Thirty years

My husband and I took a quick trip to Italy and Holland early this month, but so much "housekeeping" stuff has come up since our return that I have barely had time to look at my photos, let alone post any.  These are my favorites, taken in Zaanse Schans, a wonderful re-created historical village outside of Amsterdam, and textured with Kim Klassen's "oh my":

linking with Texture Tuesday

We enjoyed visiting friends in Amsterdam, but our heart is in Italy.  My husband and I lived in Milan for the first four years we were married, so Italian habits and preferences have been part of our lives ever since.  We have an academic connection to the city of Bologna, though, and return most every year for meetings, but we also take the time to slow down and absorb just being in Italy.  Bologna is a very special place - known as a major center of intellectual thought, it is home to the first European university (predating Oxford).  Like other Italian cities, it is full of gorgeous art and architecture, exquisite museums, unbelievably wonderful food... but relatively few tourists.  

textured with Kim Klassen's "grunged up"

textured with Kim Klassen's "oh my"

textured with Kim Klassen's "charmed"

Bologna is particularly known for the porticos covering most sidewalks in the city.  It makes getting around in the rain or the summer's heat pretty easy! 

Thirty years ago this week, I met my husband.  I was a first-year graduate student and he was a few weeks away from graduation.  He had spent a transformative academic year in Bologna, and over the years since, this expanded into so many Italian-focused experiences that it really shaped us as a family.  

The only thing is, it just seems like yesterday.  How can time go by so fast?

Past and Future

I love to participate in Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday, but I've been so busy lately that I haven't had a chance to go out and take any pictures.  So for this week's submission, I am relying on my archives.

Here's a shot that I took of my daughter about ten years ago (hard to believe that my baby is now a senior in high school!) All I had to do was add one layer of the challenge texture, "Phoebe," and instantly the colors popped.  Now that's my kind of texture!

My daughter, Sam, textured with Kim Klassen's "Phoebe" (one layer in soft light blending mode @100% opacity) 

SOOC

While I don't have a lot of current photos to play with, I have been dreaming of the images I will capture next summer.... we are planning a hiking trip in Ireland, combined with a stay in the Italian countryside.  These are probably two of my most favorite spots on earth, so there's lots to dream about!

Here's a cottage on the west coast of Ireland where we stayed several years ago:

Textured with Pixel Dust's "Grunge Surprise" plus  Kim Klassen's "Golden", "Warm Sun" and 2 layers of "Crackerjack"

And here is a picture my husband took in Bologna.  (I forget the recipe, since I textured this awhile ago).  I know my husband took the shot because it's the view from a tower, and I do NOT go up that high without having walls and glass between me and the sheer drop below....

I can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with!

Photo love....

I've started a new online class -- Kat Sloma's "Find Your Eye: Starting the Journey."  I hope to discover what inspires me as a photographer, and how to begin the process of translating my inspirations into actual images.  As I've been mulling over what it is that I love about photography, I'm struck by how perfectly this aligns with the theme over at Kim Klassen's cafe this week.  Be sure to visit her site and check out all the "Love"-ly textured goodness there!

I think my primary motivation is to capture images that are portals. I want that Proustian moment, where the image instantly transports me to a particular time and place -- either real or imagined. I think that's why I love textures so much. They give an ordinary photo a "false history," which captures the viewer's imagination and adds a sense of story.

Processed with Kim Klassen's "Mayzee" (color burn @28%) and "Scripted Autumn" (color burn @100% and screen @57%, texture brushed off center)

 This could be "once upon a time...."

Kim Klassen's "Warm Grunge" (soft light @100%)

Sometimes all I have to do is just look at a photo, and I'm reliving that moment in time. Here, I remember every nuance of the lunch-time conversation with my husband, the feel of the spring breeze on my face as we ate outdoors, the joy at being back in Italy, where we spent the first four years of our marriage....

Kim Klassen's "luminous" (linear burn @35%), and three layers of "warm sun" (screen @100%, soft light @100% x2, texture brushed off plate)

....not to mention the fact that food just plain tastes better in Italy!

I also take pictures to recapture a sense of place.  This is more interesting to do when traveling, but I try to think like a tourist at home, too. Not too successfully I might add... these are all from Italy:

My eye is always seeing interesting things, but more often than not I'm too hesitant to move in to get a better shot.  This shot of the men having lunch could have been good, but how do you move a parked car?  I used my telephoto lens here -- the very thought of intruding on their meal made me nervous!  I'm hoping to get better at this.  I love street scenes!

I take pictures to get inspiration for my art.  I am drawn to the graphic designs and patterns I see in nature:

I also take pictures so I can laugh. I ran across this guy on a hike through England's Lake District last summer:

Kim Klassen's "Love in Layers" (color burn @100% and screen @83% with texture brushed off sheep to create a vignette)

And of course, there's Jackson...the only dog I know who sits on the seat in the car and gets indignant when a human tries to share his space.



I guess the idea is that if you know what inspires you to take pictures, you've taken the first step toward actually taking the pictures you want.

Sorrows of a Mother's Heart

I just returned from an emotionally draining trip out west, taking my 21-year old son from one treatment program in Utah to a new one in Texas.  My son suffers from the double whammy of Aspergers Syndrome and Bipolar Illness.  This particular combination puts him in a no-mans land in the mental health world.  There are treatment programs for one or the other of those conditions, but not for someone with both together.   I won't go into details, but suffice it to say that having a family member with mental illness -- and this combination in particular -- is just heartbreaking.  Despite the stigma our society seems to attach to mental disorders, they are illnesses, just like cancer or diabetes!  The only difference is that the sufferer behaves strangely (and thereby makes us "uncomfortable"), but they are still human beings, with hopes and dreams.....

I meant to show these photos from my trip to Bologna earlier this month.  They are some of the most raw images of grief I've ever seen.  What's more impressive is that they were sculpted in 1462 (by artist Nicccolo dell'Arca), before the Renaissance allowed artists to represent emotions more naturally.   (See here for more details on the compianti, or sculptural representations of the death of Christ)

These images resonate because I know these emotions.  I live them daily.  But there is one thing that I never forget.  You can never know great joy unless you also know its opposite.


It's not about what happens in your life, but rather how you deal with what happens in your life that matters.  I am so grateful that my son has been a part of my life -- despite all his difficulties -- because through him, I have learned some incredible lessons.  I know what it is to love unconditionally, and I find myself completely unable to judge other people for any reason whatsoever.  These are gifts I would never trade -- even for a healthy child.

Sometimes I feel as though my heart will burst from the love I feel for my children....
The pain and the joy mix together to make something so beautiful that I tremble with the rawness of it all, and I thank God I am alive.




...couldn't have said it better myself.

Italy.....

Just returned from a fabulous week in Italy.  Of course I had hoped to finish some embroidery to show here, but no such luck.  Too much time spent eating and just absorbing the slower, more deliberate pace of life you assume there.

I took a lot of photos, and made one drawing.  I really envy those who are able to actually use their sketchbooks while on an active holiday!  I have to admit I didn't draw this from life -- Italian coffee is consumed in about two seconds!

I love visiting the food markets:

The statue of Neptune is an iconic symbol of Bologna:

But then, so is this -- amongst the Italians, Bologna is considered the culinary capital:

I have so many photos of landmarks from previous visits, so increasingly I'm trying to capture the "everyday" stuff.