26, 2009

July 26, 2009


I've been looking for just such a stand of Queen Ann's Lace since May. It doesn't grow so profusely in Texas, but on a drive to Kansas City I expected to find an overrun field. Later, I hoped to discover it while driving across Ohio.
Finally yesterday I found my profuse patch in Onandaga, New York. The lesson? Don't give up. Keep my eyes open and keep looking.

5 comments:

Minka said...

This is a really abundant patch of Queen Anne's Lace. Beautiful. Love the touch of orange

Jackie said...

Lovely, and a fascinating composition. The clumps of blossoms, lead one to another but that bit of orange, while it accents and prevents boredom--too strong a word!-- is necessary. This is the perfect day for me for this composition! I have a quilt in process where I have several lines leading out of the picture and need something to draw the eye back in. You have included only one small bit of contrast--just the lesson I needed today. I don't need to re-work what I have, I only need to add a bit of contrast, here and maybe there. Thank you!!!

Kim said...

What lovely flowers these are... I am afraid I have a tough time telling queen ann's lace and water parsnips apart... whatever these are, they are so full and dense and lovely.

Mary Ann J said...

Things I miss about living in the east...fields of chickory that morph into Queen Ann's Lace, tulips in the spring, the woods' understory laced with blooming dogwood trees! If we just had some rain in Texas, we would have wildflowers to feed my soul.

Leslie Tucker Jenison said...

I miss seeing this much Queen Ann's Lace! How beautiful!

November 20, 2008

November 20, 2008

November 20, 2008

How does color set a mood? The soft gray and white of the carpet, the cat Marshall, and the sunlit window contribute to to the sense of calm repose. What does blue mean to you or me? We all have symbolic associations for colors; some based on personal experience and some instilled culturally. 

The cobalt blue of the vase provides a point and counterpoint to the composition, in addition to providing elements that balance.
Keeping the cat in the lower third of the composition weights the image and is another visual door into the picture world.

November 19, 2008

November 19, 2008

November 19, 2008

This picture tells several stories. It references the human desire to order the world around us - the lettering on the wall establishes the alley as a No Parking zone, and the broken glass-  jutting out at the top - is another message of fear and frailty. Whoever lives behind this wall wants to be left alone.

But there is beauty in the contrast of the rough brick surface and the smooth translucency of the broken glass bottles. A contrast of textures makes for an interesting composition. And the abstract nature of the printed letters against the structure of the bricks would be worth emulating in another sort of composition.

There is as much beauty in decay as there is in a bouquet of fresh flowers. And aren't decay and fresh growth just two different spots on the same continuum?



November 18, 2008

November 18, 2008

November 18, 2008

The Hydrangeas offer a lesson in the effective use of color. The pale blue and lavender are roughly the same value, so they balance each other beautifully. I am challenged to mimic that combination of analogous colors on silk Habotai!

This photograph would be considered beautiful even without the red-orange and yellow flowers at the bottom. But the addition of the complements to the blue and purple creates a focal point and generates some nice contrast because of the complementary pairing. And imagine how different this composition would be, were the red-orange and yellow at the top instead of at the bottom. The current placement adds important visual weight.

November 17, 2008

November 17, 2008

November 16, 2008

November 16, 2008
Being and Non-being

Substance and Light

November 16, 2008

We join spokes together in a wheel,
but it is the center hole
that makes the wagon move.

We shape clay into a pot,
but it is the emptiness inside 
that holds whatever we want.

We hammer wood for a house,
but it is the space inside
that holds whatever we want.

We work with being,
but non-being is what we use.

Tao te Ching; Verse 11
Stephen Mitchell translation