Kat Eye Studio

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What’s Your Door Personality?

Can inanimate objects have personality? I was wondering this as I selected this photo. I believe: Absolutely, they can! Maybe it’s not that they have personality on their own, but they have personality given to them by their creator, or their owner. The personality of the inanimate object is a reflection of the personality of the creator.

Take this door. On it’s own, it would just be a door in a wall of a building in Bath. That could be it, but look at how much personality the creator and the current owner have given it… obviously, color – bright pink! And style, it opens in two halves. And the touch of the pane window at the top with the lights both inside and out is nice. Also look at the tile on the step, no bare concrete here! The black drain pipe adds personality too. It could be painted to blend in with the wall but instead it’s a dramatic design statement, along with the black at the bottom of the wall, giving interest to an otherwise bare wall, setting off the door.

Does this door have personality? Definitely! I would love to know the person who created this entryway, but I love just knowing that they are in the world, creating fun stuff like this for the rest of us to see. One of the things that caught my eye during our time in Bath were doors like this one. In a town where there is so much the same – Georgian townhomes of bath stone standing row upon row – the little touches like this show the individuality of the inhabitants. Truly a theme you’ll find here over and over again in the Kat Eye View.

So, what’s your door personality? Is your front door telling anything to the world? Would I want to know you from your front door? A thought to ponder on this happy Friday!

PS – Don’t miss the postcard giveaway I’m doing! You have until Sunday 5-Sep to comment and enter.

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Be still my heart…

Bright, fun color, peeling paint and such texture. Could it get any better for my creative soul? I don’t think so! This picture just makes me happy. It is from one of my happy places, Burano. It made me happy when I first saw and captured the image last week, and it makes me happy to share it today. I hope that it also brings a smile into your day, if only to chuckle at my fascination with peeling paint lately!

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Angles and Lines

I love all of the angles and lines that were in this corner, and the little bits of stucco that were left off to show the old building underneath. Just a little taste of what the building truly is on the inside. You see this quite often in Italy, and a lot in Brescia, just an arch of bricks here, a corner there to show the original stone or brick work. Enough to know that this really is an old place, without letting the entire building sit out in the elements to eventually crumble to the ground.

As an added bonus today, I share this quote I read this morning in Maya Angelou’s Letter to My Daughter:
The ship of my life may or may not be sailing on calm and amiable seas. The challenging days of my existence may or may not be bright and promising. Stormy or sunny days, glorious or lovely nights, I maintain an attitude of gratitude. If I insist on being pessimistic, there is always tomorrow.
Today I am blessed.

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A Nod to Spring

When I left Oregon a week ago, the plum trees were in full bloom. I love the pink blossoms that give a sudden burst of color in the sky against the green and the brown of Oregon winter. So today’s photo and banner change is a nod to spring in Oregon, and a hope that it begins here in Italy soon. (For those of you who read my blog in a reader, come visit to see the spring-y banner!)

I’m trying to get back into the groove of daily blog posts, hopefully this week will be back to normal!

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Bright

In the mood for some color and sun today, so I pulled out this window box photo. It’s one of my early ones here, from Pavia, and also one of my favorites. I love the unique flowers, that were matched perfectly to the building color. This was in a back street, not a normal thoroughfare, yet there was this attention to beauty and detail. I keep saying this, but this is something that I love about Italy.

Yesterday, I went to see an exhibition of paintings and drawings by American artist Edward Hopper at the Palazzo Reale in Milano. It was fabulous, he was an amazing painter of light and of unique American scenes. They compare his work to a “photographic view” so maybe that’s why I resonated with it so much. My favorite painting in the exhibition was Cape Cod Sunset, but this image doesn’t do it justice. The sky was the perfect rendering of the rainbow dusk sky that I’ve always loved. One thing I’ve learned about works of art, is that seeing them in a book or online is not the same as seeing them in person. The color, the texture, the feel is completely different.

It’s interesting that I discover this wonderful American artist in Italy, but I guess that’s just part of my rediscovery of art here. If you have a chance, take a look at some of his work. Or, maybe go see some art in person somewhere, to have your own artistic discovery. Happy Sunday!