365 # 42 : Valentines Day challenge!

Ready for my first ever Valentines Day challenge? Go out and SPREAD THE LOVE! I saw a wonderful image on Maya*made's blog (see here & here) and took it to another level with color and this is what I came up with. It's my way of giving love and Valentines to folks in the neighborhood. There is no way I can make Valentines for ALL but I can do this! AND I did it while getting over a really bad cold so there is no excuse for anyone else to duck out of this one! Find a way to SPREAD THE LOVE  today! Be creative & simple & honest & have some fun. It can be really cool and inspiring-that is the whole point of this blog. It is also great to show love and nurture it and this is the one day "we" can all talk about love and not feel funny about it. I would very much love to hear what folks come up with and I hope I inspire YOU to go out and spread the love around your corner of the world today! XXXOOO!

365 # 41 : Valentines Day is coming soon...

I am pushing things till the last minute as I make my very last Valentines of 2009! 

365 # 40 : Valentines,Valentines...

Pulling together the pieces for more Valentines today...making hearts of many colors, playing with lace & ribbons-looking for that "something" special that says "love". 

365 # 39 : Making Valentines

I teach art at 2 area hospitals and I have been offering various Valentines projects for several weeks now. I made several more today = today's  photos. I have loved making Valentines for many years & I have noticed something: one makes the most awful Valentines when one is passionately in love. Perhaps that phase of love is so powerful or all encompassing that visual expression falls short or fails to impress...(?) But once one has fallen out of love, or has gained perspective via time and distance or is miserably alone-then one can make great Valentines. Go figure.

P.S. I would very much encourage folks to take the time to make some Valentines. It is wonderful to make something that is about "LOVE". 

365: #38-at winters end...

I RAN home from work and RAN out to take more photos and spend more time in the COLD! As I look at the weather forecast for the next few days I see warmer temps and rain...maybe this is the last snowfall of this winter? So I tried to capture scenes that would remind me of what it all looked like and felt like. It was the visual equivalent of  the process squirrels go through in fall  as they  find and then store acorns for eating  in the coming  winter. 

I love footprints , of any kind (and even tire tracks) in snow. 

I love the way snow settles onto tile roofs. 

I love the way the setting sun glimmers among the cold trees.

I love how this particular type of snow sat atop everything and is still there, one day later.

I love the way bare bark looks against the snow. 

I love the way still attached tree leaves look against the winter background. 

I love the way poor Job looks in this setting. I think he was made to look up at God in the bleakness of winter time. In the lushness of summer, his plight will not seem so valid. (but stay tuned and we will find out, together.) 

I love how the intertwined tree tops look against the sky. Be sure to look up before  spring comes and all is green and leafy. 

There are some things photographs  could not capture and that is were words come in: 

I love the silence snow creates. It is an audio buffer to all the sounds created by life. 

I love the many different sounds made from walking on snow. (You can blame my love of radio for this.) Do you know what snow sounds like? Have you ever stopped to listen? 

I love how the air smells and feels. It wakes me up! It makes my face rosy. 

Last but not least: I love how snow has made me SEE this winter. Really look at things, sometimes the same things day after day. You really see when you start to look in that way. And I think you begin to appreciate all that is around you when you really see it for all that it is.  I have spent my whole life in N.Y. and I am so glad as I have gotten to taste and appreciate each and every season in all it's glory ,power & beauty. 

365 # 37-41

Today-SNOW!!!!! As I stepped out into the white winter wonderland I realized how boring everything looked yesterday and how amazing  the same views looked today. I guess I am going to have a tough few weeks as the landscape transitions to spring and bloom. 

There are pine forests in the park and in the areas of oldest growth the trees are fighting for sunlight and all of their lowest branches are missing. 

This is the 11th snow of the season & the beauty of it all leaves me hoping it is not our last snowfall. 

365 #36

Today was SCARY. Scary beautiful. A spring day with snow on the ground. The sound of melting water was everywhere. Folks were out taking walks, getting sun & fresh air. But it's Feb. 2nd and where is winter? I kept my eye out for signs of spring and then I spotted this : a blaringly white tree-dead. How sad. Much of the park is covered in fallen trees. Many of these trees have come to rest on live trees, weighing them down. Sad.