Kat Eye Studio

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Develop a Photo-Heart Connection

This image, shared last month, speaks to my heart and soul. I love the textures of the wall, and the complexity of what I see in the window: Outside, inside and the reflection. It represented what I was feeling at the time, a low point for me creatively, a winter reflected in an otherwise normal, but unique, exterior. But within that winter, hope could be found in the blue sky and the blooming flowers. While it may not be my top image of 2011, it is definitely my favorite for the last half, since moving home from Italy.

As I’ve come out of my low point in December, I’ve realized that one thing I am craving is connection. Connection, like this, of my heart to my images. Connection to other photographers who seek this same relationship in their photography. Looking back, it is not a surprise I felt this way, without a Find Your Eye course running in December. The connections I find with the participants seems to fill this need for me. I’ve described it as finding “kindred spirits.”

As I’ve thought about 2012 and what I want to do, this theme of connection keeps coming up. I want to extend the connection I find through Find Your Eye to everyone, so I’ve brainstormed this new idea for a monthly blog series: The Photo-Heart Connection.

The idea: At the end of each month, review the images you worked with in that month for the one that gives you the strongest connection to your heart and soul. Write about that connection to the image in a blog post or in a photo description on Flickr, then link into the monthly link up. You can get to know the other photographers seeking the same connection, by visiting the links and reading their experiences. We will find our kindred spirits.

The Guidelines:

  • This is a monthly link up, open from the 1st through the 7th of each month to post on your previous month’s photo-heart connection. In my Photo-Heart Connection post on the first of each month, I’ll share my image for the previous month as I did above, along with ideas on how to deepen your own photo-heart connections.
  • Pick one photo, with which you feel the strongest heart connection, to share. The photo shared can be any photo that you worked with in the last month, either newly captured or edited.
  • Write about your heart connection with that photo. Why does the photo speak to you? What do you feel?
  • Link your permalink into the Photo-Heart Connection link up.
  • Linked entries must include the Photo-Heart Connection button (available on the sidebar here). We want to share and build the sense of community of photographers seeking the photo-heart connection.
  • As you can, visit the links of fellow participants. Comment and discuss your experiences and build your connections.
  • The goal of this link up is connection – to your images and to other participants. As such, the focus is on quality over quantity. Links will be moderated to ensure they follow the guidelines, including both photo and writing about the photo-heart connection.
  • For reminders, be sure to sign up for the Kat Eye News. I will time the newsletter to arrive the last week of the month to remind you of the link up beginning on the first.

Participation is open to all! You don’t even have to link in if you are uncomfortable sharing. You can do this monthly exercise on your own to achieve an increased photo-heart connection. For those of you who have taken the Find Your Eye courses, participating will keep you moving on the journey you started in class. It will also be a great companion to any other photo project you might have going this year, such as a 365 or a 52-week project, deepening your experience.

I have a feeling that if we all do this monthly for the next year, we will see some incredible things happen in our photography. I also have a feeling that other companion ideas will come out of this, on the theme of connection. I hope you’ll join me to develop your Photo-Heart Connection this year. The first link up will be posted on February 1!

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Connections


Let us step into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.
— Albus Dumbledore in JK.Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

I saw that flighty temptress in Chicago, in this sculpture at the edge of Millennium Park. I know it was her, because I’ve seen her before, in the work of my dear friend Carissa. She introduced me to that quote above and the temptress in her painting below, started at the Do What You Love retreat in May.
The Flighty Temptress, Adventure by Carissa

Isn’t that cool? I love to find connections like this. Similar themes or styles or ideas between artists in dramatically different places and times. It makes the art I found on the streets of Chicago more real to me, because I saw a connection to a friend in it. And then, of course, I had to capture it, edit it and share it – making my own art and my own connection to the flighty temptress as well.

Here’s another cool connection I’ve been meaning to share, between my online friend Angie and I. She created this lovely stitched piece, inspired by a photo I posted here. I love how she took the basic elements of color, line and shape from the photo and interpreted it in the fabric and stitching.

Bollards and Ropes by Angie

Creating art is a cycle of connection and inspiration. There is nothing wholly new, we are all influenced by the world around us. Our contact with other art and artists can’t help but show up in our work. The cool thing is in how it shows up – we change it, give it our own twist. We share our own unique vision of the world.

Do you have stories of connection and inspiration between yourself and other artists? It would be fun to have you share them here!

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Tied up in Knots

The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.
— Anna Quindlen
I was surprised by the response to yesterday’s post. It seems that many of us feel that we are the loner much of the time, different and outside of normal. I thought it was just me. It is ironic that we may feel excluded by our differences, yet in our feelings we are experiencing the same thing.
My current morning reading, The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are by Brené Brown, speaks to the universal human desire for love and belonging. We want to be in the bucket, with the other flowers. The irony, she points out, is that we often strive to achieve love and belonging by fitting in and “hustling for worthiness” and acceptance. When we strive to fit in, acting like we think others want us to act, we no longer honor our authentic selves and we short circuit any true connection. She says, “… To fully experience love and belonging, we must believe we are worthy of love and belonging.”

