2016: Year In Review

Hello to those of you who have hung in, waiting patiently for my return to blogging. It's been a tough year for me physically, so that's why the extended absence. Anyway, not being one to dwell, here's what 2016 looked like:

January:

-My friend Sam Bradd spoke about life as a graphic recorder at Creative Mornings Vancouver.

-I returned to Toronto to do my second term as the Community Representative for BC. This time I was doing grant reviews for Community and Population Health for the MS Society of Canada. I got to have dinner with my NMO sister, Jenna, which was a bonus.

-I won a class with Vivienne McMaster on iPhoneography. I took this shot, which she like so much she used it to promote the class since.

-Inspired by that class, I dove back into photography. I took this shot shortly after and I love the odd perspective.

February:

-I won a class with Tara Leaver called Oracle Cards and made a deck of mindfulness cards from gelli prints I made.

-I won tickets to the premier of Race about Jesse Owens from the BC Sports Hall of Fame.

-I got new ink-my campersand tattoo which was an Xmas gift from my son. Every time I look down and see it, it makes me so happy.

-Husband and I enjoyed the warmer temps with a trip to Granville Island. (The tree was decked out for Chinese New Year.)

March:

-I flew to LA for 3 days for the NMO Patient Day. I had a great time connecting with my community. I also tried Uber for the first time.

-I screened for a clinical trial. After jumping through extensive hoops, I was excluded from the trial, which was very frustrating.

-For my birthday, I took an online class with Roxanne Coble called Creatures. Playing with paint is always so much fun.

-My husband and I celebrated with surf and turf at the Keg.

April:

-My friend Isabel treated me to an evening at the VSO featuring Canadian astronaut Commander Chris Hadfield. This goes down as one of the best musical experiences of my life. I am still listening to Holst's The Planets: Jupiter.

-We started taking Indy up to the lake-it was finally warm enough.

-We went to a belated birthday dinner for me at Storm Crow Alehouse. Love Han Solo in carbonite!!

-My Health Mentors students and I did the annual symposium.

May:

-I spoke at UBC at the Operation Med School about the work the MS Society of Canada does and about NMO. I did an interactive piece where students could experience some of the symptoms people living with MS and NMO deal with on a daily basis which was a huge hit.

-I also gave a short speech to Port Coquitlam City Council and accepted a proclamation from the Mayor on behalf of the MS Society. My husband came along and this was the first time he's heard me do public speaking. Afterwards, he said "I could never do that!" It gave him a quick glimpse into some of the advocacy work I do all year long.

-I started a lettuce and herb farm on my patio.

-I took this wheelchair photo on False Creek, which is one of my most favourites this year. I call it "Gone Paddling". It speaks to ability.

June & July:

(Lumped together, because by this point, I was very unwell.)

-Another most favourite photograph of Indy up at the lake. I love that it's partly out of frame and shows him wildly swinging his water Kong and his teeth. He is in utter bliss retrieving and swimming.

-Vivienne gave a talk on self-love at Creative Mornings Vancouver. Even though I was feeling terrible, I wanted to go to support her.

-I won a class with Bella Civoric, Holy Hush. This was the kit that went with the class.

-We made a few quick trips to the Farmer's Market to get fresh veggies. I always love supporting our local farmers.

August:

-After suffering with brutal tendinitis in my right arm for 8 months (at this point) the brilliant arm surgeon decided I just needed a custom moulded brace. *sigh* Here it is now the last days of December and I am still in pain. *SO* not helpful.

-Spending 14 weeks in bed over the late spring and entire summer had one bright spot-the Olympics & Paralympics were on. It cheered me greatly to watch our women's footie & rugby 7's win bronze medals and to watch WC Rugby.

-At the tail end of August, I started on Rituxan infusion to treat both my RA and NMO. Making the shift in treatment was weird.

-I actually managed to eek out a wee bit of art during this time, inspired by Mandy Stewart.

September & October:

-Husband and I went on a date to a new local bakery, Gabi & Jules who do amazing pies. They sell at our local Farmer's Market and just opened their brick and mortar store. It's great to have such a nice place to have tea and pie when the mood strikes.

-I had the opportunity to visit the Museum of Anthropology at UBC for free and to take a tour that talked about activism and art through the Creative Mornings Vancouver Field Trip program. I have had a visit to MOA on my life list forever and this seemed like the perfect time to do it. I left feeling super inspired by everything I saw. It's the kind of place you can return to again and again and see something new or see something in a different light each and every time.

