Photographs and weekend laziness

Weekend.  What a great word.  I've decided to be extremely productive this weekend.  Now productive is a relative term in the world of me.  But my intentions are good, so that's what really matters right?  The procrastination demon will McGuyver it's way into my brain, setting up permanent camp. This typically happens when i'm drinking my coffee, enjoying the paper and completely relaxed.  "Hey, why don't I just stay in for the day.  I have a million design magazines and nick knacks to look at, or I could just stare at the wall and think about all the things I could be doing"  Yep, it happens more often than not, but not this weekend.  This weekend I will march the picket line of productivity and stand firm against procrastination and weekend laziness. What is on the agenda you ask?  I will parooze antique stores, I will find linens I can't live without, I will buy a wine decanter that I don't really need but need because it's gorgeous. But most importantly, this weekend marks the beginning of a new creative adventure.  I was given an old 35 MM camera from my sister, who I often mention in my posts.  She is the cheese to my macaroni when it comes to pushing my creative juices and has always supported my artistic ideas and adventures.  So, by giving me the camera, she in turn is expecting some results.  I have always loved photography.  I think it is such an amazing expression.  Mainly because it captures moments that are real. The heart beating, inhale exhale moments in life.  It captures emotion that you can't manipulate.  It's there, it's real, and it's beautiful.  I am typically inspired most by photographs of people.  Their faces.  The lines, the wrinkles, the crows feet, the pours, the eyes.....glaring with some kind of desire or, some, none at all.  It's an interesting thing when a photographer can capture someone's emptiness.  I also enjoy the idea, like any form of expression, that it's endless.  The possibilities.  I love flamboyance in any form, photography can capture that so distinctly.
So, now it is my turn.  Have I dabbled in photography before?  Yes.  Do I feel that I have an eye, a natural view of the world through a lens, no.  But, who cares.  I used to care, but I don't anymore.  I don't care if it's good.  I enjoy it so why not?  That would be my Buddha on the mountain advice to anyone seeking a creative outlet.  Who cares if it sucks.  Let it suck!  Let it be horribly fabulous.  Because in my opinion, anyone who has the courage to put it out there has the soul of the artist.

Friends, family, acquaintances who put it all on the line, move past the fear and believe in that beautiful artist soul of theirs.  I feel lucky to be surrounded by so much talent......
http://www.markfernkas.com/

http://www.carriehaasejewelry.com/

http://chrisragalie.info/

http://dolangeiman.com/

http://thepioneerwoman.com/photography/2010/07/the-winner-4/ 

Love this.  I really enjoy native american inspired photography.  The colors of their culture are so rich.....even in black and white.

"We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams."

I had some extremely colorful and wild dreams this past weekend.  I think the term "all over the board" might be a good way to describe them.  I dream in color.  I'm grateful for that.  I'd like to believe it is a representation of my personality.  I'd like to believe that my sub conscious thoughts having color and movement, might mean, hopefully, I am a creative soul.  Or, unfortunately, it could also mean that I ate too late, and that delicious brownie sundae curbed all thoughts into a spiraling sugar rush that caused all my dreams to flash, disco dance and firework up a storm.  Either way, who cares, I had a blast.  These dreams also got me thinking.  I thought about our imagination.  Our dreams.  The thoughts that consume us, and for the lucky ones, come out in some artistic form.  These thoughts, not only jump started by my adventures while sleeping but also from an article I read Saturday afternoon. While on her honeymoon, my sister purchased a magazine to read over the seemingly decade it takes to fly to Thailand, and upon return was kind enough to pass this magazine on to her curious and always hungry for creative influence sister.  The magazine, in it's rich, inspiring and beautiful pages, was called International Design.  Among the pages were visions of mid century modern homes, blank canvas filled by designers from all over the world, gorgeous brown leather chairs, upholstered stools and sofas, wallpaper samples that would just melt into a room perfectly if given the chance.  A magazine non the less, but anything that turns me on, lights the fire and gets me obsessively frantic about the world and the unique people that live inside it, is a big fat hell yes to in my book, regardless of it's literary social stature.  So, as I flipped through, diving into each page, sipping my coffee, I came across one specific article.   Now before I divulge into who this article was about, let me ask you......have you ever believed in Witches?  Have you ever wondered about Big Friendly Giants?  Have you ever believed you could move objects with the pure will of wanting to do so, or I dare ask, have you ever, and I mean ever, eaten off of a Giant Peach?  If the answer is yes, then you went along for the ride....as did I......and in a way, i'm still holding on to my handlebars as tight as I can, unwilling to let that my imagination grow old.  Whimsical, colorful and full of magic, those are the stories of Roald Dahl.  One of my favorite authors, and a fixture in creativity and wonder.  The article so delicately touches on who he was, why he was and what he still is even after his death.  And on top of it, the article features photos of his writing hut, a place as special as his writings.  So below, please take a moment to read a few of his words and take an adventure inside the mind of one of my inspirations.   Go on, revisit your childhood.
~L

