Color wets my Palette

It was a colorful weekend. I took a break to attend a color theory class with Kelly Kilmer on Saturday at Zinnia's. When preparing for a show it's essential to me to take time to just absorb and Kelly's class was the perfect vehicle for that.

Color evokes emotions...
RED: passion,love,courage,respect,honor,bravery,lust,joy
ORANGE: wonder, fascination,ambition,energy,stimulation
YELLOW: friendship,love,joy,intellect,enlightenment
BLUE: sorrow,hope,faith,spirituality
GREEN: balance,healing,harmony,reconciliation
PURPLE: enchantment,nobility,leadership,power,authority
GOLD: healing
SILVER: intuition
WHITE: purity,clarity,sincerity,hope,health,enlightenment,perfection
BLACK:darkness,guilt,depression,fear,resentment
PINK: unconditional love, need of/loss of something
GRAY: void,uncertainty
BROWN: practical,earthy,nature



I'm feeling very sienna brown today, a touch of orange and white mixed with my brown...

We played with paint, got our fingernails dirty (and our clothes) and I felt refreshed and inspired. Thanks Kelly for a good time...check out her blog if you get the chance http://kellykilmer.blogspot.com/ . I swear she is one of the hardest working teachers I know. And Zinnia is a very cool store...cheers Tamara!http://www.zinnia.biz/
Isn't color one of wonders of the world?

prescence: The state or fact of being present

There's a plethora of things swirling around me in my world right now. Looming in the near future is my new exhibit 'Beyond The Pale'. It's a collection of handpainted photography merged with altered art. I am working day and night, March 26th is a blink away.
My hands are filled with paint...as are my clothes...I never understand how I usually have it all over my face as well. And my poor cuticles.
I was thinking today...It should be mandatory that every one should own an IPOD. How it helps me to be present. When my favorite music hits my eardrums... I get swept up and the world melts away. It is totally different than hearing music from somewhere in the room...this music that is inside my head, makes me feel so much more centered and focused on what I'm doing. If you haven't tried it, you might like it. It truly offers me a helpful hand when I create art.
OK...Sting and my break is over now...

No Words

I read once that the ancient Egyptians had fifty words for sand & the Eskimos had a hundred words for snow. I wish I had a thousand words for love, but all that comes to mind is the way you move against me while you sleep & there are no words for that.
Brian Andreas

Games Of The Board

How about that Shaun White! It was awesome to watch him nab his gold medal in snowboarding. The thing that struck me was... these guys are having Fun. That was refreshing to see.
Which made me recall a photo I took of my daughter Becca when she was 3 years old. She loved to dress up...I loved to take pictures...and it was Olympic time 1984. Girls just wanna have fun...and so we did...

a day in the life...

I had jury duty this week and I took the Metro down to Civic Center. It made it so easy to get off the train and walk to courthouse. I'm sorry to say I had never riden the LA Metro before...never really had a reason to. It was fast, clean and efficent.(That's me in the train window on my way downtown)



There is cool art all around you. It's filled with painted tiles and artsy walls.


After I was excused from the case they had assigned me to, I took the train home again. It was nice not to hassle with parking garages and rush hour traffic on the freeway.It's something to look into if you visit Los Angeles and want to see the sites. It's a great way for LA residents to cut down on stress if the trains are going where you need to be. Give it a try sometime.

Snapshots

I watched 'Born Into Brothels' last night. It won the Academy Award for best documentary last year, but I just got around to seeing it. It was engaging and inspiring. It reminded me of how effective photography is in our world. How it can change ones thinking and reminds us to see...

I am sharing with you here one of my favorite passages. I cannot read this without getting goose bumps. I guess it appeals to my passion for photography.

If you observe an ordinary object or body very closely, it is transformed into something scared. The camera can reveal secrets the naked eye or mind cannot capture; everything disappears except for the thing that is the focus of the picture. The photograph is an exercise in observation, and the result is always a stroke of luck.
The camera is a simple apparatus, even the most inept person can use it; the challenge lies in creating with it that combination of truth and beauty called art. That quest is above all spiritual. I seek truth and beauty in the transparency of an autumn leaf, in the perfect form of a seashell on the beach, in the curve of a woman’s back, in the texture of an ancient tree trunk, but also in more elusive forms of reality.
Sometimes, working with an image in my darkroom, the soul of a person appears, the emotion of an event or vital essence of some object; at that moment, gratitude explodes in my heart and I cry. I can’t help it.