-Autumn weather finally arrived and with it, cooler temps, which I was grateful for.

-We celebrated my husband's 60th birthday, which given the last few years of very serious health issues, is a milestone that at times I didn't think we'd see. A week later, we celebrated our 26th anniversary.

November:

-I started off the month with a few days in Seattle with my best friend, who was having cornea transplant surgery. It was interesting to see how the US health care system works. One tiny bottle of eye drops cost over $200 down there. It would have been $35 at home. *boggles*

-I volunteered at the Women Against MS (WAMS) annual luncheon and got to meet Canadian soccer two time Olympic bronze medallist, Christine Sinclair. I am a huge fan of women's footie! Loved crossing that off my life list!

-The MS Ambassadors had their annual forum at UBC. It was a great day connecting with fellow ambassadors, learning about the changes being made to how the MS Society operates and to hear about some current research being done.

-UBC NMO Patient Day was also held in November.

December:

-The first week of December I flew back to Toronto because I was invited to attend both HEARMS Day and the ENDMS conference. It was an incredible opportunity to connect and learn with researchers from across Canada and from around the world. It goes down as one of the best experiences of my life. I will be writing more about it in the new year. 

-I finally got a chance to meet my fellow SomeoneLikeMe.ca blogger, Juan Garrido. We've been writing for the blog for together for over 4 years, so it was really wonderful to finally spend some time with him. 

-I also reconnected with Dr. Sam Davis, who is a professor of neurology and neurosurgery, as well as a researcher at McGill University. Sam was the Chair of the first grants review committee I served on (Personnel) and is such a kind and lovely man. We caught up over breakfast. 

-I also got to catch up with the fabulous Dr. Karen Lee, Vice President of Research for the MS Society of Canada. She's expecting her first baby in the spring and I'm so excited for her!!

The rest of my December was snow, (which is unusual for Vancouver and the surrounds. It started the day I left for Toronto and pretty much has continued ever since. We are more than ready for it to be gone.) baking & celebrating. 

New Year's Eve will mark 27 years since our first date. (A hockey game-what else? We are after all, Canadian.) It seems crazy to think it's been that many years.

 All in all, it's been a challenging and very full year.

Happy New Year everyone! Here's to 2017 being kinder, gentler.

Things I Am Diggin'

Gratuitous photo of a palm tree from my trip to LA. 

I am kinda diggin' shooting trees on this funky angle.

Other things I am diggin':

-I'm signing up this morning to take Roxanne's class as a birthday gift to me. If you're not familiar with her work, you seriously need to check it out. It reminds me of NYC graffiti, which is probably why I like it so much. I am intrigued by her use of black and I'm looking forward to adding to my mixed media layer-making knowledge. Playing with paint makes me happy. Signup begins at 8 am PST. Can't wait!

-Tim Horton's frozen lemonade. It's the perfect blend of cold and tart.

-Starbuck's almond croissants. YUM! They did away with the almond tart, which was my favourite, so this is the next best thing.

-My new Onyx stainless steel bento box from Delish General Store. The container actually holds (for me) enough food for both a lunch and a snack. I love how compact it is and it's a great way to practise self-care on days when I am having to spend a lot of time at the hospital. It saves me sugar crashing and getting a whopper of a headache.

-The new Atom Egoyan movie, Remember starring the brilliant Christoper Plummer. So, so good. (You can rent it for $5 via iTunes.)

-This song, Say Something by Great Big World & Christina Aguilera.

-Jonathan Kellerman's latest novel, Breakdown, which I just finished. He's far and away my favourite writer. I started reading his Alex Delaware series back in 1997. It's a crime serial and if you've never read any of his books, I recommend starting from the beginning- there are 31 books in the series and they are *so* worth it!

-Star magnolias! They are blooming here in now and they are my favourite thing about spring in western Canada...well that and all the cherry trees that are also blossoming. Vancouver is so pretty in the spring.

Laying It Down

The 6 week online class Daring Adventures in Paint started today. I spent the morning laying paint down on my first canvas. As I was doing it, I kept reminding myself not to get too invested to anything that was happening because I knew I was building layers and things could change. This was very freeing because if I did something I really didn't like (and yes, that really did happen!) I could simply paint over it. What you see above is where I called it good.

