You don't have to leave home, or at least not go very far, to find inspiration. Keep your eyes open! When I got up yesterday and looked out of the window I saw a wonderful misty morning - I hurriedly grabbed up my camera and dashed outside. As you can see no neighbours were around to accost me in my deshabillé (!) and I was able to get some very inspiring photos.
Always keep your eyes open for an expected beauty and be prepared to act on the moment - and you'll find things that other people overlook or simply don't bother to take the time to see.
From the picture above I might make a quilt design with all the beautiful curves of the roads and the trees intersecting with each other. Or, I might simply use the colours - the browns and greys in very different values. Or I might take a good look at how the shadows of the trees appear on a wet road.
In the photo below, I was intrigued by this strange effect of the double horizon, the illusion of the floating row of bushes; it's something I might try in a quilt at some point. I have made a quilt little bit like this before as you can see in the photo below this one.
I've was able to captures some of the atmosphere in the photograph but not all of it. Interestingly the shibori fabric turned out to be perfect for both the foreground and for the pond reflections. But I think I would also like to try capturing some of the grace of those slender trees.
Isn't this photo so evocative? Can't you just feel the coolness on your face and the promise of the day to come? See how the values become paler as the objects received into the distance. Notice how the texture and the sharpness of the edges also becomes much much softer into the distance. There is so much to be learned from chasing the evanescent moment!
And it was evanescent too, in about 10 minutes all this beauty was gone and we were back to an everyday view. But I saw it and I captured it and I have it in my memory and I will use it for work in the future. Perhaps not tomorrow, But sometime…
And now I think it's time to get dressed! And, of course, time to make a nice cup of tea. If you have been, thanks for reading. And do please comment and tell me about your evanescent moments! Elizabeth
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6 comments:
I love photos of fog. I have been fascinated with fog since I was a kid. I remember going to the bus stop on a really foggy morning. I stood at the top of the hill and watched as my friends walked down to the bottom of the hill and disappeared into the fog. Now as a meteorologist I know why the fog was heavy at the bottom of the hill. As an adult I was running in fog at Acadia national park in the morning. I loved how it really alters your sense of reality. Sounds were muffled and I felt like I was the only one in the park. You might remember in your master class back in 2014 I made a quilt of a forest in the fog. I added my husband the bagpiper to the forest. That quilt still hangs on our wall.
Hi Chris! yes I do remember your foggy quilt, now you mention it...and the strains of the bagpipe...and we have Robbie Burns day coming up soon too - so I hope he's keeping in practice! Thank you for your comment!
These photographs have really hit a chord with me, I love walking in the fog. It's weird but I always feel my senses are more heightened and I feel more "alive". I only started making art quilts two years ago and follow your blog with interest, you write very thought provoking posts. I will look forward to seeing what you make of the curved road and trees.
Thank you Karen, It is a very special kind of weather....but you don't want it too thick where you can't see anything...I remember horrible driving journeys back from work in North Yorkshire through the countryside driving from one cats-eye to another with the windows wide open to try to see...
The mists in the Smoky Mountains here in the SE USA are lovely too...again very transient...a magical condition of the air!
Hello Elizabeth...glad I "found" you. I really enjoy your thoughtful and edifying cogitations. I have many evanescent moments captured by just stepping outside of our home here in southern New Mexico. I love your work; the reason I have signed up for your class " From Mod to Improv"...look forward to it!
Val
Hi Val! glad you found me...and I really hope you enjoy my new class: Mod Meets Improv....I had a lot of fun writing it and I'm going to be quite fascinated to see what people do with my instructions!! Thank you for signing up...it's now full by the way...but we'll rerun it in april.
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