Alone

The photo challenge over at Moody Monday this week is "alone". Last week I had some alone time as I travelled by subway up to the north end of Toronto to attend a meeting, then returned home also using public transit. I had the foresight to bring my camera along and was happy I did, as I encountered many photographic opportunities that were not typical for me. My style of urban photography involves architecture, signs, streetscapes. People don't often appear in my photos; I don't stalk the streets looking for interesting individuals. But I do keep my eyes open when I'm out-and-about -- subway trains and subway stations naturally have many people and not all of them are boring. Among the people I noticed, the elderly lady you see here. Hunched and walking with a cane, she travelled slowly but managed her transit travels all by herself.

Flickr vs. Aminus3

For the past few months, I've been leading a double-life. From a photography perspective, I mean. (Lennie, super-spy, comes off as just plain weird......)

Back in June, I made the decision to challenge myself to submit artistic photography (altered photos as well as digital collages) to my Aminus3 gallery every single day. And I did a pretty good job of it. But it dawned on me today that I have not uploaded anything to Aminus3 in several days; our recent Pittsburgh getaway caused that every-single-day-challenge to go to h - e - double toothpicks in the proverbial handbasket. Sure, I could hunker down and get caught up, but what will happen when we go on vacation next month? And when we do our snowbird thing next year? I know exactly what will happen: I will fall woefully behind. And then I will feel like it was a failure rather than a setback. And besides, art shouldn't be a chore.

It's not like I haven't been paying attention to my photography. While I am proud of the work I've submitted to Aminus3, I am even more proud of my photo galleries, which are hosted by Flickr. And I originally wanted my blog to be the host of my photo experimentations, but that work drifted onto Aminus3 rather than here. I'd like my blog to once again be the primary showcase for my photoshop experiments and so a decision had to be made.

It's like it's been a contest between Aminus3 and Flickr for my attention, for my artwork. Well, the contest is over. Flickr wins.

So if you'd like to see some photos from that Pittsburgh getaway, they're up at my Flickr account. With more to come, I know, almost every single day. And those photo experiments? They'll be appearing here again. Like the above collage, posted originally at Aminus3. But now it's here. This is a decision I feel good about; I disliked the feeling I had of being pulled between the two sites. I had a nagging doubt that Aminus3 wasn't a good choice for me and I'm relieved to be able to focus my concentration on my photo galleries. If you have a moment, I do hope you'll have a look.

I heart Pittsburgh

I'm ba-ack! Did you miss me? Of course you didn't, you didn't even know I was away. That's okay. The total truth is that while the captain and I did just get back from a getaway down to Pittsburgh, I've been incredibly busy around here and the blog has suffered. I apologize about that.

But now that I am back and trying to resume normal routines, I must tell you that Pittsburgh rocks! It has very cool old restaurants, including a vintage restored 1949 diner we discovered in the Pittsburgh boro of Tarentum. I found beautiful old buildings to photograph (I took hundreds and hundreds of pictures) and both the captain and I were amazed at the enthusiasm of the Pittsburgh Steelers fans. They love their Steelers in Pittsburgh!

Above are just 4 of the aforementioned jazillion photos I took. Upper left, what I at first thought was a gargoyle but in actuality is a phoenix. If you'll check my Flickr account, you'll see the photos of the old Otto Milk Co. building, upon which the phoenix perches. An amazing find. Upper right, a "welcome sign" painted on the side of a building in the area of Pittsburgh known as "the strip". Very funky neighbourhood, full of restaurants, shops and sidewalk vendors. Bottom left, a sidewalk sandwich board for De Luca's, a very old, very plain, and very good restaurant. I enjoyed a De Luca's specialty, their "funky monkey". Try not to drool: it featured a chocolate-banana waffle, topped with fresh banana slices, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and chocolate syrup. Yum, yum, yum. Finally, bottom right, the early morning reflection of a bridge over the Allegheny River. Just lovely.