I kinda liked the weird little purple cloud that appeared so I wanted to keep that part and I added some raindrops. Unfortunately, I took this photo at night in my studio, so the colours look washed out, rather than vibrant like they are in real life, but you get the gist. I'll try and remember to get a better photo tomorrow before I continue working on it.  I also added the chevrons, which are actually quite textured. They built up from the surface of the painting. I like that too.

I decided to stop here for today because there is a lesson every day this week and I don't want to get so far ahead that I can't try things as they unfold. Sadly, my day tomorrow is taken up with medical stuff. (I am half temped to fashion a bumper sticker that says "I'd rather be painting." and plaster it across my forehead when I go to the neuro's...truth in advertising people!) 

Tomorrow my goal is to get back to the studio as fast as I can.

Playing With Paint

Last Sunday, my friend Penn hosted a Gelli printing party. There were 10 of us playing with paint and munching snacks and having a really good time.

I bought a whole bunch of new stencils for my birthday, so I got to test drive them. I also shared them around so others could play with them. They are all nice and painty now.

These are a few of my prints. The wonky circle has become my new favourite. 

I've just set up my studio for the 6 week online painting class I am taking with Mati Rose. It begins on Saturday and was my birthday gift to myself. I can't wait! I just need to run out and get 6 canvasses, since we'll be painting one a week. 

I am excited about this class because while I've taken a few layering classes, I've never actually worked on a large canvas before. I have no idea if I'll even be good at this, but I'm excited to find out. Every time I do something outside of my comfort zone, I love the part where I get to uncover things I didn't know about myself-talents I didn't know I had, personal insights or fresh creative ideas that just pop into my head. That for me is the thrill of learning. My goal is to create at least one painting that I would like to hang in my home. I'll let you know how that goes!

In other news, I am preparing to speak at the Canadian Association of Neuroscience Nurses conference in a couple of weeks. I'll be sharing my experience of NMO. I am also working with my Health Mentor students to prepare for the symposium that happens at the end of the month. It's a busy time!

This morning I had a conversation with someone about a very cool opportunity they wanted to offer me. I've accepted and will share more about that soon.

Catching Up!

(Graffiti I spied yesterday!)

Hello! It's been awhile since I last posted. I've been uber busy! May was a whirlwind and somehow that managed to spill over into June. I have had next to no time in the studio so far this month. Instead I've been running back and forth to doctor's appointments interspersed with socializing and a day or two of much needed down time.

Last night was the first Popluck flash mob picnic of the summer. (Or last one in the spring, depending on how you want to look at it.) We had a great time and saw a few familiar faces from last year. It was held in the square beside the Law Courts in New Westminster. The food was delicious and we got to meet some new people, which is always fun. Now we're just waiting for Al Fresco to launch theirs.

I received an invite from the UBC Health Mentors program to help interview potential Health Mentors over the summer. They are recruiting for 2013-2014, so if you live in the Lower Mainland and either live with chronic illness and/or disability or are a caregiver to someone who does and are interested in volunteering with the program, give me a shout and I'll put you in touch. I can't say enough good things about the program, it's value and the students and faculty involved. It's having such a positive impact.

I am about to embark on a *secret project* in the next week. It's something pretty big, but I can't say any more than that. It's really cool and a great adventure which I will share with you when I am free to do so. (It will be awhile, so you'll have to be patient!) Let's just say it's one of those life list things. *wink*

Next weekend in the wrap up for the volunteers for the FCM conference. The city is renting out a theatre and treating us to an afternoon at the movies. I'm looking forward to catching up with friends. The following Sunday, I have tickets (which I won from Vancouver Jazz Festival!) for Shane Koyczan. I just *adore* him! He's playing with Short Story Long at the Vogue. I've invited my friend Jenn to come with me. I can't wait!

I am grateful to have so many good things going on right now, to try and distract me from the fact that I am having to have treatment again. *sigh* Steroids, as my friend Nancy puts it are Satan's tic tacs. They are extremely hard on the body, but a necessary evil. I am doing a high dose pulse with pills (as a concession to my complete unwillingness to give up my plans to NMO right now) but if my neuro isn't happy with the results after 10 days, I will have to go in and do 3 (or possibly more) days of IV steroids. I'm battered, but unbowed and forging ahead through sheer force of will right now.

