Kat Eye Studio

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Fundamental Shift

I came to a surprising realization this morning, that somewhere, sometime in the last year I have made a fundamental shift. I can see this shift in several ways…

In my photography, I have moved from the idea that I’m just capturing our travels to share with family and friends and remember later, to the idea that I’m creating art.

In this blog, I’ve found my voice, sharing my unique vision of the world around me and my creative journey.

In my self, I have moved from identifying myself as an engineer (my day job for the last 18 years) to identifying myself as an artist.

I am an artist.
Photography is my medium.
I have a unique vision to show the world.


Wow, that feels great to put out there. This is an exciting realization for me. I hope you continue with me on this journey, because who knows where it will lead.

(Photo is the entrance to the Marksburg Castle, outside of Braubach, Germany in the Rhine River Valley.)

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Join Me in Germany

An inviting doorway in Braubach, Germany, a little town along the Rhine river that is the home of Marksburg Castle. This image adds to my ever-increasing collection of doorway images. I like this one for a few reasons: There is a sense of “place” with the half-timbered house in the background; a sense of time with the wonderful greenery and flowers; and a sense of mystery with the open doorway and light streaming through. I am invited to come in and see the courtyard, and in doing so, I expect it to be as pretty on the inside as the outside and to find a refreshing, relaxing place. Come join me here for a cool drink!

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At the Doorstep

As I mentioned last week, when we were in the Cinque Terre I was just drawn to doors with peeling paint. Here is another one from Riomaggiore, I love the green paint, against the grey of the door and the chips of it on the red brick of the doorstep. It must be the light, the texture, or as one person commented on that post, “I would like to chunk them off and mash them in my palm with my thumb.” I realized that I feel the same, there is an interactive nature to these photos, a desire in me to participate in the removal of paint from the surface, to pick off flakes and crumble them to nothingness.

Now, I could not have said any of that at the time I took the photo. All I knew at the time was that I was drawn to these spots, compelled to take a photo or two. After the fact, I see that this desire to take pictures of peeling paint is coming from somewhere other than my rational brain. The theme this month for the Creative Every Day challenge has been intuition, and it’s really caused me to sit back and look at how I use and follow my intuition in different areas of my life. I realize that when I take photos of a subject like this, it’s my intuition talking. I can’t explain it rationally in the moment, but I act on the feeling then and there. And, usually, it results in images that I like, and that have something to show to me later.

Even if the message is just that I have an obsessive urge to crush paint flakes.

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Peeling Paint (and Yes, a Balcony for Us)

What is my fascination with peeling paint? Is it the texture, the light, the randomness of it all? Whatever it is, it called my name this weekend while visiting Cinque Terre. I have several pictures of peeling paint, mostly on doors. This wonderfully textured door is to our little private terrace for our apartment in Riomaggiore this weekend.

The interesting part of the terrace is that it wasn’t on the same floor as our apartment. We had to walk up a floor to get to it. It wasn’t locked but the gentleman renting us the apartment was very clear this was our private terrace. We found this immensely enjoyable because last fall, when my Mom and cousin Heather visited Cinque Terre, they told us a story of trying to go onto a terrace in their building, similar to this one, and being told, emphatically, “No balcony for you!” by the person renting them the room. They had just watched a man and his son go out on the balcony and nothing was said, so they didn’t understand why they couldn’t. Must have been a similar situation, but the story provided much humor for the rest of their visit. And, months later, for ours to Cinque Terre as well. We enjoyed the retelling of the story as we sat out on our balcony and looked over Riomaggiore.

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Farewell, Assisi

At end of the day in Assisi, as we were heading back to il parcheggio (parking garage) we walked past this pretty entry way. Same place we walked past in the morning, same light (shade), but from this angle it looked totally different and caught my attention. Just a little reminder that sometimes we need to turn or look back to where we’ve been, for a different perspective. You never know what you might find.

With this, I’ll move on from Assisi, this wonderful town of stone and flowers and views of the Umbrian countryside.

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A Final Peek

Sometimes I feel a little voyeuristic, peeking into people’s lives with my camera while we are travelling. But I love to look inside, if only for a moment, to snatch a glimpse of the lives of the people in the towns that we visit. Doesn’t it make you wonder – who lives here? How old is this building? What interesting stories could this place and these people tell? It sparks the imagination.

This is the last of the photos I’ll share from our day trip to Brescia. I hope you enjoyed the “peek” into another place in Italy!

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