Yes indeed, Pittsburgh is a wonderful city. I particularly liked the Andy Warhol Museum (but have no pictures as photographs were not permitted while viewing the exhibits and the art). I was particularly moved by the exhibit of photographs that Warhol had taken himself. I have always known that Warhol was a big influence on me but I was amazed when viewing his photographs to see the similarities in subject matter in his work as compared to mine -- especially since I'm positive I have never before viewed any of his photos. I am currently now on the hunt for a book of Warhol photographs (the museum's gift shop did not sell one); if anyone knows of such a book, please let me know!

Rhoda's Dendron

The challenge theme this week over at Inspire Me Thursday is "yellow". I cannot think of this colour without remembering one of the classic episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, "Mary Richards and The Incredible Plant Lady". (No, I did not remember the episode title. Google did.)

The plot revolves around a loan that Mary gives Rhoda so that she can open a plant/flower shop, Rhoda's Dendron. The shop is successful, but Rhoda does not appear to place any priority on repaying Mary. Long story short, Rhoda surprises Mary with a car as repayment of the loan ... a yellow convertible. Mary blurts out, "I hate yellow!" It is Georgette who convinces Mary that yellow is a beautiful colour, and all ends well.

Many of the show's episodes continue to stick with me -- Mary Richards was truly a role model for young women of my generation -- and although this one is about friendship and money and how the two sometimes intertwine, it's "the yellow episode" in my mind. Which leads me to the above montage, just a few of the yellow highlights in my vast portfolio of artwork and photos.

Let the music play on

I am often inspired by others. I never knowingly flat-out imitate another artist but if I see a technique masterfully done by someone that I wish I could also do, I will try my hand at it. The image above (a street musician in Savannah, GA) is a result of just that -- my attempt to do what has already been done.

Truthfully, the above artwork is an homage to Marie Otero. I have never met her, but discovered her artwork through my friend Nancy. I am a huge fan of Marie's creativity and consider her to be a digital artist of excellence.

The technique used here is known as selective colourization, in essence a black-and-white photo with a touch of the original photo's colour remaining. When I read Marie's blog post about her "New York photo walk", I loved her selective colour pieces -- especially the musician -- and that inspired me to try this out too. I certainly have a long way to go before I'm comfortable with it -- I've learned that it's a technique that won't work well with every photo -- but I have greatly enjoyed playing around with the idea.

So, Marie, thank you for the inspiration! I am using one of my experiments as my contribution to Tuesday Challenge, where the current topic is "music". Appropriate!

Drowning in recipe clippings

I am so proud of myself. If you'll have a look at the photo above, taken at the Port Perry fair last weekend, you'll notice the handouts on the table. These papers featured food info, they had recipes. If you know me, you would expect that I would have taken every single offering, maybe even two copies so I'd have a spare. But this time I did not. Oh no. I did not take a single one! Nope, not one. That may not seem like a big deal, but it's like an alcoholic saying no thank you when offered a beer.

You see, I collect recipes. Avidly. But I have come to realize that there really is such a thing as too much. I have binders full of recipes. I have file folders full of magazine pages torn out just for the recipes. I have recipes everywhere. But you know what? I've reached the point where frankly, it's too much.

Just the other night, I emotionally exhausted myself by spending slightly over two hours going through several manila envelopes and file folders I found in a box down in the basement, all recipes torn out of newspapers and magazines, pamphlets put out by various food companies, and recipe cards picked up at grocery stores. The dates on all these? Old, my friends. Old. All from 1987 to 1990. That's twenty years ago or so. My stars.

And here's the kicker. Looking at them now, most of them didn't interest me at all and I wondered why I had saved them in the first place.

Our tastes change, our style of cooking evolves, our budgets (hopefully) improve, our skills grow, even who we cook for changes. Small children with picky appetites turn into ravenous teenagers eating everything in sight, then turn into young adults with newly-exotic palates.

This was not the first accumulation of recipes that I have recently culled. I am trying to be ruthless. I am fortunate to have a huge cookbook collection and realize that between my own cookbooks and the vast amount of recipes available on the web -- particularly from the food bloggers I enjoy -- I have more than enough recipe resources. I don't have to drown in paper clippings that I don't look at anyway.

Of that giant stack of recipes that I had saved all these years, I kept only a few pages of holiday recipes. That's it. The rest went into recycle.