I have an art date in Early July with my pal Carol and we're going to spend an afternoon Gelli Printing, so there WILL be art on this blog again eventually! I've been stocking up on paint because I know once we start, we're not going to be able to stop! Oh and I should also mention that the fabulous Mary Ann Moss has a new class launching soon, called Sewn. The talented Roben-Marie Smith also has a new workshop, You've Got Mail...Art! which looks amazing. Both look like a lovely way to while away the summer!

Okay, must run! It's Father's Day and my darling husband is waiting for me to make him a special brekki. We're taking him out for lunch later at Granville Island. I'm hoping to shoot some nice photos of him with our son.

29 Days of Magic

I'm gearing up for another fabulous course with Vivienne, which starts in a matter of days! I am so excited about Montage, which is about working with video and stills to tell your own story. I'm a little nervous because this is a bit outside my comfort zone, but I'm excited to learn new things. The desire to learn new things always trumps the nervousness though, thankfully!

Meanwhile, I've been working on a few more photographs. The one above was taken at Burnaby Village Museum. I loved the look of the prices poking up inside an old cash register. I took this one while I was there for the End of Day Celebration. Once upon a time, I was a volunteer tour guide there while visiting BC on summer vacation. It was fun because I got to dress up in 1920's costumes every day for a month and teach people from around the world about local history.

This shot comes from the Downtown East Side. Vivienne recently held a class at Opus (a local art store) on double exposures and I discovered the lane ways nearby were full of graffiti. You'll remember me saying that my new benchmark for true friendship is that a real friend will say "YES!" when you say "Let's go shoot in a filthy alleyway." Curiosity also trumps trepidation.

May has been such a crazy month. I feel like I've lived 1000 lifetimes in the span of the last 29 days. Seth commented the other day that I must feel changed. Yes, in many ways I do. I'm still processing everything I learned and thinking about the important stuff. Really, it was almost too much goodness to take in at once.  

Yesterday was also a wonderful day. I had the pleasure of meeting Andrea Bundon, who is a PHD student at UBC. She launched a blog about disability and sport, called Athletes First some time ago, as part of her research. I've been following along, learning alot from the posts and people's responses and I've commented myself from time to time. Andrea asked me if I would be willing to do an interview with her about the my participation on her blog and what my thoughts were on a number of topics related to disability and spot. I was happy to help.

It turns out she's an incredibly interesting and lovely person and I had a great time having a very thoughtful discussion with her. It's always wonderful when you connect with other kindred spirits! (She's also a prairie girl!) I came away feeling like I'd learned so much and I'm excited to see where her research takes her. Andrea has kindly invited me to do a guest post at some point and I'm really excited about that!

Funnily enough, my day wasn't over after Andrea and I talked for 2 hours. Tiina, who is working the the MS Society's local chapter contacted me last week asking if I would be willing to do an interview. They want to feature me as a member of distinction on the MS Society website. So...there was two more hours of interesting conversation with Tiina who is also lovely. It was wonderful spending time with her.

I feel deeply grateful for everything that has happened in my life in the last 29 days. At times, I feel kind of emotional about it. Like I said, it's been alot to take in and I'm still processing. It will be good to turn inward for the next while and work on Montage. I think the timing is perfect.

Inspired!

April has flown by so quickly and we're now in the final week of Swan Dive. *Boggles* As always, my classmates have been hugely inspiring, so I wanted to share some of their amazing work. (You can click on the credits below to see the full size images.)

1. ledger, 2. Walk Away..., 3. still life with pears, 4. Spoon with texture, 5. close up, 6. Happy, 7. Pink, 8. Trees in mist, 9. SwanDiveTruck 4-1-12, 10. The knowing., 11. Gates with texture, 12. play, 13. color correction bluegrad, 14. SF Pier with Nasos3 texture, 15. Untitled, 16. Orchard as painting

Vivienne McMaster is offering a brand new class, Montage, which begins in June. It's about learning to create videos, by combining video footage, still images and words to tell your story. I like the idea of adding another layer to what I've already learned in the last year and a half about photography. It's another opportunity to step outside of my comfort zone and I'm excited about it. I'm signing up! Vivienne is offering an early bird special price to those who sign up before the end of April, so now's a good time to go check it out!

