Dabbling in Blue

A Broad Stroke of Blue Overhead

The Ground is a Thirsty Beast

Limb and Wing Blend

Bird Houses Need Repair

Like a novice painter, I'm dabbling in blue. Sweeping a watery brush-stroke across the canvas, I want to cover all the gray shadows of dingy snow, spongy ice and winter dust. Dare I paint the world blue, yet?

A broad stroke of sky overhead urges me on, and I dip my brush.

Stepping lightly across my canvas, I'm the artist entering the art. The ground is a thirsty beast, gulping all the snow that will melt. It's covered in soggy barnacles of dog poop and though I want to gaze into blue skies like a lover returned, I have to watch each sodden step.

Birds click and chitter with the song of new canvas. I dab blue among the spruce needles, attempting to separate limb from wing.

A flock of birds hops across the bottom right of the frame and if I squint, collectively they move like a blue shadow performing ariels above died hulls of seeds. Oregon juncos, I'm sure, but they tumble faster than I can paint.

Blue-gray bird-houses tip away from screws beginning to unthread. Like prison towers they guard the soppy pools of my garden. Even the fence posts lean like dead stalks of mustard.

Blue here, blue there, yet I want to paint all the bird-houses yellow and peach.

Chiaroscuro

Snow and shadows cloak the landscape of Elmira Pond. Blacktop cuts through white banks; white clumps cling to evergreen boughs that are black beneath; the waters of Elmira are inky in contrast to the illumination of shore grass buried in snow.

Chiaroscuro, a scene  arranged in light and dark.

This artistic term is one I learned not in art history or a photography class, but in a song by Paula Cole. So whenever I see strong contrasts of white and black, I hear this song, the marriage of dark and light, chiaroscuro. Waxing artsy-fartsy today, I was inspired to play with my photos and apply different filters to draw out the elements of shadows and snow.

Bootsy Tracks (Paint Brush)

Stalled Train (Chalk)

Elmira Pond (Paint Brush)

Forest Beyond Pond (Woodcut)

Garden Fence (Paint Brush)

Grendel Rolling in Snow (Woodcut)

Bobo on Point (Mosaic Bubbles)

Bobo Running (Mosaic Bubbles)

Horses of Elmira Pond #7

While I'm off-pond for a week, I've set up an art project to share. A talented artist friend has made a career of enhancing her photographs. Inspired by her, I have selected seven photos of the Elmira  Pond horses and explored enhancements with sepia tones and diffused glow.

Art is another way to tell a story. What story do you see here?

Horses of Elmira Pond #6

While I'm off-pond for a week, I've set up an art project to share. A talented artist friend has made a career of enhancing her photographs. Inspired by her, I have selected seven photos of the Elmira  Pond horses and explored enhancements with sepia tones and diffused glow.

Art is another way to tell a story. What story do you see here?

Horses of Elmira Pond #5

While I'm off-pond for a week, I've set up an art project to share. A talented artist friend has made a career of enhancing her photographs. Inspired by her, I have selected seven photos of the Elmira  Pond horses and explored enhancements with sepia tones and diffused glow.

Art is another way to tell a story. What story do you see here?

Horses of Elmira Pond #4

While I'm off-pond for a week, I've set up an art project to share. A talented artist friend has made a career of enhancing her photographs. Inspired by her, I have selected seven photos of the Elmira  Pond horses and explored enhancements with sepia tones and diffused glow.

Art is another way to tell a story. What story do you see here?

Horses of Elmira Pond #3

While I'm off-pond for a week, I've set up an art project to share. A talented artist friend has made a career of enhancing her photographs. Inspired by her, I have selected seven photos of the Elmira  Pond horses and explored enhancements with sepia tones and diffused glow.

Art is another way to tell a story. What story do you see here?

Horses of Elmira Pond #2

While I'm off-pond for a week, I've set up an art project to share. A talented artist friend has made a career of enhancing her photographs. Inspired by her, I have selected seven photos of the Elmira  Pond horses and explored enhancements with sepia tones and diffused glow.

Art is another way to tell a story. What story do you see here?
 

Horses of Elmira Pond #1

While I'm off-pond for a week, I've set up an art project to share. A talented artist friend has made a career of enhancing her photographs. Inspired by her, I have selected seven photos of the Elmira  Pond horses and explored enhancements with sepia tones and diffused glow.

Art is another way to tell a story. What story do you see here?