Kat Eye Studio

Archives for February 2012

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Framed

It’s so amazing how the human brain works. As I’ve studied silhouettes over the last few weeks, certain images from my archive have come to mind. I haven’t seen or worked with some of these images in forever, but the memory of them pops up and I have to go find them.

Today’s image is one I had to go digging for, because my brain would not let it go! Looking out over Verona, this arch in the arena was a perfect frame for the scene, capturing my husband and son in silhouette. I like the juxtaposition of the old and the new, a unique portrait of our visit to this place.

If you ever visit Italy, don’t miss Verona. Not only is it in the Veneto, my favorite region of Italy, it also had my favorite Roman arena. Oh, I know, the Coliseum in Rome was the biggest, but the one in Verona is the best preserved. You can walk in it and through it and sit on the marble seats that are two thousand years old. They still have performances here, although we were never able to time it right to see one. This arena is living history, the best kind in my book.

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Music in Me

Creating takes many forms. We often think of creating as bringing something wholly original into the world. We limit ourselves with this belief.

When we take some raw material and transform it into something new, we create. When we cook a meal from ingredients, we create. When we combine pieces of clothing from our closet into an outfit, we create. When we pick up an instrument and bring sounds from it, we create.

I’ve been exploring this aspect of creating through my new/old guitar. I’m not the “creator” of the music I’m learning, but I am the creator of the sounds. This guitar would not be making these sounds were it not for me. The music doesn’t exist without me.

Every day, we get to create. Every day, we start with raw materials and turn them into something new. There is freedom and joy that comes with this knowledge. I love knowing this, don’t you?

In The Picture

This month’s {in the picture} theme is “Write On,” putting words on our self-portraits in some way. I thought this quote was perfect to express what I’ve discovered about playing the guitar. I envisioned this shot in my head, wanting the view out the window overexposed and me to be dark in contrast. I set it up using a tripod and remote, and discovered it was challenging to use the remote to trigger the camera, drop it, and get my hands in position in time to take the photo. It took a few tries! The blur of my head was a total accident, I must have been looking between my hands at the moment the picture was taken, but I found I liked the softness it brought to the image. It went well with the light.

So, month two of my self-portrait journey is done, and it’s getting a little bit easier. It helped to know what I wanted to “say” with the photo, and focusing on the concept I was wanting to convey rather than the idea that it is a photograph of me. How’s it going for you?

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Power of Ordinary People

Lasting changes and improvements are made through the cumulative effects of individual actions. Heroic figures grasp the opportunities of movements and perform in a way that catches the imagination of a civilization and mobilizes a collective response, be even these actions ultimately receive their power from the responses of ordinary people.
— Shaun McNiff in Trust the Process

“Ordinary people.” Hey, that’s us.
“Individual actions.” We do this every day.

Is there power in the individual actions of ordinary people? I believe there is. I believe that each of us, through what we create each day, bring something of value to the world. In countless tiny ways, we create the existence around us. Artistic creation is but one aspect of the lives we create each day.

A while ago I received this quote on my Yogi tea bag, “Our thoughts are forming the world.” I set it aside, I didn’t get it at the time. I mean really, the world is made up of things not thoughts, my logical mind protested. Sometime later I realized that all of these things around us, with the exception of nature, began as thoughts. Someone thought they could create a light bulb. Someone thought they could capture light with chemicals, and later with electronic circuits, to create a camera. Someone thought they would build a building, or a town, or a country. Our world is changed, formed, by thoughts which begin in the minds of individuals.

It’s not just the big invention-type thoughts that matter though, those are only tangible examples to show the concept that things start as thoughts. For everything we do, our actions start as thoughts. Our practice of creativity helps to form those thoughts, helps to link ideas in new ways. Our practice of creativity gives us power: new ideas lead to new actions which change the world within or around us in a million tiny ways.

“Every one of us has something distinct to offer to the all-encompassing process of creativity,” McNiff goes on to say later in the book. Do you see how it is true? McNiff wrote his book, I read it today and re-interpret it here, you read and re-interpret it again. You think about it, form your own opinion. Each connection, each thought, is part of the overall creative process.

A creative process which is available to ordinary people. Sparking change which begins and ends with ordinary people. People like you and me.

Consider your power, as an ordinary person taking individual action, no matter how big or small. How will you use it today?

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The Green Door

Life has an interesting way of presenting us with choices. Sometimes they don’t feel like choices, but they are choices nonetheless. I was reminded yesterday, as I gave choices to my son. Choose different behavior, or lose computer privileges. Guess what he chose? Yeah, no computer time for him this week. Somehow, it’s my fault that he lost his computer time. Those of you who are parents will understand how this conversation goes. We had quite a bit of discussion about this topic, the rest of the afternoon. The afternoon that we planned to go out exploring as a family, looking for interesting things in our area to see and do. We still went out on the excursion, but there was a cloud of discontent hanging in the backseat.

Nonetheless, it wasn’t raining and it was a beautiful afternoon outside. I found some interesting things to photograph, and being out and about with my camera kept me calm and cool. I was excited to find this interesting green building, in the tiny town of Harrisburg, south of Corvallis. Even more interesting, was the green door of the green building. The shapes, color and subtle texture were fun to compose.

I have this sneaking suspicion though, that this image of the green door is always going to remind me of the day that I truly realized that teenager-hood is just around the corner. That parenting through the next few years is going to be so much harder than it has been up to now. That the choices I’m making now will affect what my son learns about how to navigate the world around him as an adult. Whether or not he learns to connect the dots: Regardless of what life presents you, you always have a choice in how you respond.

We all have to learn this lesson. Maybe again and again, for some of us. Somehow, this simple image of the green door is always going to remind me: When life presents us with a challenge, we always have the choice in how we respond.

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Wishing you…

Beauty, peace and interesting things to photograph from the heart today!

My Tea with Toan interview has been featured on The Huffington Post and Intent.com this week. Wow! I’m excited to get the word out about the Photo-Heart Connection, and hope that more people will find this as a wonderful tool for personal growth and connection. I’d love for you to come visit if you haven’t seen the interview yet.

Keep connecting! Good things always happen when you are connected with your heart.

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Everything Looks Good

As I notice silhouettes more and more with the current Exploring with a Camera: Silhouettes theme, I’m starting to think that everything looks good in silhouette.

Consider this utility tower, captured with my point-and-shoot camera from a car window on the freeway. Who would have thought this subject, often considered an eyesore, could be so photogenic?

I swear, it’s all in the silhouette, abstracting the lines and shapes against that beautiful sky.

Have you been playing with silhouettes this week? What interesting silhouette images have you found in your archive? You have another week to look and share! Visit the gorgeous images of your fellow explorers, linked in below.


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