We See Things

We See Things

Have I mentioned lately that I am thoroughly enjoying Getting Through the Grey? Yes indeed! In fact it's kind of reignited an idea I once had, so that's percolating in my mind at the moment.

As always, I am continuously inspired by my incredibly talented classmates. Here's just a small sampling. Take a look for yourself:
(I highly recommend that you click on the credits to see the full size images.)

1. Untitled, 2. Moon Square, 3. Buddha, 4. Untitled, 5. Untitled, 6. stardust, 7. Viewing the Christmas lights, 8. oaks rink, 9. sunlight through a moth's wings, 10. love on a shelf, 11. Untitled, 12. holding, 13. Morning Light, 14. When the sun comes out, one must lay in it., 15. Sea glass, 16. , 17. mary neutrals, 18. My shoes in the snow, 19. Autumn Leaves, 20. Autumn leave

Fabulous, non? It's exciting to go to the class Flickr group every day and see what's been posted. We're all busy preparing for the holidays, but still making a point of finding time to show up for ourselves and one another.

That in itself is a gift and one for which I am most grateful.

Unlimited Potential

Unlimited Potential 

Yesterday was the official first day of Light Hunters: Getting Through the Grey. This week we're working on still life shots, which is something I haven't really explored. It's interesting that I shy away from certain things and then Vivienne says "here's what were doing this week" and I dive right in.

I don't know why I feel resistant to certain techniques. For example, when I started Swan Dive in the summer, I was resistant to working with my photos using textures and all that good stuff. I thought I was a purist, but 2 classes in and I was sold on the merits of being able to transform my photos using the same artistic instincts I use for collage, only in digital form. It's opened up a whole new world for me.

As you can see, I am happily using all the skills I've gained in the 3 classes I've taken so far this year. It's exciting to feel the progression while trying something new. I live for learning. The excitement for me is in challenging myself and taking risks.

Odd Doll

I bought this odd little doll in an antique store in my travels because I like Kewpie dolls. It's always baffled me as to why someone made it naked, clutching a lolly and looking kinda scared. It's just plain weird, but it does make an interesting subject to play with. I sat it on an antique trunk in my livingroom, in a beam of afternoon sunlight that was peeking through the blinds, to get the shot.

I'm really diggin' still life shots-it's a whole other way to create art!

Come Rain Or Come Shine

Light Hunters: Getting Through the Grey started yesterday. I'm still in a bit of a fog after the crazy busy week that was volunteering at the 2011 Grey Cup, but I still managed to work on my first image, as you can see. I think that's one of the best things about photography for me-it's completely accessible. (By which I mean that no matter how cruddy or exhausted I may feel, I can still pick up my camera and be creative, with minimal effort.)

Come Rain Or Come Shine* is another in a series I am calling Postcards to Myself, though I suppose it could also be counted as part of my hands series as well. Two birds, one stone!** I shot this during the storm we had over the weekend. I'm one of those people who loves a good storm. We've sure had our share of them in November. It's been a very blustery month on the west coast of Canada!

 There are only 33 days left of this year and I'm looking forward to compiling all the images I shot in 2011. I have plans to share them here on my blog on New Year's Day, so keep your eyes peeled.

I was in a state of bliss when I saw that my classmates had begun posting images yesterday afternoon. I love the creative energy of Viv's classes. I love that we show up not only for ourselves, but for one another. As I've said before, my learning experience is directly affected by the work that my classmates do-I get inspired by them and it raises my game, which is wonderful. It's not about competition at all-far from it! What it does is it empowers me to be a better artist-to dig deeper, to take risks, to experiment.

Another thing I love about these classes is that even if there are 35 or so artists involved, everyone's visual and creative voice is uniquely their own. Through photography, we're celebrating those things that makes what each of us special. I find myself scrolling through my classmates work and saying "WOW!" alot. I sit here and dissect why things work and which elements create the magic. Every photograph is a lesson.

This edition of Light Hunters runs through to the end of February.

It's going to be an interesting winter

*Lyrics from a Billie Holliday song.

**Who made up that idiom anyway? It's pretty barbaric! 

Winter Inspiration

Before long, the wet, grey dull of winter will be arriving on the west coast. It can make it hard to feel motivated and inspired to get out and shoot photos. (Especially if you have a new camera and don't want to ruin it!) However, the brilliant Vivienne, who also lives here and knows about wet grey winters has come up with a class specifically addressing these sorts of things....

