Album: Quiet days in Venice and Vienna

As I go through images from 2017, I'm finally spending some more time on those from the trip we took to Venice and Vienna in the late spring. I posted some of my black and whites from Venice in this post, but was so so excited about those that I never got around to the color ones.  It always takes me awhile to figure out what my favorites are anyway.

We only spent an afternoon in Vienna proper, and so I didn't get my hopes up about making photographs that were more than snapshots, but between the old cafes and the sculptures behind wire at the Spanish Riding School, there was plenty of inspiring mood and I was so happy with what I captured that day!

In Venice, we stayed on a quiet part of the island in the guesthouse of the Church of Madonna dell' Orto. With a few exceptions, so of my favorite scenes were in the guesthouse itself, or in the neighborhood right outside the door. Grazie, Padre Petro!

One of my other favorite quiet finds away from the crowds was the Palazzo Ca' Zenobio. We spent an afternoon reading books in the courtyard and wandering through the galleries.  I loved the windows with the gold curtains and the delicate woodwork...

Italy is all about espresso---and neither John nor I are coffee drinkers!--- but we managed to find a pot of tea one morning..

And this was what twilight looked like every evening as we walked over the bridge back to the guest house...

Venice, you are my favorite city in the world, and, no, I haven't seen a lot of cities, nor have I even spent that much time with you, but it doesn't matter. Sometimes you just know.

Instagram Round-up: Tucson

A few photo friends and I decided to meet in Tucson a couple weeks ago to talk shop, pick each other's brains, share new work, meet up with our photo mentor, and attend photographer Masao Yamamoto's lecture and exhibition opening at the Etherton Gallery. (And also do whatever else we felt like doing.) We created our own conference, and are already thinking about next year's plans to meet up again (all photo friends are invited!)  It was truly an inspiring week. Here is my short collection of Instagram images from the trip:

Our Lady of the Pinecones.  This little backyard shrine was tucked into an alcove at our Airbnb. She wound up meaning a lot to me, coming to represent the guardian of all the new ideas and plans for my art projects that surfaced during this trip. I don't have to worry about a thing, because Our Lady's got my back. 

This little guy was the first thing I noticed when I walked into the living room of our Airbnb.  He is the CUTEST.  

Backyard greenery.  I loved this.  It took us forever to figure out that the building behind this planter was a garage.  We thought it was the host's house because it looked too pretty to be a garage, so we were extra quiet and didn't walk around the yard.  The house manual kept mentioning a garage though, and finally we went looking for it, only to discover that it was staring right at us the entire time.  Lol!

Swan's house.  Four years ago I took a photograph of this tree.  I thought I should take one this time too.  I loved spending the morning on Swan's back porch, soaking up all I learned during my photo consult and waiting for Elizabeth to finish hers.  (While eating delicious, fresh-out-of-the-oven vanilla poppyseed pound cake.) (And helping Catherine un-stick a cholla from her finger.  Those things are crazy!)

Prickly Pear cactus, photographed on the drive up to Phoenix.  We chose to go the long way that wasn't a highway, so that we could stop if we saw something interesting.  There wasn't all that much time in between leaving Tucson sprawl and entering Phoenix sprawl.  But oh well.

We visited the Phoenix Art Museum, and got through it in a bit of a hurry as we were going to meet another friend of mine for lunch.  Even in a hurry, though, there is always something that makes you stop and really look.  I loved this sculpture by Tanoue Shinya. It reminds me of waves on a deserted island that's the texture of maple tree helicopter seeds.

I'm always drawn to big installation pieces, even if I don't understand what they're necessarily about. Things hanging from the ceiling, something that takes up an entire room, maybe video and sound and three-dimensional objects all combined into an experience.  This one was very straightforward and so beautiful: Mass (Colder Darker Matter) by Cornelia Parker. These were the charred remains of a church that was struck by lightning.  It even looks like it's in the middle of exploding. Mass. Science and religion in the same word.

The Lisa Sette Gallery.  After lunch in Phoenix, we popped in to see what exhibits were up and chat with Lisa a bit.  Of course, what do I photograph... ?  the doorway on the way out.

Patio chairs and table at the Airbnb. This was my favorite place to sit.  Sunshine-y but shady, and big enough for us all to share our projects, drink tea (or Woodford, depending on when you stop by), and cheer each other on to do all the good work we want to do this year.

Kitt Peak, looking out from my favorite cliff.  I hemmed and hawed about whether to drive all the way out there or not, but after taking Elizabeth to the airport I just couldn't NOT turn west instead of north.  I hope it's in the cards this year to go back and stay for more than a couple hours.

Thank you, Tucson.  You never fail to deliver just the right mix of art, outdoors, great company, and a kick in the pants to get my work done!

2018 Goals

I liked having a list of goals last year. I wrote them down, hung them where I could see them every day, and tried to plan my week so that they were included somehow.  I didn't finish all of them, and some turned out to be not very realistic, so I took that into account when thinking about this year's list.  Here goes!:

 - PASS MY FLIGHT REVIEW and take a friend for a ride (or visit one). Yeah, "learn how to fly again" was a 2017 goal that was waylayed for all kinds of reasons (a broken airplane being one of them), but yes, it turns out I DO still want to be an active pilot, and this year I am going to make it happen, dammit.

