Tuesday, June 30, 2009

It Was a Cloudy Day in Texas, So I Took Photographs

Anyone who has done much photography knows that overcast skies are better for shooting than bright, sunny skies...and lately in Texas, every day is a bright, sunny sky.
I was awakened by the sound of thunder, and hopped out of bed, ran outside, and did my best Cherokee rain dance...to no avail. Bummer.
Then, I decided I needed something "fresh" for the blog, and besides, I didn't want to do my exercise workout...anything to keep me from that! This rather saucy rooster was a prop I used in a photo shoot for which I was doing the styling for Graber Blinds...He didn't come with the flag in his beak...my husband came home from some sort of business meeting (Chamber?), with a flag, and I glued it in his beak...Perhaps I should have saved him for a Fourth of July post...oh well.

When I started to collect things to shoot, my first thought was of all my blue-and-white "stuff", including this painting I've never gotten around to finishing. Sadly, it looks a bit "dead", but it was the catalyst to continue gathering and shooting. I was having such a good time......

This is actually a rather sad photograph I took in Nova Scotia a hundred years ago...it is of a debtor's prison nursery...I cannot imagine...but, it is quite beautiful in it's own way. The bunny (big one) is Nora, and I am writing a book about her and Rupert, but the details are under wraps. The smaller bunny is my husband's "Peter Rabbit", and the little Scottie dog (I collect Scottie dogs) actually glows in the dark....

This photograph has great significance to me.....The shoes are "Oz" shoes...that I bought for my grandaughter, Hannah, the day she was born - in Kansas, of course...the little red pitcher was my mother's. The photograph of the boy in the tapestry frame (made the tapestry frame) is my son, Shawn, Hannah's father. The lovely lady in the marquitry frame is my mother, and the little frog on the pin cushion was hers (she collected frogs).....
Long ago, in a land called Wisconsin, I was a professional photographer, who did hand-painted black-and-white photography. I was shooting a portrait on my porch of a young girl, and noticed how lovely her dress and feet were (no, I do not have a foot fetish)...hence, "Porch Feet" was born. I keep the silver box with the rhino on top (I hate to polish silver, and actually prefer it a bit tarnished) next to my bed (it houses a container of Vaseline, which I use on my hands at night - now you know all my secrets - not)...

I think I am going to have to have a 4th of July bbq, just so I can do this tabletop again. I bought the fabric years ago, intending to make a jacket out of it, but it makes a wonderful tablecloth.

Porch feet again, along with sweet peas, and my Grandmother's music box and faux pearls.
"Grace" is another of my hand-painted black-and-white photographs....She was at a Civil War reinactment that I was photographing....
These are my in laws...on their wedding day; along with a portrait of my mother-in-law...a great beauty....I love the swans...they are sterling silver and crystal salt cellars. I put them in because swans mate for life....
You know, I welcome comments.... Sometimes, I feel like a tiny voice, calling out in the vast wilderness....and now, I have no excuse not to exercise...








Monday, June 29, 2009

Survival Mode

Spent a good deal of the day dealing with a fate worse than death in Texas...the airconditioner unit broke down (again)...The house is only two years old, but for some reason, we have airconditioning "gremlins"...When it is 102 degrees, one feels very fortunate to have air conditioning.... I spent alot of time, begging to get the fellow out here to take a look at it...
Finally, he showed up, fixed the problem, and all is well...I feel so sorry for those less fortunate, who don't even have a fan. As a child, living on an Indian Reservation in Oklahoma, I remember vividly my grandmother, soaking burlap sacks in water, and tacking them up over the open windows, seeking relief.. I will never take for granted how blessed I am.

This is Raisen, on the porch in his chair...what you don't see is the ceiling fan...he knew what to do.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Silly Me, wrong photo

I am not above frequenting Goodwill stores...thrift shops, flea markets; in fact, some of my greatest "treasures" have been found there...such as this pillow, still in it's package, $3.00...can't beat that. The chair was from a resale shop - $1,600 chair for $60.00. I covered the seat with black moire', and added the pillow...love it....
This was the photo of my dining room I intended to post...sheesh.


I am spending the day in my dressing gown...it's too hot to go out...I just go out long enough to give the deer and the birds more water...then, scurry back to the air conditioning...Texas has become one, big, Easy Bake Oven...