Yuletide Excuses or why I haven't been blogging

The reason I have been neglecting my blog is that I have spent the holiday season moving to a new home. There have been times when I did not know where my cameras were, my hanging sculpture is tucked into a bag somewhere. It was difficult to think about art. We moved a week before Christmas and plunged right into the holiday madness. 

Then the blizzard hit and for some reason the entire city collapsed into chaos. 

The kitties were not disturbed by the snow, or the glacial cold. Our new home has a patio. Once the wind died down, I went out there and made a little sitting area around the brazier that a dear friend offered as a house warming gift (and it is warm).

We put a log on the brazier and the beloved amused us by burning old papers.

It was our yule celebration.

Slowly things are returning to normal. I am beginning to get ideas for the new year. I will have a garden to work on my green art in. Maybe I will finally grow some moss. I have some plant cuttings taking root for another round of street art. The new neighborhood is beautiful in a scruffy way. I can't wait to get to work.

Subtle Leaves

For a second year, the autumn foliage has been muted. Last year it was from the rain, this year it was the heat.

I went up to Central Park to find the trees I skipped on the tree hunt because they look best in autumn. I was headed for the Tupelo meadow in the Ramble. Many of the trees were still green if yellowish.

There was an occasional splash of red, all the more striking against the green.

The colors were otherwise soft.

The Ramble lived up to its name and I wandered around in circles for a while, not sure where the tupelos were.

I did not even recognize one when I found it and I did not take many pictures. Perhaps the others had already shed their leaves.

I am so grateful for these rare isolated spots in the city. When I am stressed, being with the trees and the birds calms me down. I had wanted to see the elms on the literary walk in their autumn splendor.

But it was over. The leaves had fallen.

It seemed odd that some trees were still green while others had shut down for the season. But I was more intrigued about tupelo trees. I went to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, my other refuge from stress.

 The colors were fairly muted there too. The light was really pretty.

There was a well identified tupelo in the local flora area.

Its autumn colors really are beautiful.

And I know what they look like now.

Autumn Blues

A little autumn light pierces the blue.

Although I have not been posting as often as usual, I have been working. The results have not been very blog worthy. My color printing has been slow going. Film does not have the instant gratification of digital. I am waiting to finish a roll that has what I hope to be some really cool pictures. There is some light I want to photograph that only hits at 10 am on Bedford Avenue. I haven't managed to get there at the right time.

I have also been playing with images that I accidentally printed over other images (ink jet prints here).

I am not sure if these are really more than just experiments. I don't want to go to deeply into a weird Joseph Cornell place, or even worse, descend into kitsch.

Hopefully things will get better soon.

Light on the Subway Entrance

I have been somewhat distracted recently. It has been difficult to focus on art work because of very unartistic stresses. I finished up some film and made some prints last week, but old school photography is a slow process and I have nothing interesting yet. Luckily I came across this light. It is the subway entrance at the foot of the Williamsburg Savings Bank. There used to be scaffolding outside while the old offices were converted into condos which made the entrance dark and a little menacing. The scaffolding came down earlier this year and the light is so startling at times.