- BE A WRITER.  Since I've started blogging more often, I wonder about revisiting some of the pieces I've written.  Maybe they could be shaped into more polished, finished essays...?  Dunno.  But I want to shift how I think about writing so that it's not just something I do in service of another project. I want it to be something I am.  Or at least am becoming.  A writer.

- CREATE GOOD SCHEDULES, routines & systems. And make sure I take a "weekend". I love freelancing, but now that I have more projects I'm juggling at once, I really need to get organized. Not just with physical spaces (see my happy desk photo above), but with my time and daily routines, and with the steps I take to get a project done. I need a weekend too.  Two days that are somehow different from the rest of the work week.  I always seem to put off personal projects to work on "work," but then they just keep getting put off.  Maybe if I actually scheduled a weekend, I would look forward to that time and not feel guilty about not working. I guess it's a good thing to love what you do for work that the line between it and fun gets blurry. Any freelancers out there with advice? Let me know!

- SORT THROUGH MY BACKLOG OF PHOTOS.  I have YEARS of personal photographs that are sitting on my hard drives.  It's terrible, and I am DONE with that!! This year I'm going to sort through them all (or at least make a big dent) and then start making actual physical photo albums (remember those?) and prints to put in frames on the wall.  I grew up with a family photo wall  and I want one of my own.  (That's my Mom & Dad with our family wall, now split up between my brother and me.) This task completely overwhelms me, but if I do a little bit every day...

- BE A GOOD PEN PAL.  My Mom and Dad sponsored children through the organization ChildFund ever since I can remember, and when they died, my brother and I decided to continue their sponsorship.  We send our monthly contributions and occasional cards, but I really want to write letters more often.  It feels a little frustrating sometimes because there's such a time lag between correspondence, but what a dumb excuse. So this year I want to do a better job of keeping in touch with our sponsored child, Ana Luisa.  My brother's not a big letter writer, but this is my chance to be a pen pal again. 

- READ DAILY, AND NOT JUST AT BEDTIME.  Last year my goal was to read 25 books.  I got through that and a few more, but I found out that I feel guilty sitting down to just read during the day.  I wind up waiting until bedtime, and then I'm sleepy and can't always keep my eyes open.  Why do I feel guilty taking time out to read? I think part of it is that it doesn't feel "productive."  But I don't feel that way if I sit down to watch tv, so what's up with that?  A friend finally pointed out: "Writers read." Enough said!

- DAILY UKULELE.  By the end of the year I want to get through my lesson book and be able to play the Spanish guitar pieces that are at the back of it. I will get farther along if I practice even a tiny bit every day than if I lump it all into long sessions not as often.  It's really about creating a new habit: slow and steady wins the race!

- LEARN SOMETHING NEW.  My friend Kathleen is taking a stilt-walking class and it's inspired me to think about what I want to learn this year.  There are a handful of things I'd like to try: baking bread, learning Italian, etching & monoprint, crochet or knitting, sign language... ? 

- FINISH 12 SEWING PROJECTS.  One of last year's goals was to sew through my stash of fabric, but I think in the end it wasn't really what I wanted to do. I decided that instead of keeping it all in a box in the closet, I am going to give it visible shelf space in my studio, where I can be inspired by the colors and textures every day. Kinda like keeping your paints and canvas out where you can see them.  My new goal for the year:  12 projects. That's one a month.  I think I can handle that (especially now that I will schedule a real weekend every week.)

- FIX MY BICYCLE.  While I mean this literally (I sooo miss having a working bicycle and I didn't get around to fixing it last year), I realize it's also a metaphor for keeping my body moving and eating well. 

Whoa there!

- FINISH CLEARING THE HOUSE and finally have a housewarming party.  This was on my goal list last year and, no, I didn't complete it. I did a few bits and pieces and then all of a sudden it was December and my brother was going to come up for a visit. The guest room could no longer serve as a storage unit!  Panic!  I worked like crazy to get it done, and then my brother couldn't come after all.  Although I was sad I wouldn't see him, I was SO PROUD of finishing that room!  "See? You CAN get sh*t done when you put your mind to it." On New Year's day I walked around the house with a clipboard and came up with a list of 48 projects that also include things like "organize laptop files" and "sew up the hole in your coat."  Yikes. But I've finished 7 things so far!

Maybe it's my vagabond heart that makes me keep things in boxes forever. I've moved so often that maybe I don't trust anywhere to be really be HOME for more than a few years. Or maybe it's that going through old stuff is just hard sometimes. And also time consuming.  Regardless, stuff is literally standing in the way of my creativity. (see photo of my studio closet above... how am I supposed to get to my printer?!)  After finishing the guest room, I feel like I can tackle pretty much anything, so I'm going to unpack boxes, get rid of stuff I don't need, hang up artwork, and then celebrate with a -- FINALLY! -- housewarming party.  You're invited!

I hope your January is going well so far!