Elizabeth December 5th, 2011
The theme of Day 23 in the 30 Day Photo Challenge is creativity and until a few minutes ago there was a great big post that accompanied my photo. Creativity is a subject that is very close to my heart, and something that I’m trying to find my way back to after a creative slump that lasted a few years.
The post I deleted talked a lot about what happens to a musician when she moves cities and leaves her network (and piano) behind. It was a little bit mopey. You’ll have to believe me, because it’s gone now.
I think it’s healthier to focus on the ways that my creativity is being nurtured. My drawing & painting classes at the Melbourne Studio of Art have obviously inspired me greatly this year, and also equipped me with some of the skills that I’ve needed in order to get my ideas onto a page. After 15 weeks of classes I’m drawing things that I thought beyond my reach, and when I’m not drawing with a pencil I often find myself drawing with my eyes. These classes have really taught me to see everyday things differently and even my dreams have become more vivid and colourful.
My classes have also taught me that I might have found a way to redirect the frustration that I feel with being away from music, and turn it into something good. When I came home from work today I grabbed a book that I’ve been altering and sketching in, and I threw a bunch of art supplies at the pages until I came up with something pretty from my imagination. It felt good to do something fun and messy, and not worry too much about the rules.
I guess that’s why I was a jazz musician.
The A4 pages above were made from gesso, striped paper bags, acrylic paint, aquamarkers, sumi ink (and then more gesso!). As you can see from the photo below a lot of those supplies ended up on me instead of in the book.
Elizabeth December 4th, 2011
Day 22 of the 30 Day Photo Challenge is alarm clock.
I recently met somebody who is a Monday Person. Every Monday she wakes up with the assumption and expectation that it’s going to be a good day, and then she makes it happen. With a smile!
This person talks with exclamation points about her love for Mondays. Can you imagine what her colleagues must go through when they are at their most vulnerable?
I’m sorry. It’s just that it’s Sunday night and I’m dreading the sound of that alarm clock at 5.30am tomorrow. Let’s hope that I don’t run into any Monday People until I’ve finished my second coffee.
Elizabeth December 3rd, 2011
When we lived in Hawthorn we had lots and lots of possums in our street. We used to watch them walking along the power lines as soon as the sun went down, and we often heard them running over our roof or along the fences. A particularly amorous pair lived in the beautiful tree in our backyard and they, er, regularly expressed their feelings for the benefit of the entire neighbourhood.
That’s love, right there.
I’ve missed our little possums since moving here two years ago, although there’s been plenty of evidence that they are around somewhere. Sometimes I’ll hear rustling in the trees late at night, or the dog will follow a scent trail that comes to a dead end at the foot of a tree. Despite all of the signs I can only remember seeing two since moving into this house.
I guess that’s why it was so exciting to spot this tiny little ringtail possum through a gap in our broken fence. He was a perfect little model, and although I couldn’t coax him out of his thorny hidey hole I was happy to have a little bit of camera time with him from a safe distance.
I know that not everybody likes possums, but I think their little pink noses are the best. My favourite photo from this set is below.
Day 21 of the 30 Day Photo Challenge is gratitude. There are so many things I could have written about and photographed on this subject – people I’m thankful for, Christmas coming up, etc – but it felt a little bit forced to write about these things because of a daily prompt.
Instead, I thought I’d share something that I was truly grateful for today – the trust and bravery of a tiny little marsupial who allowed me to sit nearby for a little while. It’s nice to think that he’s just outside my window somewhere.
Elizabeth December 2nd, 2011
Day 20 of the 30 Day Photo Challenge is landscape. The photo above is clearly not a landscape – it’s a photo of my homemade Christmas crackers which have been filled with cute things for Christmas Day. I totally recommend doing this by the way – just steal some cracker snaps from the cheap store-bought versions and fill some tubes with stuff that people actually want!
So anyway, no. It’s not a landscape. But, it is an example of landscape orientation!
… I know. I’m disappointed in me too.
Elizabeth December 1st, 2011
Day 19 of the 30 Day Photo Challenge is hands.
I would like to thank my hand model, who had the sense to mow the lawn before our shoot for the sake of a little extra grittiness. You can tell that he’s a pro because he didn’t burn himself on the candle and ruin my shot!
That kid has a real future in this business. Gonna make him a star.
Elizabeth November 30th, 2011
Today’s drive to work was a little bit unusual, thanks to my my big, heavy camera sitting beside me on the passenger seat. The theme of Day 18 in the 30 Day Photo Challenge was journey to work, and I really wasn’t sure how I was going to safely operate my manual transmission car and a DSLR at the same time. Obviously, I only took photos when the car was completely still (and the handbrake was on) but I was still a bit worried that I’d see flashing lights in my rear view mirror!
Fortunately it was a beautifully gloomy, wet drive to work today which made for some lovely moody photos. I was even lucky enough to spot my last Movember tram for 2011 on the last day of the month! I will miss that big moustache, and the smiles that it put on the faces of my fellow commuters. Such a great idea.
All of my photos turned out pretty well, but my favourite is below.
Elizabeth November 29th, 2011
Day 17 of the 30 Day Photo Challenge is favourite beverage.
Mine is water, diluted with a little water and then poured over some frozen water.
Simple pleasures!
Elizabeth November 28th, 2011
The theme of today’s 30 Day Photo Challenge is in your fridge.
I decided to not be too literal with this one, although it was so hot and muggy today that I was tempted to empty my fridge and crawl in there myself. I totally would have photographed it too, except for the part where I am mostly too lazy to carry out my best ideas.
So instead I photographed the bowl of eggs that I was bringing up to room temperature. They were already beading with condensation after three minutes on the bench.
