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| Do you see a cactus or an animal burrowing into the rocks with only its tail and hind end showing? |
I stopped at a fire hydrant to take a photo.The hydrant was a stark object against a plain wall. I liked the position of the wall and the hydrant because together they could be the start of a watercolor painting. It wasn't until I got back to our hotel and looked through my photos that I had a good laugh.
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| Another fire hydrant in Canada |
The photo reminded me to double check my images to make sure there are no unintended attention grabbers. One of my first college art class oil paintings taught me to step back and look carefully at my work. I labored over this still life and brought it home where it hung in my parents' dining room. It wasn't till one of my nephews asked what the deer was doing in the painting that I realized what I hadn't seen before. Now I can't see anything else.
I'm still learning that lesson. After taking an online class this summer, I looked over a watercolor sketch and saw, not the natural gas container I thought I had painted, but a big loaf of bread sitting outside the cabin.
I come from a family who looks for hidden objects: faces in unexpected places, shapes that turn from one thing to another. That activity has helped with my artwork. I can quickly pick out the optical illusions that I need to correct before someone else gets a good laugh.
Have you read any good books this summer? Here's my stack:
I just finished reading “Timefulness: How thinking Like a Geologist can Help Save the World” by Marcia Bjornerud, a Professor of Geology and Environmental Sciences . This is a very accessible and engaging description of how our planet came to be, how we know how old it is and how it developed and changed over eons. At the same time, the professor puts in context the frightening speed of current climate change and the urgent need for action now that we are in the Anthropocene, where human actions are overwhelming the healing power of the planet’s natural systems. Thought provoking and hard to put down.
ReplyDeletePat, thanks for the book recommendation. I'm going to read it. It sounds compelling.
DeleteI love your unintended shadow twins, Martha! I just finished "The Overstory" by Richard Powers, a powerful, complex and beautiful novel already familiar to many of your followers, I'm sure. I also read "The River" by Peter Heller, which I can only describe as a poetic thriller. Loved them both!
ReplyDeleteThe Overstory is one of my favorites this year. Makes you consider the importance of trees.
ReplyDeleteOverstory is on my must read list. I read Coming Home By Rosmunde Pilcher and loved.
ReplyDeleteHi, Overstory gave me a deeper appreciation of the earth as the trees' planet, not our planet. Far reaching roots.
DeleteRosamunde Pilcher is another favorite writer for me. Thanks for your suggestions!