In the light of that lone flower, we must each embrace our own differences and take them to heart. Stand alone with confidence in our own value and worthiness. When we say, “Here I am, with all of my quirks and differences, take it or leave it,” we are accepting ourselves as we are. From that grounded place, when we reach out to others and feel a connection, the connection is real. It is whole. It is sustainable, because there are no pretenses to keep up.

Have you ever tried to keep up pretenses in a situation? Yeah, it ties you up in knots. After a while, you don’t know which direction you are going. You don’t know where you are, in the midst of it all. It’s not sustainable.

I’m learning, again and again, how important it is to occasionally stand alone, in order to be myself. Whether it is in my art, sharing the photographs I love regardless of technical perfection or perceived photographic ideals, in my relationships, being honest about who I am and what I need, or even at my corporate job, sharing an opinion that may be contrary to the group, I have found the result of standing alone and embracing my differences is true connection. Instead of connection built on the unstable ground of insecurity, it is connection grounded in confident stability.

When I value myself for who I am, others value me too. Go figure.

To all of you who identified with that less-than-perfect lone flower I say: Congratulations. All you need to do now is untangle the knots and stand tall, confident in your uniqueness. Not an easy process, I know from ongoing experience, but so worth it. The reward I have found is connection, with people who are equally as unique, like you.

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What’s going on around Kat Eye Studio…

  • Did you recognize today’s photo as a triadic variation? The current Exploring with a Camera theme is The Color Wheel: Part 2. Check out the post and join in the exploration.
  • Are you ready to get your camera off of full auto and see what you can create? Registration is open for Digital Photography Basics! Class starts October 16. Visit here for the details.
  • Want to know what’s going on in the studio? You can subscribe to the Kat Eye News to stay up-to-date on all the happenings.

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A Few New Tools

These old tools look well used, don’t they? They were part of a display in the Marksburg Castle in the Rhine River Valley in Germany. I loved the light and contrast, but just as much I loved that they represented the hard work of the people who once lived there. Imagine back when these tools were new. Imagine the lives that touched them, and how they supported and improved those lives.

Today I want to share with you a few new tools, through sites that can help link you up with online resources to further your creative journey and connections.

Finding Photo Link Ups

Yesterday Exploring with a Camera was featured on the blog Through a Photographer’s Eyes. Misty is featuring a different link up every Monday, with a resource list of the link ups you can access here or by clicking the button below. It’s a nice way to get an overview of the different link ups along with a list, so check out her features so far and remember to see who she’s featuring every Monday!

There are so many link up opportunities out there for photographers on the web, it can feel overwhelming at times. You might want to participate in them all, but I believe you have to find the ones that are right for you. I know that I resonate with some and not others, based on my style and interests, and I keep that in mind when I choose where to participate. Check them out and see what fits for you!

Finding Blogging Artists


How do you find new and interesting blogs of other artists? If you’re like me, it’s an organic process. You visit one site, follow a link to another site and over time find a few that you really love.

Geri Centonze has decided to help speed up that process of linking blogging artists by creating artseebloggers.com. On this site, you will find blogging artists grouped by category – Digital Art, Draw/Paint, Fiber Arts, Jewelry, Mixed Media, Paper Crafts and Photography. You can look around and visit the sites, and add yours too!

Artsee Bloggers

Geri says this is just the beginning of her vision and I can’t wait to see where she goes next. I love the idea of connecting artists to each other in new ways! I hope you will check out her site.

Finding Retreats and Online Courses

I know I mentioned the new site, Seek Your Course, a couple of weeks ago but I wanted to call it out in today’s “tools” post again. This new site is a fabulous resource to find courses that cover all aspects of art and creativity – everything from creative blogging to film making to personal growth and so much more. This is my kind of resource! I love to learn as much as I love to teach, and this opens a whole new way to find great learning opportunities.    

Before you had to click around, follow the organic route and, if you were lucky, stumble upon a link to a course that is perfect for you. No longer! How lucky we are to find these courses in one place, and who knows what new things you will find. I hope you will visit and check out the offerings. Tell Jess that Kat sent you! 🙂

A big thank you!

I love that in all of these cases, someone thought “Wouldn’t it be nice if…” and then did something about that thought. They saw a need and filled it by creating something we can all use. A big thank you to them!! It takes hard work to create tools like these that everyone can use.

I’ve created a new “resource” section on the left sidebar, and will add reference resources like these as they come my way. I’m all for anything that helps us connect with our art and creativity, and each other, at a higher level!