"And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it."
— Roald Dahl

"Matilda said, "Never do anything by halves if you want to get away with it. Be outrageous. Go the whole hog. Make sure everything you do is so completely crazy it's unbelievable..."

— Roald Dahl (Matilda)

 

Technicolor Dreamcoat

"We begin to find and become ourselves when we notice how we are already found, already truly, entirely, wildly, messily, marvelously who we were born to be.”
— Anne Lamott

I am an individual.  I am unique.  I am me.  These words, these phrases, so easy to put on paper, but to actually mean them is difficult.  It's funny, looking back and reflecting on myself as a young child, I never put much thought into "being different", and trying desperately to have a sense of individualism.  I was just me, a young, fun, light hearted kid who loved to talk and socialize.  And then, as time moved forward, I, along with most children my age, became much more conscious of who I was, where I stood, what I looked like, what I believed.  These thoughts, all part of growing and being, can be taken in so many different directions.  Some children, take these thoughts, move into their natural process of getting older and cozy up easily to it.  Like a perfect puzzle piece, nestling in right next to where it belongs.  Although they think about where they stand and who they are, it's not something that consumes them, it just happens naturally.  Unfortuantely, for me, it hasn't happened that way. Why?  Well, I will admit, yes, I am a free spirit, and taking on that role tends to lead to a bit of chaos and jumbled direction.  I will also admit that my decision making on occasion can be a bit....hmmm how do you say it......reactionary???  Aka.....I might, just might, not always think through things before I do them.  Now, with this being said, I personally feel that these qualities are good, bad and a little in between.  The good is, I have lived.  I truly have.  I look back on the people I have met, the places I have lived, visited, i'm proud of it.  I'm proud of the life i've seen, the beauty, i'm even proud of the lonlienss I have felt while out there.  I know it defined me.  But then, there comes the bad with that gypsy soul of mine.  I am never satisfied.  I am in a constant state of what can I do, where can I go, what can I see, who can I be??  You could characterize these questions as a person feeling extremely lost, with no solid base, no where to call themselves "just me".  I realize this about myself.  I know that the search for who I am, where I stand, what defines me will be a on going battle, probably for my entire life.  I realize, as many have, who suffer from this form of wanderlust, to take this search in stride.  Take time to figure out what turns me on, what makes me feel.  Taking time is difficult for the dreamer.  We see, there for we are, and unfortunatley seeing and patiently waiting, thinking, evaluating can seem so stagnent.  I know it's what I need to do, and what I have been doing.  But, in this beautiful life, I must find my passion.  Find me.  Turn it in to a career.  Take ownership of my dream. I love the creative aspect of this world and what individuals can do with it.  How exciting isn't it?  I ask you, have you ever just sat back and thought about all the creativity that circulates in this world?  All the magnificent ideas in their different forms.  It's a phenomenon that i still have trouble wrapping my head around.  I want to be a part of it.  Find myself in it, and eventually live it.  I hope hope I can.  I know "me" is there.  I know I am truly starting to find myself, my individual, my "I".  Thanks for reading this mumbo jumbo.

