52 Week Creativity Challenge, Week 36- Free

As I dropped my daughter off at school on the morning of September 11, I noticed that her elementary school was flying the flags at half-mast.  I snapped a picture with my phone because it was a touching commemoration.   As I drove away from the school, I decided to take some time out of my schedule and photograph other flags in my community, to honor the survivors and victims of 9/11 and the wars that came in the aftermath.  

Elementary School Flags
taken on a Motorala XT897, edited in Google Chrome
by S. Clark

Train Station
taken on a Fujifilm finxepix HS 35 EXR, edited in Google Chrome
by S. Clark

City Halltaken on a Fujifilm finxepix HS 35 EXR, edited in Google Chrome
by S. Clark

Hall of Justicetaken on a Fujifilm finxepix HS 35 EXR, edited in Google Chrome
by S. Clark

52 Week Creativity Challenge, Week 31- One's Place

One's Place- My Hometaken on a Motorala XT897, edited in Google Chrome
by S. Clark

One's Place- My Backyardtaken on a Motorala XT897, edited in Google Chrome
by S. Clark

52 Week Creativity Challenge, Week 29- Sooner or Later

"Sooner or Later"
by S. Clark

Last week, my husband's coworker invited him to a birthday lunch and he wanted to bring a gift. "She likes owls," he told me as he and our daughter departed in pursuit of a present. They returned with a wood cut out in the shape of an owl, an owl stamp and an owl sticker.  My daughter had agreed that she would paint the cut out when they got home.  She reneged on the deal upon entering the house.  Okay, so, his coworker would only get the stamp and the sticker.

I am not one to pass up an opportunity to create something, so no worries!  I am good friends with my glue gun (read here). And I also have a solid relationship with a large green tackle box.  It contains the bits and pieces that might be handy for projects. Things like old beads, sea glass, pine cones, buttons & other debris. It was a gift from one my younger brothers, given to me at Christmas about 25 years ago.  Like I said, I have a solid relationship with the tackle box.  We've been together longer than many marriages!

The glue gun and the contents of the tackle box helped create the above "bulletin board do-dad."  Because, sooner or later, those little bits and pieces will come in handy!

52 Week Creativity Challenge, Week 28- Cake

"Pancake"
Taken on a Motorola XT897
Edited in Google Chrome
by S. Clark

52 Week Creativity Challenge, Week 27- Pain

"Pain by Cactus" 
Taken on a Fujifilm FinePix HS 35EXR
Edited in Google Chrome
by S. Clark

I love cacti because of my grandmas; which you can read about here.  However, if you are not careful, they can be a pain.  Typically in your hand.  I can't number the times I've been stuck. Usually this happens when I transplant one of them.  Luckily, they outgrow their pots slowly and warrant very little handling.  I can simply appreciate their prickly beauty and memories of my grandmas.  

52 Week Creativity Challenge, Week 31- EatE

Eat

taken on a Motorala XT897, edited in Google Chrome
by S. Clark

52 Week Creativity Challenge, Week 30- Pull

Pull
Taken on taken on a Motorala XT897, edited in Google Chrome
by S. Clark

52 Week Creativity Challenge, Week 26- Piece

A Piece of My Childhood

Creosote smells of Summer to me

tangy

brash. 

Hot planks beneath my bare feet

burns

just a little. 

Pony tail kissing my shoulders

tangled

blonde streaks.

Whirs of cicadas serenade the sun

high pitched

tseeee.

Gravel driveway stretches between

dusty

full of agates.

Old Minnesota farm house beckons me

welcoming

loved.

All my Summers

tangy

brash.  

52 Week Creativity Challenge, Week 25- Head

"Chicken Heads"
Taken on a Fujifilm FinePix HS 35EXR
Edited in Google Chrome
by S. Clark

At the beginning of May, our friends who own a flock of chickens, gave my husband 6 eggs.  He was informed that they were fertilized and would hatch if we incubated them. He went home a promptly build an incubator.

Waiting for the chickens to hatch was excruciating because other than shining a flashlight on them, we had no way to know if they were developing normally or developing at all. We had to have the temperature and humidity just so and because we had this wonky homemade contraption it was heard to maintain the correct environment.  Every time the temperature got too high or the humidity crashed we felt for sure we killed all the chickens.

