textures of home #4

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tile2.jpg

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Macro views of the tiles on top of a coffee table built by my husband over 40 years ago, weathered, much used and loved.

Edited March 10th, 2010: A few curious folk have asked for a description or photo of the table. I’m really enjoying the abstraction and designs that come out of seeing the macro images out of context, so I feel a wee reluctant to start showing off the furniture but here is a view. The colour of the tiles in this photo, taken under incandescent lights, is close to reality whereas the macro shots in sunlight gave forth amazing brilliant colours.

tiletop-table.jpg

hippeastrum, withering

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witheringHippeastrum2.jpg

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this flower a few weeks later….

bittersweet beauty in the dying,
like the transparent skin and veins
of an ancient elder’s hands

textures of home #3

FinnCarving1a.jpg

FinnCarving1b.jpg

FinnCarving2a.jpg

FinnCarving2b.jpg

textures of home #2, Photoshop

tablecloth.jpg

upholstery.jpg

If you are a photographer and PhotoShop user like I am,
you may enjoy this interesting article by David Pogue:
Photoshop and Photography: When Is It Real? in the New York Times

With thanks to Finnish author Anita Konkka
P.S. No, there’s no fancy photoshopping of the above images, just the usual resizing for the web. Thanks for asking!

textures of home

AfricanBasketDetail.jpg

AfricanMatDetail.jpg

FinnBirchShoeDetail.jpg

FinnBirchShoeDetail2.jpg

I look closely around home
I see with new eyes

hippeastrum

hippeastrum.jpg

hippeastrum2.jpg

hippeastrum3.jpg

hippeastrum4.jpg

More flower shots, a study of a gorgeous amaryllis.
I just can’t help myself for these remind me of Georgia O’Keeffe.
Odd this passion, for I’ve never used flowers in my paintings or prints.

she sees shells

barnacle_shell8Feb2010.jpg

barnacle_shell2_8Feb2010.jpg

shelltop.jpg

shelledge.jpg

like an explorer of new lands
with a new eye, a new lens
finding exciting textures
to inspire her inner printmaker

leaf lace

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a finely delicate, yet strong, lace-like skeleton of a magnolia leaf….

spring-like

buds16Jan10.jpg

macros: January garden

hydrangea16Jan10.jpg

hydrangea2_16Jan10.jpg

michaelmas16Jan10.jpg

michealmasStalk16Jan10.jpg

plumtree16Jan10.jpg

Thank you all for the comments and conversation on my last post about my efforts on learning macro photography.

Above are the photos I took that same day outdoors in our garden using the same lens as before. The afternoon sun was getting lower and weaker and starting to hide behind some tall trees. The top image is a little blurry because of a slight breeze but I still like it very much. I’m very pleased with the results and again, I wish you could see them much larger. I did, this time, do some slight adjustments of the levels on all of these images, in PhotoShop.

I’ve been wanting to share a well-known quote I recently reread that resonates for me in many ways:

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.
– Albert Schweitzer
from Artist Quote of the Day, with thanks to my friend Dorothy