Now, time for some color inspiration and a few people who seem to have found their own individual, fabulous, creative selves.


Rachel Roy's Bedroom - House Beautiful 11/10



Photo by Isabella Rodriguez


Carolyn Murphy's Home - House and Garden 8/07


Ellen Pompeo's Kitchen - Elle Decor 11/10


Laura Jean Kathleen

Gray walls and Gusts of wind.

I've had this dream.  It's reoccurring.  The best way to describe it is a gust of wind, blowing in circles, twisting and twirling images, thoughts, ideas, passion, creativity to and from, which way and that.  It's a beautiful color this dream, for as radical and chaotic, it calms me.  Like any one's ideas and dreams, at times, it is more prevalent than others.....today it is a tornado.  My dream is to have a business.  To own something.  Something creative.  Something that would speak to me, to the public, to anyone and everyone.  I have imagined the space.  I've imagined deep gray walls and long shelves holding pieces of pottery, vases, pillows and bed linens.  I have pictured the wooden tables allowing photography and design books to be mis matched and stacked high.  I have pictured my sister and uncles paintings on the walls and other talented local artists.  I have pictured old  glass cases showcasing my friends jewelry that I love so much.  I see lamps with patterned shades and curtains with boho chic prints dripping off the walls like honey.  Thoughts of consumers, my consumers, walking over Hyde rugs and holding up of one of kind dishes to picture their table scapes.  I hear old vinyl records of artists like Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Led Zeppelin echoing off those gorgeous gray walls.  And I have pictured myself, standing in the midst of it all,.....happy.

Now, for some gray wall inspiration I found.......

Today is an Eloise kind of day

"Think Pink.  A better way of life." - Eloise at the Plaza



Thoughts and Atticus Finch.

Since beginning my new blogging adventure a few weeks ago I have now become extremely curious and conscious of other people's blogs.  I find it fascinating that my initial idea to blog was to curb my hours of monotonous facebook stalking day after day.  I felt a blog would be more creatively conducive for me, for my sanity and let's be honest, my soul.  But now, my dear followers, I must confess a new obsession.... blog stalking.  I know, I know, I thought I had finally started to dig myself out of the black hole that is facebook, sucking us farther and farther in with each friend request or new picture post, but oh no, the black hole blogging has now begun. 
I will say though, my stalking has become a bit more productive since it is truly a search for inspiration as opposed to reading posts about people's mood, their dog, their errands, their dinner and the ever so popular my baby did this today......SO with that being said, with my new blog stalking hobby, I have truly become inspired.  So thank you dear blogging friends. My research has now allowed me to revisit a world of possibility that might not have been so colorful before.  I am finding how much I do enjoy feeling inspired and how lucky I am to live on a planet with so many people who see art, creativity and well...life in so many fabulously different ways. I love that I am reminded of that now.
I am also realizing how important it is for me to start discovering my creative self again.  In my discovering I am hopeful that I can learn to paint a story, photograph a feeling, write a picture, sculpt an idea or give life to a room.  Thanks for reading.

Like an old brown comfy leather chair..... 

This is worth watching.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5NgG5koPZU

Heart and Soul.

Rambling.

  At first, to me, blogging feels like your talking to someone in a coma.  Just laying there, eyes closed, and you are asking yourself...are they listening or am I really just talking to myself?  Are they comforted or am I just comforting myself?  Now, these feelings might also be validated by the fact that I have only ONE follower and no, it's not my mom or dad (nice try, i'm not a complete blogging disappointment that only my family would take an interest in my new project alright?)....ok fine, it's my sister.
So, with all that rambling being said, dear followers...er follower.... who is or is not reading.....you will find one of my favorite inspirations in personal style below. 

Cat Power. Cat Power. Cat Power.  I love her.  I love that she is a jeans and t-shirts girl with an edge.  She makes simple style so powerful and present.  Her jewelry is flawless.  And that voice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj8oneHUjus