I'm back from our brief but enjoyable trip to visit my dad on his prairie farm. I love the area around his farm and always come home with tons of images.
Starting tomorrow I am joining the wonderful Darlene of Small Moments in December Views - a silent look at the world. I'm actually thinking it might be kind of hard not to talk for a whole month. Especially as I'm busy in the kitchen creating Christmas treats and wanting to share the recipe.
I'm off to visit my dad at his farm on the prairie's this weekend. Camera's are in tow. Too bad it will just be a whirlwind trip. Home again for Sunday night.
Hunting for the perfect gift for your loved ones? Black Friday promotional event is now on in my Etsy shop.
I'll be participating in the Gallery IS annual miniatures show and sale from December 1st - 31st. I've got 6 pieces in this show. If you happen to be near Red Deer (which I realize most viewers probably won't) do stop in. Gallery IS is located at 4930 Ross St. It's a great gallery with a good range of 2D and 3D art works.
These sheep have learned that vehicles provide an easy source of salt. When vehicles slow down to look at them, they swarm the vehicle and start licking the salt off it. I am not too proud to say I was a bit afraid to get out of the vehicle to take the pictures.
You can spot several full grown rams in the herd. It's breeding season. If you've ever watched Wild America you've probably seen what Bighorn rams do to each other during breeding season!
We used to raise Shetland sheep. They are a small, but extremely hardy breed of sheep. The rams have large curled horns similar to Bighorn sheep. During the rut (breeding season) the males, if in proximity to each other would fight just like the wild rams. They would back up several paces and charge, smashing horns and heads with such force the sound could be heard a mile down the road.
If no other males were available a ram in rut could charge people. During the rut you never turned your back on a ram. Getting hit could result in broken bones - or at the very least deep bruises that took forever to heal. Hence my apprehension at getting out of the vehicle. Thankfully I have a very long lens and was able to get out, get the picture, and get back in before they got too close to our vehicle!
Another shot from our west country trip. I am still in awe of the magic from there.
I think I've found my photography mojo again. I went to visit a sister today and on the way home I was having this internal struggle. Turn and take the back roads and see what there is to see, or just get home and relax with a nice cup of tea and a few minutes of peace before hubby comes home.
I had settled on the get home for the tea, but then the road that I had been thinking of turning onto was approaching, and there was a car behind me, and all of the sudden my signal light went on. It was a worthwhile diversion too.
From our Saturday trip to the back country. Composite with one of my newest watercolors. After I photographed that painting I printed a different image directly over it. If I get time today I'll try to photograph the resulting print. Much work to do today though so I may not get around to it.
Archaeological evidence has dated this area along the eastern slope of the Rocky mountains to have been in use by native peoples up to 10 thousand years ago. In the foreground is a depression in the ground - the remains of a pit used by native people to hunt eagles. For reference the ancient Egyptian civilization began around 3150BC.
Can you believe this is so close to where I live I am able to go for the afternoon?! And even harder to believe......this is the first time I've actually gone. Granted it is not an easy trip, especially at this time of year, but still. I came home with over a hundred images from the short round of edits. Expect to see more over the coming weeks. BTW, have I mentioned how much I love my infrared?
On the down side the hikes we did were extremely taxing. My lungs have certainly not recovered yet. Climbing one hill to reach some waterfalls, I thought my husband was going to have to order a lung transplant! Hopefully the fresh air will speed up recovery.
Can you believe this was taken practically in my front yard? Well, it doesn't exactly qualify as my yard, but it is right in front of our house. My office overlooks this large pond and is the source of a lot of my distraction.
It is partly responsible for how long it takes me to get things done some days. Like yesterday. I was sitting here working away when I heard the rat-a-tat of a woodpecker. So I had to get up and go see where he was. Woodpeckers can cause an incredible amount of damage to buildings when they start working on them. As I was looking out the front window I saw something moving in the long grass around the pond, so of course I had to get my camera and go investigate.
It turned out to be a stray cat, but the whole distraction made me lose about an hour of work time. Sometimes I feel like a kid with A.D.D!