One egg wasn't fertilized and one egg "quit" after just a couple days, which left 4 eggs.  On May 26, three days earlier than expected, Freckles hatched in 30 minutes.  This is well under the several hour timeline Google informed us it would take. We named this chick Freckles after my Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma Freckles who had chickens when I was growing up. (Their name wasn't really Freckles, but I named them that because my Grandma looked freckled to my 3 year old self.) On May 27, Lucky agonizingly pecked her way out of the shell.  She took well over the timeline given by Google. We named her Lucky because it seems pretty lucky that she got out at all!  Two eggs didn't hatch at all but we felt a 50% hatch rate was pretty good given that we are completely ignorant chicken farmers.

Freckles immediately after hatching.

Freckles after he fluffed up a bit.

Lucky immediately after hatching.  

Freckles at a few days old

Lucky photo bombing Freckles

Lucky at a few days old.

 Chickens grow super fast and pretty soon we had to put them in a large tub in the garage.  We initially kept them in the closet under the stairs because the temperature was more consistent than the rest of the house and we could keep the cats away.  The cats were much too interested!

Lucky & Freckles around 3 weeks old. 

Exploring the chicken run.  

My daughter loves the chickens!

Freckles and Lucky around 1 month old.

The photo at the top was taken when they were around 1 1/2 months old.  They look pretty much the same except for Freckles has more of a coxcomb developing now. Yep, despite our deepest desire to end up with two hens, we have a rooster and a hen.  He is practicing his crow in an adolescent chicken voice.  Have I mentioned we are not morning people and we have neighbors? Stay tuned for future reports on Freckles' developing crow!

52 Week Creativity Challenge, Week 24- Out

"Out"
Wire wreath made of objects found outside in my yard
by S. Clark

The wreath with other items that make me smile.  

This weeks prompt was "out," which made me think of a small piece of wire I found outside a few months ago. It was bent when I found it, so I shaped it into a circle and thought it could be used to make a cute wreath.  I put it in one of the many nooks and crannies in my desk and didn't see it again until just recently.  This week's creativity challenge seemed like the perfect opportunity to complete that project. I gather dried grasses and flower stems as well as four delicate pine cones from one of the evergreen trees in the yard.  

52 Week Creativity Challenge, Week 24- World

"From Around the World"

Photo taken on FujiFilm HS 35EXR, Edited in Google Chrome
by S. Clark

"From Across the Ocean"
Photo taken on FujiFilm HS 35EXR, Edited in Google Chromeby S. Clark

When I edit photos, I don't typically include the original photograph in the blog post.  This week, however, the final product for each picture was so far removed from the original image, that I decided to include the originals for the  sake of comparison.  

My usual approach to editing photos is to enhance the image.  I usually try to make the image more vivid but not fundamentally alter it in anyway.  

This week I decided to try something different.  I wanted make these photographs look like the old pictures I found in my grandparent's attic as a kid; old, beat up and with poor exposure. Photographs that came from old film cameras and spent several decades in a box somewhere.  The editing deviated significantly from my usual approach as a result.  I think that the images above evoke the same sense of age as the photos I remember finding as a kid.  I hope that they give you a similar sense of history.  

52 Week Creativity Challenge, Week 23- Keeping

"Keeping Up With the Kids"
Taken on a Motorola Photon Q
By S. Clark

My refrigerator is an ever evolving work of art dedicated to the comings and goings of the kids; my daughter and my youngest brother. The bits of this and that on the fridge keep track of their comings and goings, their accomplishments and interests.  This photo is a still life of one section of the refrigerator art gallery!  

52 Week Creativity Challenge, Week 21- Spot On

"Spot On"
Photo taken on FujiFilm HS 35EXR, Edited in Picassa
by S. Clark

I had lived in Washington only a few months when I had my 30th birthday.  I had a birthday party and invited my co-workers, along with family members from all over the state. One of my new coworkers walked into my house, wished me happy birthday and said "I left you a roadie in the garage." This statement was confusing to me because I was under the impression that a roadie was an individual who worked for a band on tour, hauling gear.  I assumed that she wasn't actually getting me someone to haul my gear, although that would have been appreciated, I didn't have any other alternate ideas.  

After the party was over, I walked into my garage and found a rhododendron plant.  Oh! A "rhodie" not a "roadie"!  Having lived in the midwest and California all my life, the term rhodie was not in my vocabulary.   

Azaleas and rhododendrons blanket the Pacific Northwest. These shrubs are part of the genus Rhododendron are found in nearly every yard in this part of the country.  In 1892 the women residents of Washington voted that the state flower should be the Rhododendron macrophyllum, or Coast Rhododendron.  They wanted an official flower to represent the state in the 1893 World's Fair.  Washington had only been a state for 3 years at this point, so I am guessing the the voter turn out was pretty low!  The choices was narrowed down to clover versus a rhodie.