Yes, there's a new Light Hunters class, Getting Through the Grey! I just signed up because I know if I am taking the class, I will be inspired to keep shooting. I started this whole photography journey back in late January and now I am determined to keep working through to the one year mark. It will be the first time ever that I've documented an entire year of my life in photographs.

The other day when I was out shooting in Chinatown, as I was snapping away, I'd think "Here I am shooting the light, like I learned in Light Hunters." or "This is another self portrait which I learned to do in Wading In." or "I can combine those textures with what I learned in Swan Dive." It's been really wonderful to have so many new skills at my disposal. I used them to create the 26 pieces I submitted for the photo collaborative project I was growling about the other day. While the assembly may have been frustrating and difficult, the actual image creation was painless. I am really excited to have used those new skills in a project and have the result go out into the world.

If you're looking to make the long winter months more interesting, the link button to register for Getting Through the Grey is on my sidebar. The class starts at the beginning of December and runs through to the end of February.

Hope to see you there!

Swan Dive Wrap Up

1. Ladybug, 2. Rise Up, 3. Apparition, 4. Twilight, 5. In This Moment, 6. Picket Fence, 7. Broken Mirror, 8. rebel, 9. Once, 10. Autumn Afternoon, 11. Song of the Sea, 12. Perspective, 13. Alone With Yourself, 14. Urban landscape, 15. 1000 fishes, 16. By My Hand, 17. Heart of Winter, 18. Indiana Jones, 19. Meditation, 20. The Vigil

Hello! Hello! I have meant to write a wrap-up post about Swan Dive for a few days now. That got sidelined for a couple days as I was suffering (the operative word being suffering) from silent migraines for a couple days. They seem to have settled down today, so here I am.

Anyway, Swan Dive wrapped up about a week ago. I feel like I learned so much about post processing in this class. I had no idea all the wonderful ways I could manipulate my photos to make them into something special. It's like equivalent of mixed media but in digital form.

At the beginning of class, I felt a bit of a pull towards being a purist (meaning I felt like a good photo should speak for itself, with very little editing except for perhaps cropping and colour correction) but I felt that in order to get the most out of this class, I needed to push past that. Fortunately, by the second week, I began to see the merit of experimenting. As the weeks wore on, I became a convert. The potential to be creative and to transform images, using the same aesthetic I use for mixed media work was what got me hooked. I realized that my creative voice translates well to this medium.

As I've said before, I am continually surprising myself. I feel like this is the year I've grown the most as an artist. I feel like I've really immersed myself in taking risks, putting myself out there and making an effort to capture and create work that really reflects who I am and what I love. The pay off for showing up for myself and doing the work has been huge-it's been so deeply satisfying.

The images I've share in the mosaic above are almost all the ones I created in this class. (There were alot and not all would fit!) If you want to see them larger, just click on the photo names to see the originals. 

Vivienne just sent out her newsletter and there's a new Light Hunters: Getting Through the Grey starting in early December. Here's the scoop:

"A second Light Hunters adventure is running this winter, called Light Hunters: Getting through the Grey which is inspired by my pacific northwest rainy winters!  Each Monday for the months of December, January and February you will find an inspiring post in your inbox packed full of inspiration and learning to keep you creating and taking photographs in a season when you might normally find yourself feeling uninspired."

 Winters on the west coast of Canada are typically wet and grey which is good if you're a duck, but not so good if you're wanting to get out and shoot. (Photos, that is, not ducks!) I am going to sign up for Getting Through the Grey. It looks like I will be ending this year the way it begun-learning, growing, documenting and creating. Sounds good to me!

From My Fellow Swans

This morning, I wanted to share with you the beautiful artistry that has developed in Swan Dive. This is a small sampling of the pieces that I've "favourited" over the last 4 weeks. (I highly recommend clicking on the credits below to view each of them in all their full sized glory.)

1. fairy (#1 of 8), 2. Wedding Lights, 3. Deb gets layered, 4. give thanks, 5. July 7, 2011-The Old Red Barn, 6. warm hearts, 7. 3. Growth, 8. island, 9. , 10. What we think we become, 11. Kate walking, 12. field of leaves

One of the best things about taking Vivienne's photography classes is meeting  other artists and getting to see their work. What I love about this is that as we are posting our work to share with one another, we are also spurring each other on. There's this communal energy that develops, whereby the bar keeps getting raised and ultimately, it pushes each of us to do our best work.

