needlework is not my forte

... neither is tatting or sewing. My mother does all things with fiber: sewing, smocking, tatting, crochet, knitting, spinning, bobbin lace, needlework, and probably some weird things that I don't know the names of. I draw, I paint, I photograph, I make paper... so, I'm sure I see something entirely different when I look at her mountains of craft supplies...

So, I'm in the middle of a project of photographing the sorts of things that I don't actually use to make things. Because there's a little bit of art in everything.

So, what's your craft?

The end of summer blahs

I think I've got the "end of summer blahs." Yes, I just totally made that up. Okay, wait, I just googled it; I guess I didn't.

Yeah, I don't feel like doing anything... productive. So, this will be a somewhat frivolous post.

It's getting closer to autumn, so I have been working on autumn-y type stuff. When the fall comes I actually drive into town and wander around on the sidewalks and take pictures of people's trees. I've been processing / editing some of the photos I've taken over the years to put on my "sarahknight" etsy shop. These are some of my favorites (so far)...

nature's confetti

autumn embers


sublime autumn skies

Anyway, since autumn is coming, other than photographing leaves and watching flocks of birds fly south, there is something I am looking forward to: the fall television season.

Yes, I like watching television. And, no, I'm not ashamed to admit that. I am also certainly not one of those people who would ever consider trying to hide my television in an armouir. In fact, I would like to buy a bigger television...

Anyway I am looking forward to some good old fashioned leisure time with:
House (Fox)
Supernatural (CW)
Dexter (Showtime)
Californication (Showtime)
Bones (Fox)
Fringe (Fox)
Castle (ABC)
Criminal Minds (CBS)
Community (NBC)
CSI: NY (CBS)

In the mean time, this summer I have enjoyed:
Leverage (TNT) — Eliot is dreamy!
Memphis Beat (TNT)
The Closer (TNT)
The Gates (ABC)
Scoundrels (ABC)
And the one and only season of "Happy Town" (ABC)

I'm kind of bummed that the "Memphis Beat" season ends next week — I was really enjoying that show. Hopefully it comes back for a second season...

So, what are your favorite tv shows?

end of summer feeling

The birds and the trees are beginning to give subtle hints that this summer is going to ebb into autumn...

I've been seeing a lot of flocks of birds traveling through the skies in my various travels... and I went out to photograph the clouds on Sunday morning and noticed that the leaves on some of the trees in the orchard are starting to turn colors...

I suppose I'll be pining for summer come the first frost. I am however enjoying what we refer to as the "free air conditioning" — it's nice to have an end to 80˚ and 90˚F days.

What color are you?

I did this on someone else's blog and thought it was kind of fun...

GREEN

You are a very calm and contemplative person. Others are drawn to your peaceful, nurturing nature.

Find out your color at QuizMeme.com!

So, it's a bit out of the ordinary here, but I encourage you to try it.
http://www.quizmeme.com/color/quiz.php
Personally, I think I should be violet, since it's my favorite color, but I'll accept green...

Anyway, I was exhausted when I came home from work this morning, and considered just going to bed. However, I didn't. I mean, you know, that would have been responsible. Instead, I happened to notice the clouds outside in the morning sky... and put my shoes back on and wandered out into the field behind the house. On a side note, I think the farmer is growing soybeans.

Anyway, the sky was that kind of morning periwinkle color, and the clouds were kind of spotty, but fluffy, and they were white but touched by the colors of the sun. So, I was standing there in the soybeans, angling the camera, trying to avoid the pairs of mourning doves flying through (as they always end up looking like bugs on my photos) and noticed this silhouette of a giant bird coming towards me. To my delight it was a great blue heron!

I know it looks tiny in a small pic on the internet, but it was really cool to stand there and watch it fly over.

a giveaway

This is a giveaway!
There will be a drawing, and the winner will receive this photographic print: leopard orchids. The print image measures 5 by 5 inches, and is printed on a piece of glossy photo paper that is 5.5 by 5.5 inches.

To enter:
send an email to sarkni@live.com with the word "giveaway" in the title of the email.

The names of the entrants will be written on paper, and one will be drawn from a vessel of some sort. The drawing is this Friday (20 August 2010). I will then email the winner, because, obviously, in order to send you the print — I need your address, and I don't expect anyone to publicly declare that sort of thing in a blog post, hence the relative privacy of email.

I don't have a mailing list, newsletter, or forward email addresses, or anything spammy like that. The email is exclusively for the giveaway.