Nothing really to say today. I'm busy working in my studio making more watercolor abstracts, painting over photographs, and priming washi paper for printing.
Many people across North America will be battling insane crowds to scoop up the latest fades and take advantage of seasonal sales next week. The rest of us will be at home sipping our favorite hot beverage, avoiding the stress and crowds, while taking advantage of online sales and specials to buy unique handcrafted, personalized gifts for ourselves and our loved ones.
We've all seen the news footage of people yelling and pushing in a mad rush to shop. To SHOP?? Why would anyone want to be involved in that, when there are clearly more sane options?
Black Friday is next week, and to mark this start to the frenzied holiday shopping season, I and many other Etsy sellers will be offering special sales and deals. This print will be offered in limited numbers to Etsy shoppers only along with some other specials in my shop.
1 lucky person will be the winner of a free print. The 1000th person to mark me as a favorite will be awarded a free print of my choice. Also watch for buy one get one free options over the Thanksgiving day weekend. Other goodies are in the works......stay tuned!
I'm sure it's probably just because I've been sick for so long, but my head isn't really in a good place right now. I'm feeling really discouraged. I see so many people getting ahead, and it seems like for each step forward I take, there are 2 steps backwards......or so it seems some days.
Could it be that the art world is like everything else? A pursuit that's less about talent than the depths of a persons pockets? At some point in time in the near future I'm either going to have to get a 'real' job to support my artistic endeavors, find the magic formula for making sales, or call it quits. I wonder how many past artists hit this same feeling of frustration and pondered quitting in lieu of a real job - or how many actually did have a real job to support the family since their art couldn't?
Then to make things even more gloomy, today I heard the sounds of gunfire nearby. It is hunting season. I hate hunting season. We have had the most magnificent buck courting a doe here. Yesterday they were right up near the house. The doe was sleeping in the tall grass and the buck was standing watch. The buck was standing too close to the fences to get a decent shot of him.
Then this morning I saw the moose was back for the winter. I am so hoping neither was a victim of the gunfire, but I am sad that somebody crossed that nearly invisible line, out of the boundaries of our property, into the scopes of the hunters.
Finally......our first real snowfall of the year. Despite still being sick I went out to take pictures. This is what I'd been waiting for.
I've heard of stores that always buy one off products.....the kind of stores where everything you buy has a flaw of some kind. I'm beginning to wonder if our local camera store is like that. I've bought 2 lenses that were defective in the past, and recently I bought our daughter a camera that was also defective. When we were in seeing about getting the camera repaired for the 2nd time there was another man in having his new camera sent out for repairs too.
Awfully suspicious I think. I usually shop at Vistek or The Camera Store anyhow, but neither has a store close to me so it either involves shipping or driving to Edmonton or Calgary to shop. However given my track record I sure won't chance any more dud's from McBain's.
I completed a redesign of my main website yesterday (mostly). There's a few odds and ends of housekeeping that need to be taken care of, but it's complete enough to go live with it.
The gallery sections were totally redesigned so that they'll now run off of WordPress. Much easier for me to manage and update. The images in each gallery are all up to date too.
Now, if only I could magically get the housekeeping on my "real" site done......
Still sick, but I think I'm going to live. Maybe.
In regards to not going out to shoot new material recently..... I've got a series of very specific images that I'm creating / wanting to create (of which this image - from our prairie trip this summer is a part of). I know exactly what it is that I want to photograph but have to wait for the right conditions. I don't want to go out and just shoot random stuff anymore, so it's pointless to go out just so I have fresh images that will later be discarded.
I think being sick has been the forced break that I needed in order to clarify what directions I want to take. All year I've been flip flopping between focusing my energy on selling online and being a gallery artist. I can do both, but one needs to be my main focus where most of my efforts go.
Despite giving it a good try, the online selling hasn't really been successful for me. At least not in terms of time and money spent vs sales. So that kind of helps make my decisions to focus on my gallery shows easier. Of course so does the fact that I just got the invite for the Calgary Stampede Western Art Show in the mail this week.
Day 5 of the bug that won't go away. Just shoot me now and be done with it. Apparently I was ready to end it yesterday.
