Marketing MYSELF? YOU’RE HILARIOUS. I DON’T DO THAT.
When my friend and marketing “person” Kristie Christensen, Owner of Kristie Christensen Marketing Group, first told me I needed to blog, I laughed. LIterally laughed out loud. What do I have to say that is so special? She convinced me that it is a way to connect to my followers and to tell them a little bit about myself. Believe me, I am not that interesting! As I stopped, however, and thought about what I might want to share I reflected on my passions. I have three. I am passionate about my faith, I am passionate about my students (teaching) and I am passionate about my art. Oh, wait! I have four! I am passionate about horses! So, I will write about these things (and sometimes I will have to include my 16 month old Viszla , because you know…she’s just hilarious!)
I will start with the beginning of my current art series and my focus for the past few years. It all really began when I went back to school to complete my MA, seeking to get an MFA. I had already studied painting and drawing extensively, so I decided to pursue photography. In doing so, my professors pushed me (like Kristie) to think about my message. WHAT did I want my art to share and reflect? That somewhat difficult journey truly taught me to see differently. I began to look more closely at the things around me and to find beauty or interest in the most everyday things. Georgia O’Keefe (my all time favorite artist) did this with her paintings. She blew up the smallest aspect of an object so big that people were forced to slow down and notice This is my greatest influence. I often say that artists have been given a special talent to see beauty in the things that others miss, but I am no longer sure that is true. I think we AlL have this ability. We just have to slow down enough to notice the little things. This takes intentionality, training our eyes and brains to see and think differently. A shadow might make an interesting shape. Two rocks may be interesting because 0f the juxtaposition of color, size or texture. One colored leaf among an array of brown creates a focal point. Do these things parallel life? I believe they often do.
Well that is enough for this first blog. I am including what I think is my favorite photograph in all of my photography studies. I was on a walk in the fields behind my house in California. I happened to have my camera and I saw this reed. It was THE ONLY curved one in the whole patch. What caused it to be so different from all of the others around it? I don’t think it was a different kind of plant, which is what makes it all the more fascinating! The curves are perfect, and could so easily have been missed but I was hunting for a good photo that day. On any other day my dog and I would have zipped by, missing this moment. That has always stood out in my mind, and this one photo started my journey looking beyond the ordinary to find extraordinary things. On a side note, it was super windy that day and it took many tries to get the camera to focus just on the reed, and to get it perfectly within the frame! Just a simple reed, yet it is one of the photos I am proudest of to this day! What have you seen extraordinary today? If nothing, maybe it’s time to slow down and “have a look!”