Outsider Art

Outsider art, quirky, creative, unusual -

all of these words could be used to describe the 

Wisconsin Concrete Park in Phillips, WI.

Retired lumberjack, Fred Smith (1886 - 1976) was the mastermind

 behind this menagerie of 237 concrete sculptures.

A "green" artist ahead of his time,

 Fred used shells, glass shards, beer bottles from his tavern - The Rock Garden Tavern, 

and other junk art materials to create a cast of historical characters.

You'll find larger than life cowboys, miners, Indians,

soliders, horses, oxen, wild animals, and gigantic fish

standing against the backdrop of a pine forest.

Built over a period of 14 years,

 this self-taught sculptor said of his obsession,

"It's Gotta Be In Ya to Do It".

As they say in northern Wisconsin,

"Yeah Ya Betcha!"

Wishing you a Blessed Holiday Season

and a wildly creative New Year!!!

I'll be taking a holiday break......

see you on Monday, January 2, 2012!

Linking at The Creative Exchange.

Finish Line

I've been busy working to finish up a couple art quilt and beadwork projects.

These will be the pieces that I enter into shows in 2012.

I was thinking about how it feels to finally be finishing these projects after months of work ~ 

Pride? Joy? Exhilaration?.......

well actually, I mainly feel relief.

Relief because, now I can start something new.

I always have so many creative project ideas with only two hands and 

only so much time to do them in!

I'm looking forward to new beginnings :)

Wishing you happiness in all your creative ventures!

P.S. I've added a new category heading titled, Camera.
On this page you'll find info about what's in my camera bag and
a list of my favorite photography books, all with links.
I hope that you find this helpful.

Linking at The Creative Exchange.

Thankful

Soaking up warm light

and sunbaked November images

for the

long, cold, blue winter ahead ~ 

with an Impressionist's eye,

and also, in a selective sharp focus manner.

Giving thanks for a wonderful family, friends, health, creative time,

and the design talents of Caroline at Nowordz Photography,

for my new header!

Wishing you a happy, creative, and 

thankful week!

Linking at The Creative Exchange

and Mortal Muses.

Fence Sitting

We are sitting on the fence between seasons.

Autumn's brilliance has faded into mellow, rusty leaf carpets and 

pale oak leaves tenaciously hanging onto the trees.

While, winter has been showing her face here and there - 

frost, sleet, and big, showy flakes.

The fence sitting won't last much longer.....

Wishing you a happy and creative week!

Linking at The Creative Exchange and 

Macro Monday.

Frosty Morn

"In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary."  ~ Aaron Rose

This time of year often finds us waking up to a frost encrusted world.

It looks to me like Mother Nature has added a sugar coating to everything!

So, a couple mornings last week found me out photographing our yard and

what's left of my garden.

These experiences made me think about the accuracy of photographer, Aaron Rose's quote.

My equation would read something like this -

Scraggly, unassuming garden + Frost + Sparkling, morning sunlight =

Spectacular fantasy land, especially from a macro perspective!

Eventually, the brilliant sunlight melted all the frost crystals 

resulting in water droplets everywhere.

More magic.

Finally, I left the garden with my treasure trove of images;

ready for the warmth of my kitchen and some hot tea.

Wishing you just the right light, at the right time,

 to make everything extraordinary!

Linking to The Creative Exchange,

Macro Monday, and 

Exploring with a Camera.

Magical Light

Today, I'm a guest contributor at the Mortal Muses site.

The theme is Light Fantastic and I'm musing about magical light.

I hope that you can stop by and say, Hi!

Link

Wishing you a wonderful weekend basking in the 

beauty of the light that surrounds us!

Leaves of Change

Monday afternoon, I found out that The Inspiration Studio site would be closing.
Thus, I am going to republish my iStudio contribution here on my blog.

Lately, I've been thinking about change and how it is so much a part of our lives.
Sometimes change is huge, hard to reconcile, or heartbreaking -
 kids going off to college, dear friends moving out of state,
or loved ones passing away.
While other times it is subtle and sneaks up on us -
seasonal changes in sun angle and day length, the slow aging of our spouse's face,
or those extra pounds that we've put on..... where did they come from?

Where I live in the far north, we are seeing the change from autumn
 to our longest season, winter.
Although I love the beauty that each season holds, I covet autumn.
The light, the delicate coolness, the color - especially the color -
it all delights me.
Autumn is my favorite season!
Since I'm not quite ready to let it go,
I will share a bounty of leaves with you today.

 Happy Halloween to you!

Wishing you lots of treats.

Linking at The Inspiration Studio,

The Creative Exchange, and

Macro Monday.

Sepia

Today, let's time travel backwards a couple months....

to a trip.....

to a college town.

As I wandered around the town,

I captured architectural details.

Sepia seemed to suit these glimpses of amazing art

and craftsmanship from the past.

Wishing you a happy and creative week!

Linking at The Creative Exchange and
Exploring with a Camera- Found Texture.