The other evening I went to Bard on the Beach with my friend
Catherine and had the most positively brilliant time.
The summer evening was hot and breezy
and Bard on the Beach was sheer magic in the tent~ you see,
behind the stage the entire tent was open which welcomed
views of towering trees and the singing sea complete with
swooping seabirds (and the odd motor boat but we won’t
talk about that) ~ the set was designed with pillars and
balconies (after all this IS Shakespeare and you
simply have to have a balcony) and floor to ceiling windows
so the background of sea and trees and seabirds became
part of the set if you can picture it most beautifully….it
was beyond gorgeous and positively symphonic and completely
took my breath away
…and the sun SET all the while we enjoyed this most darling
rigamarole of plays in above mentioned trees and I almost
fainted with the sheer gorgeousness of it all not to mention
the twinkling stars which shone so brightly through the set
windows
I had chocolate and beer (because you can bring picnics into the tent)
and I laughed out loud perhaps a little too loudly too often
making people glance over at me with barely tolerant smiles
it’s not my fault I am quick witted enough to catch all of the
Bard’s bawdy references
the lead Jennifer Lines (who is the lead in TWO of the
Bard on the Beach shows this year!!!) reminded me of
Katherine Hephburn with her spunk, guts and moxie in this frolicsome play
It was just all to much joy and I am still basking in the energy of
that evening as I sip my Sunday coffee, listening to my beautiful cd
a certain lovely man made for me with this song crooning through my morning ~ and oh! there are fireflies and hummingbirds in my garden celebrating summer:)
I have a most splendid conversation to share with you from the brilliantly shiny Steph Parke ~ go see! Gosh, that girl has me green with camera envy:)
my bedroom ~ I’m loving the light that streams in all day long ~
I am so pleased with the mood of this photo I created for ‘words to shoot by’ ~ the word this week was ‘ripple’ and once I shot my images I was quite delighted to find a little unintentional narrative ‘ribboning‘ through my work. This is my very first week creating for this wonderful ‘gallery’ but already I am feeling so enthused over the notion of creating three images for one word. It allows me to ‘lean’ into the work and feels like a thoughtful, deep ‘breath’ somehow, if that makes any sense at all. Hopefully it will inspire some strong, beautiful work. I don’t like saying that out loud but sometimes you have to put it all out on the line to nudge yourself to grow in your art.
Yesterday morning I was driving along and saw a little black triumph car zipping along, dotted all over with pink cherry blossoms that had perhaps fallen off a tree while it was parked through the night. Since there was a sprinkling of rain, all the little blossoms clung very romantically to the car ~ it was incredibly beautiful, magical even, and a perfect ‘unphotographable’ moment.
Today I am sad to say I will not be offering my ‘open to exposure’ on line course for children for a while. I am in the midst of negotiations for a book of this project and I am not all allowed to teach it online at present. But don’t worry, I will be offering ‘the art of living cheerfully’ in the next few weeks which is a playful, romantic and happy inducing course promising to lift your spirits:)
Oh! and by the way, lucky me, I found a wonderful record at Zulu records ~ the Staple Singers who sing with such spiritual elation, I feel positively anthemic.
‘invisible ink’ polaroid print available in my shop, taken with a vintage sx70 camera
Oh my goodness, it seems so long since I have settled down to pen a post, where no one is in a hurry to go anywhere. I am happy today is such a day despite a mountain of ‘to do’s’ that I refuse to worry over.
The past two weeks have spilled over with various dwellings in loveliness including a retreat away for a profoundly intimate celebration of a transformational time in this dear friend’s life. I was incredibly moved with the unbidden outpouring of love for Liz, the ignition of artistic births that comes when one is surrounded by a gathering of gifted and generous artists in the magical reverence of nature. One evening as I looked at all the beautiful faces of friends gathered for Liz it occured to me how wonderfully revealing our friendships are. Her village of friends reflected the joyful healing power of unconditional love, the warmhearted delight in one another’s company and the mystery of encouraging support that moves in the energy of the connected flow of togetherness. It was a gift to celebrate this weekend that I will cherish forever as I witnessed the way Liz’s heart and beautiful soul has touched so many lives.
A mere two days later I leapt into another transformation as we celebrated the exhibit for my children’s photography course ‘open to exposure ~ seven.’ I have so many photo’s of this delightful event but could not upload most of them since the children all sat by their personally designed exhibits and shared with the visitors the inspirations behind their photo’s. You can see a few snippets in my set here however which are simply delightful beyond belief. And yeah, I cried when I went home because, well, I just love those kids so much.