My hate/hate relationship with Summer is going to feature here a lot over the next four months, I can tell. I would be such a good eskimo.
I’m past the halfway mark now. Hope you guys are enjoying the daily photo!
Elizabeth November 27th, 2011
Day 15 in the 30 Day Photo Challenge is Technology.
I am quite sure that our leading innovators of computing and telecommunications technology had other things in mind when they came up with their inventions. Like, for example, curing cancer. They almost certainly did not develop their genius so that I could blog, RSS and tweet simultaneously from my bed.
But I’m glad they did.
We’re totally living in the future, by the way.
(This ridiculous scene was set up for the sake of today’s photo. I usually make it a policy to only use two idevices at any one time…)
Elizabeth November 25th, 2011
Day 13 in the 30 Day Photo Challenge is Your front door.
Elizabeth November 24th, 2011
Today was sponsored by Kleenex, Blackmores vitamins, and especially pseudoephedrine. Science, you are the BEST.
I realise that I’ve been complaining about being sick here for more than a week, and that’s really boring. I had a couple of good days over the weekend, but for the most part I’ve been miserable and snotty and cranky for ten days straight. I can handle most things, but as soon as my watery eyes start to ruin my mascara the bottom falls RIGHT out of my world and that’s how innocent people die, Your Honour!
Forcing myself to go to work this week has absolutely prolonged my illness. I wish there’d been a way for me to stay home for a few days, but in my job a day off work only makes things harder when you go back. One more day, then I can fall in a heap and work on recovering.
Anyway, the point of all of this complaining is also the theme of Day 12 in the 30 Day Photo Challenge – Someone you love. That boy of mine has been taking such good care of me – cooking, cleaning up, feeding me vitamin C and putting me to bed when I hit the wall. When I fall asleep with the lights on he covers me up and rescues my laptop before it gets dropped on the floor. In the morning he makes up funny lies about my snoring (as if!) and makes me an extra strong coffee for my drive to work.
He’s my favourite boy, and I’m a very lucky girl for finding him.
I think I’ll keep him.
Elizabeth November 23rd, 2011
The theme for Day 11 of the 30 Day Photo Challenge is favourite colour.
I found it really difficult to settle on an idea for this photo, since my favourite colour is usually “all of them”. I’m into favourite colour combinations more than single colours, so in the end I thought this photo reflected my taste pretty well. On another day I might have chosen a shocking pink and orange combination, though.
Today’s photo is a little vignette on the windowsill of my bathroom. I’ve started a tiny collection of sea blue/green glass vessels, and I keep them by the window so that the light can bounce around inside them. Twice a day I spend a few minutes enjoying them while I brush my teeth. Small pleasures, y’know?
Those of you who have been following my house tour will be amused to see that my indoor plant obsession even extends into my bathroom. Minus the soil.
Elizabeth November 22nd, 2011
I have possibly bitten off more than I can chew.
In addition to having a fulltime job (which, by the way, is totally breaking my brain at the moment) I seem to have committed myself to about a thousand other things. I’m studying for a Diploma through work, taking a Saturday art class, and I’m also signed up for two e-courses which are running concurrently for the next couple of months. I’m doing NaBloPoMo and the 30 Day Photo Challenge, and since I’m a terrible perfectionist I’m trying to do everything as well as I possibly can.
(Oh, plus that little thing called Christmas that’s coming up! We’re hosting dinner for 10, and gearing up for having house guests for 3 weeks. Lots to do!)
This post isn’t about seeing the error of my ways, though. I thrive on having too much to do, especially when so many of the things on my “to do” list are fuelling my creative juices! Tonight I came home from work with a heavy head cold, desperate to fall into a coma for 12 hours. But instead I did a little watercolour drawing, I took my photo for the 30 Day Photo Challenge (which, I’ll admit, is just a snapshot this time) and wrote this blog post so that I didn’t miss any of my deadlines.
Tomorrow I’ll wake up wishing that I’d gone to bed early, but I’ll also be happy that I did something towards all of my little creative endeavours.
(You know. Once I’ve had my first two cups of coffee.)
A quick and dirty snapshot of The view from my (living room) window for Day 10 of the 30 Day Photo Challenge.
And… goodnight!
Elizabeth November 21st, 2011
The theme for Day 9 of the 30 Day Photo Challenge is Shoes.
Now I just need to sit back and wait for Hallmark to make me an offer. Should I pen my own terrible greeting card poem, or do they have people for that?
Elizabeth November 19th, 2011
Saturday has to be my favourite day of the week.
It always begins with an extra couple of hours sleep, and when I finally open my eyes a certain boy normally brings me a coffee or two. Only when I am sufficiently caffeinated do I crawl out from underneath the covers.
It’s pretty great being me, on a Saturday.
Saturday also means it’s time for my art class at Melbourne Studio of Art, and that always puts a smile on my face! Today we had a painting class with Michael Gray and learned all about analogous colours (ie colours that are next to each other on the colour wheel). Michael set up a bunch of still life scenes with objects that matched their backdrop colour, so we spent a lot of time on our colour mixing to make all the subtle differences in tone. We did this same exercise the last time I took this class, and although this was only my second time using oil paints I think I did better this time around.
The time really, really flew this week! With an extra half an hour I think I could have added a lot of detail to my scene, especially to the shadows and the green leafy bits on the eggplant. I wanted to do a lot more blending and tidy up my lines, but on the whole I’m happy with the way it turned out.
And besides, that famous Leonardo da Vinci quote gets stuck in my mind when I start to think about this stuff: Art is never finished, only abandoned.
(No wonder they named a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle after that guy!)
It’s Day 7 of the 30 Day Photo Challenge, and today’s theme was Self Portrait.
(I’m so sorry. All complaints will be forwarded on to Gemma.)