That's not to say we won't post things that aren't perfect-we do-but we're learning from one another and supporting everyone's learning process through our own. It's kind of like that famous quote by Marianne Williamson that says in part "as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same." It's a beautiful thing. I am so grateful to my classmates for their generosity of spirit.

With My Little Eye

 Yesterday my husband, Indy and I went and poked around the edges of Chinatown. It's an area of Vancouver that was established in 1887, making it 124 years old and one of the oldest and most interesting parts of the city. I saw several buildings that were built in the 1920's. I love old architecture!

Anyway, the whole point of going down there was to see what I could see and capture the best of it with my Rebel.

Urban Landscape

I think of everything I shot yesterday, this turned out to be the coolest. It's two photos, which I layered together and then finessed. If you saw the original photo of the runners, it was nothing to write home about, but when I saw them hanging there, in the lane, I instantly knew I needed to shoot them. The "32" was a piece of graffiti I found in another laneway.

1000 Fishes 

The Chinese grocers (of which there are many!) have bins and bins and bins of all manner of foodstuffs. There are mushrooms, fish, nuts and seeds. There were also bins that I didn't even have a clue what in them, (things from the sea, I think...) but I liked the piles of dried fish. I find them interesting. So much texture for the eye!

Perspective

This is a portion of a photo I have. In it, my Gramps, who is about 3 years old and his older brother who is 4 are dressed in matching thick sweaters, short pants and wool socks. My most favourite part of the photo is my Grandad's little shoes and the rough worn floorboards of the porch. I digitally cropped it to enhance this perspective and worked some texture magic, making a favourite photo, even more special.

One week left of Swan Dive. It's sure gone by quickly-time does indeed fly when you're having fun!

Synergy

The Company You Keep

I'm now 3 weeks into Swan Dive and I am still learning so much. This week, we're tackling layering of photos and cloning. The bottom left and right are each created from two photos I took, layered together and then added some texture to. The large image at the top is cloning, plus some text. (The original, with only one set of my feet is my most favourite self portrait from Wading In. The text is part of a favourite poem, The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer.)

I decided to make this collage from work I've done this week when I realized these images were thematic. It's an extension of myself, really. It's weird to find your soul leaping out at you like this. (Weird in a good way, though.) I feel as if I've been granted magical powers or something-like I've got the key to unlock a secret room of my artistic self I never knew existed. My classmates are also creating the magic-every day there is amazing work being done. It really is quite remarkable.

At the beginning of 2011, I chose my word for the year.

 

Synergy: the working together of two things to produce an effect greater than the sum of their individual effects.

My intention for 2011 was to be open to opportunities where I could combine my energy with others to produce a greater effect, whether through art or altruism to make use of the gifts I possess.

I knew that if I stayed focused and kept my eyes open, synergy will show up all over the place and it has! Wading In, Light Hunters and Swan Dive have been a humming hive of creative synergy. In fact, Wading In showed up in my life as a gift a mere 19 days after I set my intention for 2011! If that isn't affirming, I don't know what is! It's shown up in other ways too, but that's a story for another time.

Reinventing the Wheel

Twilight

What I've learned this week in Swan Dive is that I can take the worst image and turn it into something worth keeping. This tree shot was utterly pathetic. I loved this tree because of how big it was and how the bare branches were reaching skyward. (It's a winter tree-the original photo was shot in January.) When I got home and uploaded it, I discovered that the photo was a hot mess. The colours were way off (over exposure anyone?) and since I'd shot it with a failing digital camera, there were not one but two smudges on the lense that ruined the photo-one at the top and one in the middle of the branches. ARGH!

Just to prove my point, here's a peek behind the curtain:

Normally, this would be one I'd delete.

Fast forward to yesterday when I was combing through photos, looking for images to work with. I spotted this one and figured I had nothing to lose. Fifteen minutes of concentrated effort and I salvaged it!

 Indiana Jones

I am also amused by taking photos that were perfectly fine and finding new ways to reinterpret them. The possibilities are endless.

Something Special

 Apparition

Week two of Swan Dive is in full swing. This is an image I've been working on. I shot the photograph at Crescent Beach. (Click image to see it full sized.) If you've been following along, it's the same seed pod field that Rise Up was from, only this view is looking out to sea. I had a very good time playing around with it and this is how it ended up. I am especially fond of the creases in the sky.

