The weather report for yesterday said rain until 7AM and then fog. It lied. It rained the whole day. But, since I believed it at 5AM which is when I have to set out for Skyline Drive I went on a photo trip. Normally I would go on back roads but thanks to Delta it has been raining for several days I thought it best to stay on pavement.
The trees are changing fast this year. Skyline drive was a sea of yellow and green and the road was covered with downed leaves from the rain. It was foggy though. It was both too foggy and not foggy enough. I had hoped for some mountain views with fog in the low lying areas but from the overlooks it was all fog. Nothing but grey. In some places there was no fog to separate the bacground from the trees and in some places the trees were just lost in the fog. I created two images. This one below I’m not sure I like. This was a case of too much fog and the trees I was photographing get kind of lost. I do like the colors and I found it interesting. I’m not sure anyone else will like it. If you do let me know. Although people rarely group my horizontal images it might look nice with Mystic Tree.
I like the next one better and it will most likely go on the website soon. When I do my modifications I will do the first change and save it as “a” and if I don’t think it is quite right I will make different changes and save it as “b” etc. Usually if I get to “f” it’s time to abandon the effort. This one made it to “h”. I think I like “h” best but I looked again today and I wasn’t quite sure. I’ll let it sit for a few days and go back and look at “a” – “h” with fresh eyes to make sure.
Comments always welcome.
I’ve taken a couple longer photo trips since I last wrote. The first one was down a secluded gravel road that is very long and goes through an orchard with great mountain views. I took the original for Horizon on this road.
I took a couple more. I’m not sure if I like them enough to put up on the website and they have not been titled yet. Let me know what you think.
Since it was still nice and foggy I header up to Skyline Drive and took this one. This is Mystic Tree and is on the website.
The second trip was just a trip up Skyline Drive to check on the status of fall color. There is some yellow and a bit of orange but everything is still fairly green. I wasn’t able to get any panoramas but I like this one (also not on the website yet). I was hoping it was going to be a panorama but it just didn’t quite work as one.
Fall is coming and I hope to be out a lot more.
I have a couple virtual shows coming up. Check out https://serenityscenes.com/pages/upcoming-events for details.
I don’t know if I wrote it here but in March my very favorite loving cat Tank passed away. Immediately afterward my husband said – We have enough cats. A couple weeks later I mentioned that I would really like a ginger kitten. I’ve had several ginger cats over the years but only temporarily. There was the one that I kept for my friends while they moved to the west coast. That cat was very cool but too soon I had to put him on a plane to go to his family. Then there was the friendly feral that I fed in Florida. He was too old to be tamed in a house that already had two cats. I did hook him up with a rescue organization who would neuter him and get him a proper home.
The last and saddest was Morris who was apparently dumped near our house in Virginia. He was the friendliest cat to people but he hated other male cats. He had obviously been loved at one time. Anybody who came to the house could go out and be warmly welcomed by Morris but he attacked other cats. He needed to be neutered and I made arrangements for it hoping he would calm down. Unfortunately the vet found that he was too sick to be nuetered, was FIV positve, and going blind from being in so many fights. I couldn’t bring him in and I couldn’t in good conscience let him back outside. Most of my neighbors appear to be cat lovers but I am the only one (weird, non-rural brought up, person) who keeps their cats inside. His ashes are buried in the garden underneath his own azelea bush.
I let go of having a new kitten. Four cats really is a lot of cats to care for. and then my husband sends me this:
It was 4:15. By 5:30 I had gone to the shelter, filled out the paperwork and was bringing home Oliver.
He’s very sweet and is fitting in well with the others.
Anyone else having trouble with doing anything at this time. I’m not talking about you who have jobs especially essential ones. I’m talking about people who are stuck at home with no place to go. People whose big outing of the week is the grocery store. People like me with no art festivals to go to.
Every once in a while I get a burst of energy and do something but most days I have been sitting down in front of the computer in the morning to check the mail, deciding to play one game of solitaire and finding myself still sitting there at 3:00.
And I feel so much better when I stay busy. So I started a new plan with Outlook as my best friend. I live by appointment reminders especially now when the days tend to merge into one another.
So every Monday several reminders come up. Clean one room (3 reminders), take pictures, yardwork, and drive van. Then there are daily reminders to exercise and shower. It feels good to check things off. Of course, for taking pictures, the weather report immediately reported rain all week and since my husband is off tomorrow so that means yardwork today was the day to take pictures.