: )

Outside: Queen Anne's Lace + bokeh

It was actually a very cold day in March sometime last year, or maybe two years ago? Who knows... Anyway, it was on a frigid day in March when I was standing on the edge of a half frozen pond in the dreary light of the morning when I finally figured out how to properly use the settings on my digital camera. Yes, I know, what better conditions than freezing air, a pond at the bottom of a steep hill, my dew soaked shoes and pant legs, and my freezing gloved fingers to finally just stand there and try every setting on the camera? Nothing ever happens on a calm, balmy afternoon in May, no.

Since that day, and even prior to that day, I have taken many many many pictures. And while I knew this before — you can take a picture of almost anything and create an image that looks good or interesting or is engaging. It's just that back in the olden days you literally paid by the image, one segment of film at a time. Other than recharging the batteries and always having to reset the time & date, my how convenient this new technology is!

Of course, even after you figure one thing out, there will always be other things to learn or experience. One of the things I find particularly visually entertaining about photography is "bokeh." I suppose, since figuring out the macro option, it's my current new favorite *thing.*

So, since summer is winding down — and man, I will not miss those 90˚F days — it was time for one last go round with the Queen Anne's Lace, this time with bokeh.

Hopefully, your summer is winding down in a pleasant fashion.

As always, if you're an 'etsian' (or even if you're not) I invite you to check out my treasuries
here or here, respectively. And if you are an etsian, and you like to make treasuries and would like to participate in the Serendipity Treasury Challenge, then check it out on this blog.

A drive down the highway...

I do a lot of driving. Probably more driving than I would do if I had a choice... and a lot of it is driving at night. So, it isn't so much scenery one is looking for, but that familiar silhouette standing by the side of the road.

Anyway, out of habit or necessity I drive a different route every now and then, and sometimes I get to see something special. As it turns out, an alternate route yielded a trip past a field of Queen Anne's lace. Now normally, this stuff grows in large patches by the side of every farm field that a highway runs through, but this was an entire field — not just some patch in front of corn.

It's a pretty interesting sight to behold.

It was fun to stand there in the first light of the morning and marvel at the field of wildflowers... until the swarm of mosquitoes appeared. Cursed insects...

And on a completely different note: some of the finished paper bowls are now available for sale at "sarahknight" on etsy.

Essentially, they come in 3 sizes:
large (rim diameter 10 inches)
medium (rim diameter 7.5 inches inches)
small (rim diameter 5.875 inches)

I hope you check them out! : )

Of course, now I need to get off my duff and go finish and photograph the rest of them. Sometimes it seems like work just never ends. Hopefully your week is a happy & productive one!

I am prone to whims...

In the grand scheme of things, I am not a meticulous planner. In fact, in the entire span of my lifetime, I have only ever purchased one "day planner." The only reason for the purchase was because it was 75% off, and because it had Salvador Dali graphics. I never wrote, much less planned anything in it...

The world is large and full of possibilities, so, I really don't see how anyone really thinks they can plan anything down to the letter, or why you would want to.

That being said, I was sitting in front of the computer yesterday, and happened to notice the light change from the window. There were clouds meandering through the sky. So, I grabbed my camera, put my shoes on, and wandered all the way out to the back of the yard and took pictures of the cloud.

Life is full of moments, and serendipity.

That and I take a lot of photos of the sky anyway. They always come in handy for digital collage illustrations of landscapes...

Anyway, between painting trees and sky washes on bowls, watching television, photographing bowls for listings, watching more television, messing around on the internet, and enjoying a summer of strawberry shortcake, I have been working up some of my sky photos. Like in virtually all areas of life, I'm not a photography purist, so I have no qualms about editing or calibrating color to my liking.
These are some of the images I have finished so far...

sunlit wisps

cotton candy clouds


epiphany

On a completely unrelated note, whilst hammering tacks on which to attach picture frame wire to some of the many paintings I have painted this summer — I watched the documentary "Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage." I highly recommend it. Rush were one of my first favorite bands, and Geddy Lee was my first rock-star crush. If you are a Rush fan, then you must own this documentary! And if you're not, then go buy it anyway, and become a Rush fan.
: )

an ode to laundry...

I've been spending a lot of time painting the bowls lately. Apparently I have made 33 of them so far. I can never make a project in moderation.

Anyway, in lieu of writing a small novella of a post, here's a pictorial ode to good old fashioned laundry:

If you have ever visited my "sarahkdesigns" shop on etsy, you may know that the clothesline is a familiar theme in my work...

I invite you to check out some of my more 'rural' treasuries : )
crisp clean country air
rural