I am glad that they chose a rhodie.  I have come to really appreciate both azaleas and rhodies in the 10 years I have lived here.  My yard has several of both types of plants and I think they look much better than clovers.  My favorites are the ones with delicate spots near the center of the flowers.  They are spot on! 

52 Week Creativity Challenge, Week 20- Nuke

"Peaced Out Nuke Sign" Color Pencil Drawing
by S. Clark

Well, one can always hope....

52 Week Creativity Challenge, Week 19- And Then

"And Then...She Made A Goal!"
Taken on a FujiFilm FinePix HS 35 EXR
Edited in Google Chrome
By S. Clark

52 Week Creativity Challenge, Week 18- Now

"Green Blueberries"

New growth abounds in my gardens right now!  

"Honeysuckle Satellite"

I found these plants to because especially intriguing because their form is an unexpected departure from what we typically associate with spring and new growth. 

"Lily"

Also, these plants are not yet dominated by color, which makes the beauty of their form more evident.  

All three photos were taken on my new camera, a Fujifilm FinePix HS35EXR.  I didn't do any editing.    

52 Week Creativity Challenge, Week 17- Help

"Help" taken on a Motoral Photon Q phone, edited in Google Chrome
By S. Clark

Here in Washington state, we like to help our squirrels by building tiny squirrel bridges to help them cross busy streets.  We have four in town, the oldest was put in place around 50 years ago. This bridge is decorated with lights every year at Christmas because in addition to safe, we also like our squirrels to be festive!

52 Week Creativity Challenge, Week 15- Inside Out

"Inside Out" watercolor paint on file folder
by S. Clark

The image evoked by the phrase "inside out" was of an umbrella in the wind.  We have a lot of rain and wind in the Pacific Northwest, but not a lot of umbrellas.  I think it rains so much, everyone just figures out how to live with it.  We don't mind wet hair or have sensitive hair styles.  We have a wide variety of fun hats.  The only time I see a lot of umbrellas is when parents are standing outside for hours on end at sporting events.  Even we have our limits!

I don't feel that this painting quite captured what was in my mind's eye, but I like the colors.  And I made a commitment that I would not allow perfectionism govern this 52 week creativity challenge.  Instead, I made the decision to create a work of art and post what I created regardless of my judgement of that work of art.  This gives me an opportunity to grow as an artist and further my life-long recovery from perfectionism.  I don't think perfectionism belongs with creativity or art because it has a set idea of "perfect" and not only is that unacheivable, following the creative process often leads to a better place than a preconceived idea of "perfect."  So, I post this painting I don't quite like but feel good that perfectionism isn't in charge of my decision-making.  

52 Week Creativity Challenge, Week 14- Know Something

"Know Something- Front of Library"
Taken on a Motorala Photon Q, edited in Google Chrome
By S. Clark

"Know Something- Side of Library"
Taken on a Motarola Photon Q, edited in Google Chrome
By S. Clark

If you want to know something, go to a Library!

52 Week Creativity Challenge, Week 13- Out of the Blue

"Out of the Blue" Gauche painting on an oyster (?) shell.
By S. Clark

I dabble in many different art forms and as a result, feel that I haven't really mastered a particular medium or technique.  I have very little formal training.  So, I rely on intuition and what "feels" right.  Sometimes that gets me where I want to go and sometimes I fall short of the image in my head.  

For this week's creativity challenge, I felt like painting.  I didn't have any canvases around, though.  I rarely have canvases because I don't really know what to do with them.  Usually, when I feel like painting, I paint on drawing paper or an object.  I thought I might paint a rock, like I did here.  None of the rocks felt "right" but in my hunt around the house for a suitable rock, I found this shell.   

I am pretty sure we found this on the Puget Sound when we were camping a few summers back.  It is worn smooth by waves.  I think it is an oyster shell because they were plentiful on the beach where we were investigating the tide pools.  

This shell felt "right" for my project.  The phrase "out of the blue" evoked thoughts of the ocean, which also fit painting on a shell.  I had originally thought that I would paint a sea turtle, but the shape of the shell was better suited for waves and some star fish.

This is one of those projects where I feel like the final product reflects the feelings and images in my mind.  I am always grateful when I can translate an idea into a piece of art!