Posts Tagged ‘photography’

When I was little …

Monday, May 9th, 2011

Ray on a Sunday Morning Muse

When I was little …

I examined my bedroom from my bed – upside down.

I viewed other worlds in the television set – while it was off.

And I especially liked to see how many layers of reflections I could capture in a pane of glass …

 

Like this reflection of Ray on a Sunday morning while we were talking about why he loves painting chiaroscuro.

“It’s the focus on light. Without the subject’s relationship to light …” and he was off.

With me right on his heals as we talked about the light and THE LIGHT. About art and spirituality.

As the rising sun angled a beam across the living room, I looked over his shoulder and caught this image in the cabinet behind him.

“Don’t move. I’m getting the camera.” (more…)

DUCK! Kicking the Can Project: Part 3

Friday, March 18th, 2011

JMR Productions Site Video on YouTube

If Juliette’s picture is worth a thousand words, what does that make this music video that JMR Productions Site offers as the next kick?

Every object has a story and every story enlists a response. In my décor therapy workshops, I encourage participants to acknowledge the power of the storyteller in the objects found in their homes.

 

“What are you ‘buying into’ when you walk through the door? What subliminal messages are you investing energy in and giving power to? Reinforcing ‘happy stories’ within your four walls activates a powerful template that invites and anchors the positive life experiences you yearn for.”


Using this video to reinforce a point NOT to take our “stories” for granted, which JMR Productions Site so beautifully illustrates with a seemingly unimportant piece of bedroom hardware, qualifies as an easy kick in my book. One that the décor therapist in me simply could not pass up. (I’m even thinkin’ this video might be (more…)

Kicking the Can Project: Part 2

Thursday, March 10th, 2011

Effects by PhotoFunia-PBR

The creative collaboration continues …

“Ever play “kick the can” when you were a kid? You’d happen on an abandoned can and before you knew it you were three blocks past your house. Maybe you’d even get lucky and meet a friend or two on your journey. One could travel around the world with a couple of friends and a can. That is what we are doing here. Kicking the virtual can …” 

Missed Part 1 of this project? Click Here.

Some pretty wild threads of conversation in The Messy Room’s back room (Facebook’s Inbox) and Juliette’s photo entitled “Random Pastings” inspired this comment from Michele Sevacko …

“… this [inbox] thread has caused me to pause and remember that conversation is also an art … and occurring in many places simultaneously. As it is layered and built on it takes it – and me – to another level.”

Here’s her can, kicked from the woods of North Carolina.

Random Pastings by Juliette Mansour

“Random Pastings” photo by Juliette Mansour

Random Pastings and The Art of Conversation
by Michele Sevacko

As I’ve been going about my “busy-ness” and “being-ness” today, I’ve continued to reflect on the idea of conversation as an art – as I see it showing up in responses to emails, phone calls and Facebook posts.

Using Facebook as one example:
I have found that, just as there are artists who paint, take photos or sculpt things that seem so real you just want to step into the scene, there are people who are so “real” in what they are communicating you feel that you’re there with them – although they can easily be on the other side of the globe. These are my “Realists.”

Then, there are the people that relate just the “facts,” who feel it is their duty to keep us informed. There are also the people that only want to know the “facts.” Collectively, they represent my “Cubists” – not because of a similarity to the (more…)

Kicking the Can: A Collaboration

Thursday, March 3rd, 2011

Effects by PhotoFunia-PBR

Ever play “kick the can” when you were a kid? You’d happen on an abandoned can and before you knew it you were three blocks past your house. Maybe you’d even get lucky and meet a friend or two on your journey.

One could travel around the world with a couple of friends and a can. And that is what we are doing here. Kicking the virtual can! To follow the can, I have to take you to the time BEFORE the can appeared. It started with a post on ephemera. My Life As Ephemera, actually. The game began with a contribution from Sharron. A mandala that she created from my ephemera shot. And a poem.

I thought, “How delightful! I must share this right away.” But a little voice (you know the one) said, “Wait. There’s more.” So I waited. That’s when the can appeared. Well, really, it was a comment made by Juliette on my second ephemera post, Shoe Boxes & Found Objects, with a link to HER blog where “Voila!” the can appeared.

