The flowers on Main street

Today while having lunch downtown Ann Arbor I met an artist by the name of John A. Copley who was painting flowers on windows at the Melting Pot. I complimented his work, he complimented me on my sparkle nail polish, then proceeded to show me the sparkles he carries in his rolling work cart he brings for supplies on location.
 If I could, I would cover the whole world in sparkles. A sparkle suggests a hint of magic, a microscopic piece of a rainbow. Weather of not we know it, we are all in love with sparkles. The stars sparkle at night. Freshly fallen snow sparkles in the morning sun. We gather every 4th of july to watch enormous sparkles fill the sky. There is an entire industry built on cutting and polishing gem stones so that we may enjoy a small (expensive) sparkle. So, here's to John and all the other sparkle lovers out there in the world, keep shining we could all use a little more magic and sparkles.

The photograph: I chose a close-up of John's hand painting details on the petals of the flowers. I have always felt there is a correlation between the dedication level of an artist and the condition of their hands. Below is a link for John's site if you are interested in visiting more of his work.
http://www.johnacopley.com/home.htm

The eyes are the window to the soul.

As a photographer I've always been drawn natural light. There is something so rewarding about watching the sunlight interact with an environment.

On this morning my daughter was laying on the patio couch. The lattice made dynamic diamond shapes across the porch. These diamonds are often found in Picasso's  acrobat pictures.
This moment highlighted one of her most stunning features. It is those big sweet eyes that pull at my heart strings. This is what comes to mind when someone mentions the word "Blue". Now that's a blue I can live with.

April Showers

April is one of those months (in Michigan) where you fool yourself into believing summer is here. The snow has melted away and plants are starting to bloom. It is those cold april showers that remind us that it is not yet summer. It's only spring, but one step closer to summer, so i'll take it. This photograph was taken at an antiques dealer. There is a lovely garden area with topiaries, fountains & wrought iron fences from victorian gardens long ago.
The little snail looks like he wants to jump into the water and go for a swim.
Well, we all know how fast snails move.
I think I know how that little guy feels, and I'm moving at about the same pace too.
One of the most frequently used cliches from my inner dialogue, "Slow and steady wins the race."
I'll root for that little snail, he's only been on that ledge for about 127 years.

If I could take a shower under a sunflower

If I could take a shower under a sunflower I'm pretty sure this is what it would look like. I was wandering through the park with my kids and stumbled upon a field with dried out sunflowers. I was amazed that they had managed to survive through the elements since last fall. The tallest one stood around 6'3. It's stem a straight pole with a large head drooping down. I remarked to my oldest daughter that it looked like a shower. We proceeded to photograph each other taking "sunflower showers". So, even though this ended up being a digital compilation I would like to give photo credits to my 8 year old, semi-professional junior photographer in training (thanks Meadow).

360' self portrait

A strange self portrait.
In the background is the woods in my Grandma's yard. The table cloth is the same one I ate summer breakfasts on since I was 3 years old. Inside the Baoding ball is my reflection (camera in hand). If you look even closer you will see her house in the background. The second story window is my childhood bedroom.
This magic of this reflection is that it allows you to simultaneously view the future, past & present, while providing a 360' view of an environment that shaped the person i am today.
We are like plants , we receive nourishment from our environment and it shapes us into the beautiful people that we are.

About the Baoding Ball: Regulates and excites the cerebrum and central nervous system, also improves fine motor movements in hand.

Spring into Summer

Today felt like summer. We had a high of 78'. Which in Michigan, in April, is amazing. The first half of my day was spent being a responsible adult, doing teacher observations. By the way, kindergartners tell the strangest April fool's jokes. A majority of the art classes I observed today said, "Ms. Whitney, something is on fire, ha-ha April fools". Hmm Fire... I tell you those little people have a strange sense of humor, for some reason thinking of something on fire doesn't make me laugh.
The second half of my day.. I played at the park, went bike riding, drank a milkshake and bought 4 summer dresses.
I wanted to do more. I wanted to go to the beach, put my toes in the sand & swim like a fish. I wanted to set up my tent, build a camp fire & stare at the stars. I wanted to run away into summer dreams and bask in the warmth of those moments.

This is the first official image I am posting to my blog. Now truth be told I'm known as a wedding & portrait photographer, which is a very true statement. This photograph is a prime example of what I do in my "free time". I love to shoot shadows & reflections. I have yet to meet a client that asks, " Can you please take a picture of my shadow?" Although, I would be more than happy to oblige. I have found if someone is actually paying you to photography them, they want to be visible in the shot, go figure.
A shadow is merely a suggestion of the human form. A silhouette so to speak. As a child i was very fond of paper cut-out dolls and shadow puppets. This is what happens when you are the youngest of 5 children in a family that "sometimes" had a T.V. (you learn to amuse yourself). Perhaps someday my shadows will become a series and some savvy art collector will say " Ah shadows, sheer brilliance, I must have them all". Until then, i will continue to amuse my self creating paper-dolls from my shadows.