‘Portrait in Sepia’ Isabel Allende

Wall Games

One of the things I enjoy playing is the game of Mah Jongg. When our kids were still in grade school I started playing this game every month with three dear friends. The four of us have mixed the tiles, wished for jokers, pot lucked dinners, shared our thoughts, laughed, cried and discovered ourselves over the tiles for the past 10 years. This month we are celebrating our 10th Anniversary of playing Mah Jongg and playing the game of life.

Art Parts

Where did January go? Didn't I just take down my Christmas tree? I have several deadlines that I have been buckling down to tackle.
I'm getting the next show ready at A STUDIO GALLERY which is called "LARGE SHOW of small images" Every photo is beautifully matted and framed 8x10, no photo is larger than 5x6...perfect for those small places.... It's going to be really a great group show...deadline is January 31st if you want one of your photos in the exhibit. Go to the website if you want info: http://www.astudiogallery.com or just come to the show...February 19th - March 24th.

There's a big project I've been working on with 14 talented artists that I'm very excited about...sorry I can't say any more about it at this time...but let's hope it can be posted soon...

I was notified that an article I wrote 'Stamping into Photographs" is going to be printed in the March/April Somerset Studios magazine. Hope you'll keep a lookout for that.

Every minute I can I'm working on my upcoming exhibit 'Beyond the Pale' opening March 26th at A Studio Gallery...I have lot's to do so I better get back to the art room...

The Days of our Lives

...Like the sands through the hourglass... so go the days of our lives...ok, so I could not help myself. I just had to post that my son Jesse has a recurring role as Officer Hammond on "Days Of Our Lives." He is playing a rookie cop trying to solve the hit and run accident that has killed Zack Brady... It's fun watching Jesse on tv and he is having a blast filming it. In case you want to tune in...NBC - 1:00pm pst.

Chicago...my kinda town

In December my daughter Becca and I headed to Chicago for a special dinner at the beautiful Lovells of Lake Forest Restaurant in Illinois. You'll see some familiar faces in this shot, Ruth Buzzi, June Lockhart, Jon Provost, Tony Dow, Paul Peterson, Dawn Wells, Ken Osmond, Jerry Mathers, Joyce DeWitt, Larry Thomas, Kathy Garver, Russell Johnson and Charlotte Martin...Becca enjoyed hanging out with Nate Torrence the Capital One guy and the fellows from 'The Christmas Story' Scott Schwartz, RD Robb, Ian Petrella and Zach Ward. Fortunately Becca and I were able to take a few days to enjoy Chicago in the snow, shopping Michigan Avenue and enjoying the sites.

Holidays past and a New Year awaits

Re-Sound Of Music

It was great to be with my 'Sound of Music' family again celebrating our 40th Anniversary of making the film. We were sent to NYC to celebrate the newly released DVD of the movie with additional footage.

The 40th Anniversary DVD release party at the Tavern On The Green in New York City with Julie Andrews and the rest of the Von Trapp Movie Family. Christopher Plummer could not attend because he was filming a movie.

Top Row Left To Right: CHARMIAN CARR, DEBBIE TURNER, KYM KARATH Bottom Row: NICHOLAS HAMMOND, HEATHER MENZIES, JULIE ANDREWS, ME, DUANE CHASE

Whenever I see my movie 'brothers and sisters we have many fond memories and many laughs..

Here we are appearing on 'Good Morning America'to announce the release of the new DVD with bonus features.

Diane Sawyer was charming.

This photo was taken when we gathered to film our recollections that appear on the DVD. Sometimes it seems like only yesterday we shot the film.

So it Begins...

When all was 'said and done' it was time to take the leap into blogging. I think it will cement the theory that change is good. It's an experiment worth undertaking...