Does this ring true for anyone else -- recipes stuffed everywhere? Do you actually use them? I have found some great recipes in magazines, but I have found even more keepers from friends and online. And from the books on my own shelves. It's time I started reading my own cookbooks again!

Roaming around town

I just love a good walkabout with my friend and fellow shutterbug, Nancy. Back in June we roamed around a small area of Queen Street East known locally as Leslieville and yesterday we ventured to the western edge of downtown Toronto, exploring an area very familiar to both of us, a section of Queen Street West known as the Art & Design District. It is a creative neighbourhood, a quirky area, often seedy, a bit gritty -- all these things and more.

Our intent was to check out a particular art gallery. We found a great parking spot and since it was still early (the gallery's scheduled opening time was noon) we killed time the best way we knew. Cameras in hand, we wandered, did some shopping, found a Vietnamese restaurant for lunch. Then the day took a twist. We arrived at the gallery only to discover it was unexpectedly closed for the day.

But all things considered, that was just a small disappointment in what otherwise was a great day. I captured over 300 photographs, bought some new art supplies, discovered a couple of charming vintage shops. I even came home with a favourite of mine, custard tarts from a Portuguese bakery I spied less than a block from where we had parked. Hey, any day that includes a visit to a bakery is tops in my book!

Happy New Year!

Yes, I am wishing everyone out in bloggerville a very happy "new" year. For years and years, I have always held to the belief that the first day of school truly represents the beginning of a new year and even though I am no longer connected to the school year, I still believe this. January 1st does require the purchase of a new calendar, but to me it stands for little else. But now ... now is different. Early September represents change -- the days are shorter and the nights cooler, the long summer vacation is over and the routine of school sets in once more, the harvest is at its peak, the autumn colours will soon be everywhere with breathtaking splendour.

New directions. That's what this time of the year represents. I always get a tremendous creative surge when early September rolls around. Everything seems fresh and full of possibilities. Even seeing stacks of school paper and boxes of pencils in the stores fills me with enthusiasm. I know those emotions are more typically associated with spring, but for me it is autumn that I find invigourating. (I've always been a little different. I'm good with that.)

So for those who are about to embark on a new journey, whether it be academic or professional or personal, I wish you well. Happy NEW Year!

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Unique Photo Challenge has picked the theme of "still life" for this week's challenge. Since I'm all about new directions right now, I picked the above photo as my contribution. Although the photoshopping is recent, the original photograph was taken a few years ago when my friend Nancy and I started a new artistic and professional journey together. Although that particular venture has run its course, I thought the photo was relevant both for the photo challenge and the wonderful feeling of opportunity that I currently feel. Stay tuned for more news on that front!

The charms of the small town fair

Being a big city girl, a small town fair is not a typical summer event. We do have the CNE (Canadian National Exhibition) here in Toronto, but it long ago lost its charm for me. I do indeed love a fair, but the CNE is too crowded, too noisy, too dirty, too loud and too expensive for my tastes. Every summer I think I want to go, but yet every summer goes by and the captain and I never make the effort.

But now I have seen the small town fair and I am enthralled. Yesterday, a beautiful summer day with blue skies and bright sunshine, the captain and I debated between staying home and doing chores or heading out for a drive into the countryside surrounding the city. It wasn't a hard decision -- the country beckoned. We had no plans, no destination. And so off we went, turning this way and that, until we came across a sign that told us the town of Port Perry was just 3 kilometres away. Being so close, we decided to go in and look at the boats. We never made it to the water though, as shortly after arriving in town we spied the sign advertising the fair. "Do you want to go?" the captain asked. Did I! I didn't have to be asked twice. And so off we went.

What a treat to be able to park mere steps from the fair's entrance, and what a charmer the entire fair was -- there were games to play, treats to eat, a ferris wheel, a merry-go-round, cows to admire, cow patties to avoid, new tractors and old cars to ogle, prize-winning canning and crafts, even horse racing. We saw oddly shaped vegetables, giant sunflower heads, children's artwork. A little boy fished for a prize at the ducky pond and a young girl beamed as she sat atop her carousel horse. It was a pure delight.

So here's a wee taste of the charms of a small town fair.