“Alien”
This image is a repeat of a prior post in 2018. I was driving through the Alabama Hills, turned a corner and saw this strange looking alien staring right at me. Chills ran down my back! I quickly pulled off the road, let the dust settle, and introduced myself. He didn’t say much and just frowned.
“…Oops!”
Don’t worry, you are not losing your eyesight. It is the camera operator who’s the cause. Sometimes blind luck turns out OK. I took this image without focusing the lens. When reviewing my images, I first threw this image out. I looked at it again and realized that I liked the colors and ultra soft look. So I recovered it and played around a little and made it an abstract.
Lesson Learned: Don’t be too hasty throwing out images. Sometimes blind luck turns into an opportunity. I am always learning.
Old Schoolhouse, Yakima Valley, WA
I wrote a little on this old schoolhouse on my previous posting. As I was walking around the back of the building, this old vine captured me. I felt that it was reaching out trying to pull me in to its history. I really do need to do a little research!
Cherry Trees – Heather Heights Orchard
Color, Color, Color is everywhere I turn. Greens, yellows, oranges, reds. and even a little brown fill my eyes. It looks like an abstract painting. My mind opens up for creative possibilities. Here is one:
Cherry Trees Abstract
All it takes is a little reverse “C” swipe and imagination!
“Pure Energy”
How can I make a simple branch covered with frost pop out from its surrounding??? Just move around to position something interesting behind it. I found a faded clump of Japanese Forest Grass for a background. Using a shallow depth of field caused the grass to look like a radiating energy force field. I could feel the energy emerge as I recorded the image.
“Nature’s Abstract”
Beautiful abstracts abound in the natural world around us. I am constantly amazed how much of nature’s art I see when I just take my time to peacefully look around me. Moments before I recorded this image, I was admiring a beautiful reflection of trees with their full fall glory in a pond at the Bloedel Reserve. I turned around and immediately saw gentle rays of sunshine peeking through two aspen tree trunks. I gasped at the beauty and quickly took an image before the sun went behind a cloud. That brief moment was a wonderful gift!
“More Hats”
Capitol Hill Eastern Market, Washington DC
Like I mentioned in an earlier post, hats were everywhere in the Market. They were different colors, different shapes, and different textures. A stacked set of colors and repeating lines caught my eye here. It was pure “eye candy”
Capitol Hill Eastern Market, Washington DC
Color and shapes, color and shapes, color and shapes … that is what caught my eye here. As I looked at this scene, I squinted my eyes and a different image appeared. Below depicts what I visualized.
Abstract 1: Barnet Newman’s “Achilles” – National Gallery of Art
Abstract 2: National Gallery of Art – East Wing, Exterior
Abstract 3: Volcanic Cliff
Simple lines of abstract art are intriguing. They can be found everywhere. Some are works created in art mediums (paintings, sculptures, etc.). Others are created by architectural forms. Still others are found in nature.
Abstract 1 is an oil painting created by Barnet Newman titled “Achilles”. I stood and looked at this piece for quite a long time. Rather than try to figure out “what it is meant to be”, I tried to focus on what feeling it brought out in me. The red made me feel a little anxious. I did not resonate with this piece.
Abstract 2 is a photograph of the exterior of the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art. I was walking along, looked up and saw these contrasting shapes of shadows and light. It just grabbed me.
Abstract 3 is a photograph of the sheer basalt cliffs cut by the Palouse River during the Ice Age Floods. Nature’s artwork stops me in my tracks. Sometimes I just do not want to leave. It instills me to think about how our would was formed and just enjoy the beauty of nature surrounding me.
Art is everywhere!
Abstract A
Abstract B
Spending time in the National Gallery of Art stimulates me to see abstractions from different perspectives. Abstract A is from an unknown artist on a piece I saw at Eastern Market on Capitol Hill. Abstract B is an extract from Lyonel Feininger’s “Street of Dreams” in the National Gallery of Art. By the way, Abstract A in an excerpt from an apron.
Soft and Fluffy