Bokeh Trees

I shot these trees at the beginning of the year. Next to Autumn trees, I love Winter trees best. I love how the branches silhouette against the sky. There's a unique beauty in the starkness. I love the bokeh in this. (Bokeh is the blur or the aesthetic of the blur-the way the lense renders out-of-focus points of light.)

I am definitely looking at my photos in a new way in terms of post processing. I've never been one to mess with them all that much once they've been uploaded from the memory card. The main skill I've been using up until now is cropping, which I think is its own art. It's been fun going through old photos and finding new ways of transforming them into something special.

Swan Dive: Here We Go!

 So I "went back to school" on Monday, virtually that is. Swan Dive, the 3rd class I'm taking with the fabulous Vivienne McMaster started on Monday.  We began by playing around and not being afraid to make a mess with some of our photographs. The crazy thing was that every time I tried to "make a mess", I liked what I did. It challenged me to find and use post processing treatments I'd never used before.

This simple image of some pretty weeds growing in a fence was shot over the weekend. I just kept playing with it, adding a water overlay (above), changing the colour effects...(below)

Here's the mosaic I made to show the progression:

The image on the top left was the original photograph, untouched. Experimenting=learning!

Today we're working on colour. I'm up early, so I started working with this image, also shot over the weekend. The focus of colour on the smallest and most important element in the photograph makes the image more powerful, I think. I shot a fair number of photos of these beautiful seed pods, (I was so taken with them!) so it's likely you'll see them again!

We've also been discussing our style and that's been interesting. I always find this my least favourite art related question. For me, it's like nailing jello to a tree. I'm not in the habit of trying to analyze and label what I do and I'm always at a loss when someone asks me to define myself that way. I guess my approach is that what happens when I set out to create something is organic and intuitive and those are things that just are. (I have the feeling I am not explaining it very well.)

Anyway, when push came to shove, here's how I processed my style:

 -Clean: I'm thinking it terms of composition, lines, light. I'm all about the aesthetic.

-Intuitive: I kind of have this guerrilla style of shooting like a crazy woman and then seeing what speaks to me once I get the image up on screen later. I also tend to shoot whatever presents itself and feels right in the moment-it's never planned.

 

-Observational: Lately I've been posting about "elevating the ordinary" and that idea has had alot of resonance for me. I like to suss out the beauty in the things we've become almost blind to in our day to day existence.

I got some really supportive feedback from Viv and Amy (a fellow classmate whose photos are brave, truthful and full of poetry) which feels really good because I have a keen sense of vulnerability with this whole exploration of photography that I've been doing this year. Don't get me wrong-it's been nothing short of wonderful, but it's always a little intimidating to put yourself out there when you're just learning something new.

So that's where I'm at, three days into this latest adventure. We're slowly transitioning into Autumn here (I've seen leaves starting to fall!) and I can't wait to capture the goodness of my most beloved season with my camera. It's going to be delicious!

Swan Dive

Nice View

I came across this crazy little window on Saturday, which is situated in a stairwell in a parkade. (I shot it from outside on the street.) The window, as you can see is barred and filthy. Someone decided to graffiti some text on it, (it looks to be professionally done) which I think is hilarious.

During the course of the Chase, I spotted other weird little bits of things like this around and about, but just didn't have time to whip the camera out and capture them. I did however make a mental note of where I was, so at some point, I can go back and document them. I love quirky things like this. Vancouver is full of this sort of thing, if you keep your eyes open.

Speaking of photographs, I signed up for the next installment of Vivienne's fabulous photography classes. Swan Dive is set to begin a week from today!! I am really excited about shooting through the month of September and into the fall. This year I will be able to capture my most favourite season in a way I never have before. The idea of that thrills me.

You know how when you find something really, really good, you just want to share it? Well Vivienne's also just opened registration for Wading In and You Are Your Own Muse. If you been following my journey in her classes and thought maybe you'd like to sign up, now is the time! Buttons that link to all the classes I've taken so far are on my sidebar so you can click on through.

If you missed my posts during Wading In or Light Hunters, (or just want to read them again) use the handy little search box up at the top left and type in the name of either class. All the posts pertaining to it will come up.