Kat Eye Studio

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Where Land and Sea and Sky Meet

I spent the last week at the edge of the continent, where the land and sea and sky meet. We had family come from Colorado and we camped out at the coast, enjoying the rugged beauty of the Pacific Ocean along the Oregon coastline. After growing up landlocked in Colorado, I will never tire of living so close to the ocean. There is a power and a peace that can be found no other place.

So after a week of sand and salt water, today it’s back to the routine. I’m getting caught up on emails and everything that piles when you unplug for a week, but I had to pull out this one photo to share with you today, taken on an early morning clamming trip at low tide. Whoever made up the “rule” that the horizon shouldn’t be in the center of the photo must have never come across a scene like this, where the sea meets the sky; becomes the sky. The horizon could be no other place.

Ah, the beauty and peace of it. I am still there.

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A Final Perspective

We wrap up Exploring with a Camera: Linear Perspective today! I’ve been enjoying looking into the distance with you all as you explore this topic. To wrap things up, here’s a simple architectural abstract from Chicago. It’s all about the perspective… diminishing lines and a tilted point of view create an image of space and building that fill the frame.

How has your exploration of linear perspective gone? Do share! Visit the links below for some great examples too. The more you see and analyze, the more you learn!

And, oh yes, don’t forget to vote for me today so that I can win a Vespa!


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Things I Love About Mornings…

I love the quiet.
Sipping my tea.
Seeing the sky lighten.
Pen on paper.
Me and my thoughts.
Reading for inspiration.
Allowing new thoughts to swirl and coalesce.
And then… when I’ve gone inside long enough…
Emerging to connect with others.

This image is from this last winter, when I was enamored of silhouettes. Remember that phase? Even though the photo is now out of season, it represents the morning to me. My special morning time which allows so many things to take root, grow and expand within me. And after this quiet time each morning, I love to reach out and connect.

I am reminded of this wonderful morning time as I did one of my favorite things this morning… visiting new links to the Photo-Heart Connection. Visiting the links for the Photo-Heart Connection or visiting the discussion group when I have an online class going on are one of the best parts of my day. There is something wonderful about the connections that form between us when we share our art and our heart. I thank you for that.

Today is the last day to link in to the Photo-Heart Connection for May. Won’t you join us in sharing your heart? Just think, not only will you gain from finding that internal connection, you’ll brighten my morning tomorrow too. It’s a win-win all around. I hope to see you soon!

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Redefining My Art

In my newsletter article over the weekend, I wrote about redefining productivity. How I haven’t been feeling productive recently, but that feeling was based on an old definition. I’m not sure where the old definition came from exactly – my old artistic practices combined with external influences, perhaps. It was a reminder that I seem to gather these definitions and rules up as I go along in life. I think we all do. Sometimes we need to reexamine them and redefine them.

What was more important in that article than redefining productivity, I realize today, is the redefinition of my art. I wrote, “My art is using photos and words to explore the connection between heart and the world around us.” Up to now, I haven’t quite figured out where I “fit” in the photography world. If you look at what I practice and write and teach it’s not standard “photography.” It’s something different. Something that doesn’t have a word for it. I’m an artist that combines photos and words together. For me, they can’t be separated.

Realizing that brings freedom. I can remove the labels from who I am, what I do. I can just be me, as I have been, but without trying to figure out where I fit. I don’t fit any standard mold. I can be the seamless blend, like building and sky in this photograph, if I choose. (And no, the photograph was not edited to look this way.)

It can be uncomfortable, though, being without a title. Being without name that defines me, in the eyes of others. It makes it harder to communicate what I do, what I care about. That makes it all the more important to keep using the “words” part of my art. Maybe someday I’ll come up with one word that communicates my art to others. Until then, I’m going to memorize this phrase:

My art is using photos and words to explore the connection between heart and the world around us.

I have a feeling that this moment may be as important as when I claimed myself an artist a couple of years ago. Time will tell.

PS – If you missed it yesterday, I announced a new class coming in April: A Sense of Place. Visit the link here for more details.

PPS – Only THREE DAYS to the next Photo-Heart Connection link up. I can’t wait!

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The Sky’s the Limit

Time to finish up Exploring with a Camera: Silhouettes! The rains have returned here in Oregon, and my obsession with the shapes of the trees has been dampened. I share this one last silhouette image as a memory of a beautifully sunny day a few weeks ago, when my obsession was at its peak. Out with some photo friends, we stopped on a country road to capture this lone tree in a field. I loved the backdrop of the hazy hills, and the beautiful clouds against a blue sky. It makes me smile at the memory of it.

On this positive note, our exploration of silhouettes ends today. You can still link up your images if you haven’t done so yet. I encourage you to visit the other participants, together we have gathered a lovely collection of silhouette images. You will be inspired!


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Energy from Outside the Zone

If you tend toward order in you daily actions, experiment with the expressive chaos and imbalance. If you are generally impulsive in your habitual ways, focus for a wile on orderly and calculated movements. Try to access unfamiliar roles. There is tremendous energy in whatever is antithetical to the norm.
— Shaun McNiff in Trust the Process: An Artist’s Guide to Letting Go

Have you ever noticed this? That sometimes, when you do something that is opposite to your normal routine or nature, you get a burst of energy. While it can be uncomfortable, it can also be fun and liberating.

It takes a bit of a reminder at times, a push to get out of our comfort zones. The participants in my Find Your Eye: Journey of Recognition class are doing it right now, so this quote resonated when I read it today.

And it made me think. Have I been outside of my comfort zone lately? Maybe a little. This expansive landscape shot is different than my usual city scene. But it’s not that far out of my comfort zone. Not really. I need to challenge myself to step out a bit further to get that boost of energy that comes from trying something new.

How about you? Have you stepped outside of your comfort zone lately?

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