I am now in the midst of embarking on my new project ‘open to exposure ~ seven ~ the polaroids’ which chronicles the work of seven children, seven questions, and polaroid pictures of course. I will be documenting their journey throughout this project for a book I am writing “Open to exposure ~ giving your child the gift of self expression through photograhy.’
My passion for polaroid is spilling over into so many areas of life now as I have truly found my ‘medium’ rooted in the old fashioned magic of analog imagery. Thank goodness the impossible project is no longer impossible and my appetite for film will now be forever satisfied:) so let’s hear a loud ‘yay!!!!” for that news.
Spring has sprung and my garden is awakening with a charmed sleepy yawn, jasmine preens on my front porch and I have strawberry plants and tomatoes, mint and tarragon to coax along summer’s path.
I have missed all of you and this week I can’t wait to pop by your blogs.
When Darlene and Duke were visiting me in Crescent beach last week, we quickly came to cherish our evening strolls through the softly lit lanes ambling along to the beach with my dog Roxy. One night it was pouring rain and quite naturally in the most surprisingly magical way. Well, we meandered along and Darlene would chatter away brainstorming creative ideas to embark upon and it was incredibly lovely and the togetherness was warmhearted and amiable in the best way possible. What is it about a simple evening walk that is so uplifting? It gives such a vast scope for space to think, for the body to move freely, for the soul to wander undistracted in the gentle peace of the wild open air.
Anyway…on this particular evening Darlene directed such an enchanting little film (if I do say so myself) of me skipping along Adam’s lane with Roxy and singing (which luckily you can’t really hear:) I truly love it. What you can hear if you listen so closely is Darlene’s happy voice and Duke’s murmur in the background which, awww! makes me miss them so.
speaking of moving pictures…i will be taking the train (sooo yay!) to seattle for a few days and can’t wait to share some of that fun in images with you
‘clouds’ polaroid photo shot with my sx70 camera and artistic TZ film stock
unphotographable ~ the responses that moved me to my very innermost being when I asked my grade seven students in the photography class I am teaching (open to exposure) “where do you feel most like yourself?’ which is their assignment to photograph this week ~ I cannot WAIT to see the photo’s they shoot
~ ‘actually the place I feel most like myself is a time of day ~ at night when it is dark and quiet and I can be alone with my thoughts peacefully’
~ ‘it’s more of a mood where i feel most like myself and it sounds a bit strange but I love to be down at the beach when it is raining and warm out and i am just wearing a tee~shirt and I look up into the sky while the rain splashes on my face ~ it feels so free somehow’
~i feel most like myself in the evening walking in my neighborhood when it is dark, but you have a soft glow from the streetlamps and I have my headphones on listening to music
~I feel most like myself at camp, it may sound funny but there is something about the moon at camp that is just so beautiful
~Oh, I feel most like myself on stage in drama class ~ you may think I am acting but actually that is the real me but no one knows that, and I feel like that is where I am most myself
~I feel most like myself in the art studio because the teacher let’s us choose freely what we want to paint and I just love being there
~ My Dad and I go canoing and it is so beautiful and peaceful but there is a specific moment I love and somehow think about often which is when I put my hand into the
water and we drift along ~ i feel most like me in that moment
~ In the mornings my Mom and I sit on the front deck and we can see the ocean. We always have tea together and it is just her and me and we watch the sun come up and one day it was really this perfect line of pink and that is when I most felt like myself
This week ~ was perfect in every way and I am so grateful for the honor of teaching these tremendous and artistic little souls ~ and somehow I can just tell already that is really me who is the student, and once again I am reminded that love is indeed all around.
The past few days have been imbued with little scoops of wonderfulness. Nothing went to plan and yet I rose to the challenge with inspired improvisation, luring me down pleasing paths. I saw a most beautiful film, (unexpectedly so, which is always the best kind of beautiful) discovered I quite love singing this song in the shower (exactly the way Zooey sings it I might add because I think she is perfectly marvelous) and decided to launch my new children’s e~course because kids sure do delight me.
I am feeling a happy inner summoning which propels me towards heavenly bursts of creativity which is never a bad thing, and oh! I took some rather lovely photo’s of hands this week which I am hoping to post to flickr tomorrow. I have a serious obsession with hands if you didn’t know already. Speaking of flickr….I am thinking this is a great proclamation to add as a resolution for the new year, yes?
I am also preparing ‘conversations‘ interviews which are flowing in…and would love some inspiration…if you can think of any fabulous questions I might add to my list please feel free to leave them in the comments. I would greatly appreciate any fresh curiosities.
And…because it is SO worth repeating every week…It is Sunday.
