Tag: creative process

make hay..

by Susan, posted in creativity, photography, Solitude, Uncategorized, walks

 

 

 

 

while the sun shines

 

a day of warmth and sunshine
rare for January
the new year has just begun
tired from the busy-ness of the holidays
every bit of extrovert-ness mustered
has been used up
(exhausting for an introvert)

wandering alone around this farm
a breath of fresh air
before my hibernation begins

to sort things out
to accomplish some goals
to start on a couple of projects
to try something new

 

(in March I will be spending a week up at Maine Media College, participating in a workshop led by Cig Harvey)

 

Is it  possible to teach an old dog new tricks?

 

I’ll let you know come April

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

what are you trying to say?

by Susan, posted in art, creative process, creativity, photography, Uncategorized

 

 

 

So many of my pictures of late have been about the surface of things.  Yes it is fall and leaves are resting on the water, apples have dropped to the ground..but I realized today they are not really about that.   these pictures are about shallowness and my desire to dig deeper.  Social media is filled with pretty photos of nature, yummy food, exotic travel destinations and alluring selfies.  I want to make pictures that have something more to say, and that’s hard.

 

I have watched this Cig Harvey lecture over and over again.  Some thoughts I’ve come away with –

 

  • landscapes- can be a mirror of what’s going on inside of you
  •  use symbols and metaphors
  • dig deeper
  • cameras are just expensive pencils
  • speak through your photography
  • photography/art asks the questions
  • what do you have to say?
  • Art doesn’t have to be good or bad, it just has to be felt
  • make pictures ABOUT something rather than OF something

 

Taking the time to step back and really look at my work has been a revealing exercise.  Although I will still stop and take a picture of a pretty flower or that red leaf shining in the grass, my thought process is changing.

 

I think maybe I have found a starting point, that tip of the iceberg.

 

“You are only this moment, the length of a photograph”

~ Cig Harvey