This was a look at winter last year....since I'm not getting out to shoot any new stuff. Although I've decided that I could probably go about 2 years without shooting new stuff and still not run out of new shots to show. I've still got a lot of good stuff in my archives.
I should have called this whooping cough - although that's not what I have. But I did pull a muscle in my abdomen from coughing. Gawd - somebody shoot me now. I am not good at being sick. Hopefully I'll be reasonably back to normal by Monday.
The Indie Fixx Holiday Galleria went live yesterday. I'm participating this year.
In other news, the virus' going around finally got the better of me. I'm knocked out flat on my hinney with whatever this is.....flu, cold, pneumonia, maybe? All work has come to a screeching halt right when I need to be out with the camera. A beautiful, heavy, hoar frost this morning.....and a moose in the backyard too. Damn it!
SNOW!
I never thought I'd ever get excited about snow, but I am. This is a record for the latest arrival of snow here. I've lived here for 23 years and we have always had the first snowfall in September or early October - sometimes even August! Usually there is snow on the ground for Halloween. But this is our first real snowfall.
Yesterday I had gone to town and arrived home just before supper. As I was walking to the house I heard geese. I was able to stand on the deck as wave after wave of geese flew over. That is an event that will never cease to create a sense of awe in me.
It is a little bittersweet to see the Fall migration and there's always the teeniest part of me that feels like crying....for the beauty, the sense of loss at saying goodbye, and for knowing that what lies ahead is 6 months of bleak, cold, lonely winter days. Days in which I will try to make the most of by trying to capture the feelings desolation.
Amy asked what was up with all the food stuff on my blog. I was kind of thinking of that for awhile after our conversation. There are 2 things that I am well known for amongst friends and family; art and cooking. Cooking is a big part of my life because my health problems do not allow for me to eat most processed foods. That means just about everything I eat is made from scratch. And this blog is about me; a place for me to talk about whatever is on my mind. That's why I moved it from my main website.
Cooking is satisfying. I've always enjoyed it - but more so when I could actually eat everything I made. Now I don't make as fancy of meals as I used to except when we are entertaining. Cooking is also one of the most basic things you can do to cut down on expenses during this economic slow down. Making your own stew or tarts is much cheaper than dining out, or even than buying premade at the grocery store. It's much healthier for you too. Have you ever read the label on premade meals, soups, or desserts? How many of those ingredients do you actually know what they are? I am slow foods movement supporter.
The other thing is that switching to something completely different photography wise is a terrific way to learn and improve your skills sets - and since I've never really been a studio photographer, this is helping me stretch my abilities. I'm also working on some recipe cards and need photos for them. So the food posts will continue.
And I already promised I'd share the recipe for these tartlets with Pegg!
Sweet Potato Tartlets
1 1/2 Cups cooked, mashed Sweet Potato
2 eggs
3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp Butter
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Ginger
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Cloves
1/2 tsp Salt
1 Cup Milk
1 tsp Vanilla
Mix sweet potato, eggs, sugar, butter and spices. Beat until light and creamy. Slowly mix in milk and vanilla. Pour into a pie shell and bake for 1 hour at 350°F, or until the center is set and an knife inserted comes out clean.
I always recommend using the best ingredients and starting from scratch. To cook sweet potatoes peel, slice and boil as you would normal potatoes. Drain then mash.
These were made from sweet potatoes but the recipe works with yams as well.
The beginnings of Coq Au Vin that I made last week....through the eyes of my new (old) Polaroid SX-70 loaded with 600 film. Using the wrong film (since SX-70 film isn't available) means it's next to impossible to get a normal image. But that's the whole point of using it like that! The results are always going to be a bit of a surprise.
I added a texture layer to this one, but will probably take it out and do a print on some washi paper.
The Pine Grosbeaks arrived overnight. That means winter will arrive within the next week or two. It also means we need to go to town and buy more bird seed since we're out.
We've had such a beautiful fall that I'll be sad to see it go. Kind of makes up for our crappy spring and summer, but not quite. However I have a slate of images that I want to make involving snow, so that means we need to have winter sometime.
Don't forget to fall behind tonight for Daylight Savings.
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