Thursday, March 20, 2008

Spring in the hills of Upstate N.Y.


The first day of Spring and the winds are howling, temperature dropping, and the air filled with snow. Ah, March.
The picture above is actually from several days ago. About an hour before guests were to arrive for a fancy dinner party, a violent ice storm descended on us, complete with thunder and lightning. The power went out and it looked like the party was doomed.
But we improvised, brought the movable feast to a friend's house in town, and all turned out quite fun (if not a bit strange).
The next day was cold with brilliant sunshine. The hills gleamed with silver-white, and every vista was amazing. I took many wonderful pictures. But I am seriously ready for Spring.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

succulents


This Friday night is the first gallery night of the year. I had a piece accepted in the State of the Art juried photo show. It is shown above. The title is called "succulents".
It is a bit of a departure from my usual collages. Most of my work has photographic elements, but much of the image comes from my own drawings and paintings. In this case however, this show was a photo show, so my work is entirely derived from a single photograph.

Monday, March 3, 2008

geese riding north

I love to get out into the winter woods and cross-country skiing is one of my favorite winter activities. This year hasn’t been very good for skiing with thin, icy snow. But this weekend the snow was excellent and I went out often.
Today was bright and sunny, and a warm wind was blowing so I went out on my skis early while the snow was still cold and firm. While I was enjoying the woods I suddenly heard the call of migrating geese and barely had time to look up to see them rocket by. I couldn’t believe my eyes at first, but then I realized they were riding the strong south wind that was bringing unseasonable warmth, and not some new super species. I saw several more large flocks heading northward while out on skis.
I am looking forward to spring,. But March brings fickle weather, even more so in times of climate change. And the forecast is for ice storms, so it is time to savor the sun and mid 50’s.