So, I kicked it. And she kicked it back. Then we sent out a call to see if anyone else wanted to play. (That’s when I discovered The Messy Room has a back room … heheheh … one that I dare not post!)

 

So, here is the first kick from Sharron Cee in South Carolina:

Ephemera to Mandala Composite

 

A Mandala: Created from the shot I used in my post, My Life as Ephemera. (more…)

Juliette’s Street Ephemera

Monday, February 28th, 2011

Pabst Blue Street Ephemera by Juliette Mansour

Photo by Juliette Mansour of Casa Dresden

Inspiration is unpredictable. That’s what makes it so magical. When it strikes it has that first time freshness – like falling in love – that defies the dull, deadening impulses of the mundane.

We might yearn for inspiration. Even create an environment that encourages it. But, in the end, inspiration will not be bought nor controlled. That we might take delight.

As a street photographer, Juliette finds her inspiration is often right around the corner. We seem to share a muse because what inspires her frequently inspires me. Her comment and blog link on Shoeboxes and Found Objects inspired an ephemeral muse-fusion that we are collaborating to capture. That we might share delight!

“Bernadette, you can find interesting ephemera on the streets! Check out this collection of odd, artistic, far out street stuff on my blog … okay, well some are ephemera anyway!”

Street Stories: Many Angry Eggs

Many Angry Eggs

“From carved out, psychedelic-colored, old refrigerators to creepy skulls hanging from a tree, here are some bizarre things found on the street that makes one stop and think, “how did that get there?”

Street Stories Winter Seating

Winter Seating

BIG ephemera that certainly fits my definition. With photo captions like: Skull in the Yard • Lost Bed • An Old Make Out Place • Psycho Fridge • Welcome No One (more…)

Bilingual chick with a knack for creative stuff

Monday, July 5th, 2010

Lumiere

Title: Lumiere
Muse: Juliette Mansour
Gift Giveaway: 5×7 photo, matted for framing

Muse-Creations for Our Forgive it Forward Giveaway – Because forgiveness and creativity go hand-in-hand for us, Ray and I thought it would be fun to spice up our 35-day Forgive It Forward project launch with a focus on the arts. So, we sent a call out to the muses among us for a little assist and some inspiration.

Between June 14th and July 19th, we introduced artists, sculptors, potters, musicians – and more – who forgave it forward with us by donating a gift for a random drawing giveaway. Each muse answered two questions and shared a little bit about their creative process and passion. We hope they inspire you.


Juliette Mansour: Photographer & Web Wizard

Juliette MansourWere it not for this muse’s abilities and patient persistence, you would not be reading this blog. You also would not have a Forgive it Forward video to watch or a Facebook page to visit. And there definitely wouldn’t be any tweets, chirps or twitters coming from this part of the world.

Why? Simply put: I’m a “procrastinate until it is obsolete” technophobe when it comes to computers and the internet, Ray is a “just put a pastel or paintbrush in my hand” artist and Juliette is a saint. (Okay, maybe not a saint but certainly an angel for sharing her wings.)

I’ll never forget her first remarks when I asked her what she thought about Enlightened Ink’s new website back in 2006. After she said it was “nice” – yeah, THAT got my curiosity too – I asked her to be honest. (I mean, nice? Just NICE?)  Juliette likened my attempt at a website to “putting a poodle sweater on a Great Dane puppy.” (Cute at first but no potential for growth.) When I asked her to go on, I had an eerie sense that I was opening a Pandora’s box. The next thing I knew, my online presence was under construction!

This muse single-handedly poked, prodded, cajoled, coaxed and oftentimes tricked me into embracing the internet as a creative medium the same way I would a blank canvas and box of paints. She instinctively knew all the buttons to push and the frequency with which to push them. On her resume, Juliette says, “my day job can be captured in one headline: “Bilingual chick with a knack for creative stuff and with years of experience in web stuff helps overwhelmed, small biz clients find their voice.” I say that’s an understatement if ever I heard one. Just browse this site and watch the videos and you will see (more…)