Faded Faces in the Forest

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Photo #651: Forest FacesLocation Taken: Arcadia, Michigan
Time Taken: December 2006

Many years ago, a tree fell in a forest.

To be specific, it fell across a path in the forest my Grandparents own. They use that path regularly, so they removed half the tree, and left the snag and a bit of the trunk behind.

But that did leave rather blatant exposed wood just sitting around being obvious along the path. Two patches of it, even, since the cut was right above a fork in the trunk.

So my Grandmother considered her options, and decided that if it was going to be obvious anyway, it might as well be interestingly obvious. And wouldn’t you know, but she happens to have a couple of artistic granddaughters who were just so happening to visit that summer…

I painted the bottom of the two faces, while my sister made the top one. Both of us worked off of the natural shapes of the exposed trunk, so she went with a red-haired human face while I made a horned blue guy. Because if you’re going to give someone horns, you might as well make him blue too, of course.

This photo was taken a couple of years later, not too long after I started to get into digital photography. The downed tree had picked up a pretty serious case of mushrooms that year, adding some extra interesting texture.

The faces are gone now.

  

I wish you the best day possible!

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Photo #650: Happy DaisyLocation Taken: Eugene, Oregon
Time Taken: June 2008

For some reason, today just seems like a day that needs a little extra happiness in it.

And for some reason, daisies always make me feel just a little happier. It’s something to do with their boldness and their simplicity, I think. Hopefully it’s similar for you, since if so, your day is now a little happier just for checking this blog.

So have a daisy of a day!

  

Here a Sphere, There a Sphere, Everywhere a Sphere

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Photo #649: SpheresLocation Taken: Chicago, Illinois
Time Taken: April 2008

I don’t know why the grassy areas near the Field Museum in Chicago had a display of, well, spheres. But they did. Might still, for all I know.

I suppose if you’re going for a theme, “spheres” isn’t too bad of one. It’s quite simple to wrap your head around, if you think about it. And there’s a lot of room to work with conceptually. I’d eludicate, but there are two fine examples in this photo already.

Not to mention that any sphere shape already gains the bonus symbolism of “Celestial Body”, since the sun, moon, and planets are all spheroids. The strongest is probably the “sphere=Earth” connection, since so many people already use that. You know, a cracked rocky sphere talks about the effects of drought or the like. My Art Student training keeps pointing out this sorts of symbolism just because teachers kept asking me about what this or the other artwork was symbolizing and expecting me to have an immediate answer. I got really good at pulling things out of my hat (or other places) thanks to that. It might be part of why I’ve managed to always have something to say for each post, even in the worst of conditions.

But yeah, spheres. Odd ones. Fun paths around them too. If I remember correctly the paths were made of that squishy rubber you find in playgrounds, the one that’s really good at shock absorption. Either that or it was just standard stone, but looking at the photo, well, there aren’t any stones that look like that out there…

  

A Shimmering Light, A Magical Sight

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Photo #648: Rainbow LightsLocation Taken: National Museum of the American Indian, Washington D.C.
Time Taken: October 2009

You know, every so often you just have to stop and appreciate physics.

Today, I’m grateful for the way the electromagnetic spectrum (which includes light) will spread out and form rainbows and other similar color phenomena when it meets some sort of lensing effect.

In other words, I like pretty colors in the sky. And on buildings. And everywhere, for that matter.

I saw a gorgeous example of cloud iridescence today while driving along. The clouds were thin and occasionally spitting out a very fine snow, and the air was very cold. I looked up at one point, and there, along the thin edge of a cloud near the sun (which was hiding behind another cloud), was a rainbow of marvelous pale colors, shimmering in the sky.

It was, of course, beautiful.

If I had packed my camera someplace where I could reach it, and if the windows weren’t filthy with salt and dirt, I might have captured it on film. Or, well, in digital files.

But I couldn’t reach my camera, so I shall just have to remember the beauty by telling you all about it.

  

Repeat after me: Kaaaaaam-Looooooppssss. Kamloops!

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Photo #647: Kamloops HillsLocation Taken: near Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada
Time Taken: June 2010

The area near Kamloops is really quite lovely. It’s a near-desert in western Canada, with so much moisture pulled out of the air going over the Canadian Cascade mountains that there’s a rainforest on one side and a desert on the other. Trees are sparce, rocks are visible, and the scenery is marvelous.

Oh, and there’s a city called Kamloops there. Isn’t that an awesome name?

Kamloops, Kamloops, take me to Kamloops, my dear!

Kamloops is how we English-speakers spell the local word for the area, which means “Meeting of the Waters”. There’s a lot of places names along that same idea, something to do with how useful it is to build settlements where two rivers join up, since you can take part in trade and the like for both rivers easily. But only one of those places is Kamloops.

I love how some words just have an awesome sound. Kamloops, Kamloops, why are you so awesome?