Don't Forget to PLAY!

Friends often remark that they don't know how I get it all done, yet I don't see myself doing anything extraordinary. I'm living. I love life. Even the crappy days are good because I always learn something about the world or my little microcosm. Yes, I get tired and I sleep. Yes, I get frustrated BUT I keep on keeping on. Usually, the good things happen after the initial few steps of "keeping on." Okay, some times, it might be a half mile or so into the matter until things start to look and feel a little better. Henry Rollins recently did a great -- and funny --video about being the master of your own destiny. Check it out.

Rollins got me thinking about whether there is anything important that I give up in life to do what I do. In other words, what are common things that I DON'T do and that I don't miss doing? They are:

• watch television. The rare exception is the news.
• hang out. I am not a hanger-outer or a chit-chatter and, for as much as I love people, I relish solitude.
• talk on the phone endlessly. It's like hanging out to me.
• Manicures, pedicures, body wax, hair waves, weaves, perms, color jobs, etc ... My stylist wants to color my hair. I tell him I cannot sit long enough for this process. Besides, I want to see how I look with my naturally-occurring, ever-increasing salt and pepper highlights.

For folks who like any or all of the above, go for it! Live YOUR life the way you want. Do what makes you happy.That's the point. It just so happens that I am one of those production-oriented types who likes to learn stuff, likes to make stuff and likes to be busy all the time. Even when I am cleaning house, my head is working on paintings or photographs or writing or processing something I read. Rollins also talks about saying "yes to everything," meaning opportunities, which often give you the benefit of new experiences with folks who you would not have had the chance to meet. A while back, when I was feeling particularly tired, I thought that I should say "no thanks" a lot more than I do, which is almost never. I've just never been good at saying "no" to doing something, even things I don't necessarily like because there is always something good that comes out of saying "yes."

I rise early (5:30ish on weekdays; sixish on weekends) and go to bed at a decent time (usually between 10 and 11 p.m.) Sometimes, I even get in a 20-minute nap. Early morning is when I do my first round of exercising and a lot of my outdoor photography. Evenings are for art administrative tasks and play. Using "playtime," I made this digital art, which is based in a photograph I shot several weeks ago in our garden. Playtime for me is also a learning experience, wherein anything goes and, if it does not go, then nothing is lost. Nothing. I still learned SOMETHING about what works and what does not, about process, about ME.

Don't Forget to Play

 I am convinced that play leads to production. I am a better person, partner and professional for giving myself permission to play. Whatever you do, whatever changes you make toward living a full life -- PLEASE remember to PLAY!

Warm Memories on a Cold Winter Day

We are finally having a touch of winter in Pennsylvania. There is not much snow to speak of, but the temperature and wind chill are certainly winterlike.

So, after 90 minutes of kick-butt cardio and some heavy lifting at the gym, some house cleaning and a little walk with the dogs, I hunkered down to go through old photographs. I do a sorting, of sorts, every so often, to determine what will stay in my  hard drives and what gets moved to the never to be seen again files.

I found some old shots that I really love and have done nothing with, so far. I thought I would share some wintery scenes with you.  The black and white photographs were made six years ago in the Shenandoah Heights area of the hard coal region, where I was born and raised.

Woodland Winter Walk

When I found them, I decided my Holga and I were going to be re-acquainted for some photo fun. The Holga is a cheap, plastic camera with an equally cheap plastic lens. Cheap, plastic, hmm… So, how can you make art with something like THAT?  Oh, with your eyes, of course. It’s about “seeing.”

Beyond this, though, one who works with a Holga control has little control over the final outcome. The camera leaks light, vignettes, falls open. Whatever! I’ve made some of my most salable and award-winning prints with this a Holga. And, digital geek that I am, I still love using it.

Bedazzle

I invested in a Diana (a Holga by another name, really) lens for my digital camera. It works okay, but a Holga it is not. I’d rather spend the pennies for some black-and-white 120 film and borrow Jay’s electrical tape (to hold my Holga closed and prevent some light leaks) than put the newfangled Diana lens on my digital Canon.

Bedazzle is a photograph also made in my film days. I remember the day I made it. I was in Shenandoah Heights, slipping, siding and laughing my way through a morning of fun with the pups and my cameras.

This final scene was made two years ago this weekend. You remember THAT winter, right? We had two blizzards in two weeks. Besides having great times outdoors with Mother Nature and my cameras, what I remember most about that winter is that I ate a lot of whole wheat pancakes with zero guilt. I figured all the snow-shoeing and shoveling would allow me to splurge on those additional calories. Because, come on, a cold morning, you just don’t eat one pancake. You eat a plateful with a quarter pound of butter and half a gallon of real Pennsylvania maple syrup or Pennsylvania  honey – or both.

Stay warm. Me? I think I’m praying for another blizzard.

It's Snowing by Christine Goldbeck

Abstract Photography?

Okay, put down a rule and I just have to work the various angles of that rule to test its AHEM expandability ... Anyway, breaking rules happens when I pick up art materials and equipment and I am fairly happy with the latest in my abstract photography collection.

These, by the way, were made in camera, not through digital manipulation.

Your feedback is always welcome.