I got myself out of bed and ready to go in time for sunrise which didn’t really happen. The sun came up but there was no real indication except for it got lighter. I did get one image that I like though despite the gray sky. It will be up on the website soon.
Monday it starts all over again. Let’s see if I can keep this up for more than one week.
I’ve been working on a blog all day about recent events and failing miserably except to realize how priveleged and ignorant I am of the challenges facing my black friends and all black people.
A friend got this from another friend of hers and it is perfect for what I want to say. If anyone knows who to attribute this saying to please let me know.
allyship is a love language.
it says:
tell me what you need. i don’t know what to
do or what to say but i am here. at the ready.
willing. no criticism, no judgment. if you tell
me to do nothing i will do nothing. if you tell
me to speak i will lift my voice even if the
wrong things come out. no more will i be idle.
no more will i watch you suffer. i am with you.
here to listen. here to fight. here to shoulder
and make up for battles i have missed. i may
be late but that won’t happen again. standing.
holding. bleeding. mobilizing. unpacking my
own biases. my own privilege. full time, i will
learn. unlearn. disrupt systems of power if
you will have me. or not. i’m doing the work.
Since it looks like at least two of my shows this year are going to be virtual here is my booth that you would have seen at the show.
Young Orange and Windblown Orange are new this year and I think they make a great orange fall grouping together with Old Orange.
These two are both new this year. There are also some yellows down below with the backup pieces. As always, if you are looking for a grouping and want to mix and match different pieces let me know and I will be glad to send you a thumbnail of what your choices will look like together.
Thre three horizontals are new and the four verticals are an old favorite grouping that I decided to bring back for a year. They are trees and a stream for every season.
Distant Mountains and Elephant and Tree are part of a new style that I am playing with. There is also a third in this style in the backup pieces and a fourth on the website. Uplift is also a new addtion to my blue pieces. Ask me about other possiblities for a blue or blue and orange grouping.
Canvas gallery wraps are available in many sizes in both standard and panorama format. Looking Up and HIllside Trees were new last year.
Fall Glass is new this year. There are several other green images available for a green grouping.
This year I had several exhibitions cancelled and I had a very good fall photo trip which left me with more than the normal backup pieces. Three Trees and Solitude are new this year. They are additional possibilites for a yellow grouping.
Dancing in the Light and Color in the Fog are possiblities for a blue and orange grouping. Intertwined is a possibility for a green grouping and Meadow Tree is an additional black and white.
One of the advantages of a virtual show is that you are not limited to what I have with me. The whole website is open to you. After each virtual show in a particular location closes I will make a trip to a central spot near the location of the physical show to deliver framed pieces. Canvas gallery wraps and prints will be shipped directly. Special pricing applies to groupings. Feel free to contact me with any questions.
I was noticing the other morning that I had zero motivation and I thought back to the last time I had felt that way. It was when I moved from Florida to Virginia to join my husband who had been in Virginia already for five months. I was looking forward to the move. I missed my husband. But when I got here, everything seemed a chore. I called a good friend and she said nonchalantly “Do ya think you might be grieving?” Hmm, maybe. Everything was good, it was a good move, but still some things were lost.
So I asked myself that question the other morning. And yes, although I am grateful that I am not hurting like many are, there are many things I am missing. I’m especially missing doing art festivals. I miss selling my work. I miss seeing my artist friends. I miss having conversations with potential buyers.
So I’m doing what another friend told me 10 years ago after the move which is to change my language. Instead of saying “I have to”, I’m saying “I get to”. I get to work in the yard. I get to be more creative with cooking dinner. And I still get to go out and take photographs.
I hope there is something in your life that instead of having to do, you get to do.
Below are my most recent image and also a picture of the landscaping I’ve been doing.
It seems unreal how much things have changed. On February 7th I had my hair done for my solo show opening at the McGuffey Art Center. That night I saw many friends and mingled with many people. No thought of a mask or hand sanitizer. The end of February I went to a creative people convention in Lynchburg. First news of COVID-19 had started to filter through and I noticed EVERYBODY in the bathroom washed their hands. Still no masks and many face to face conversations.
I met a copywriter there and made arrangements for her to write descriptions for my website being sure to note that I needed them done in time for my first show in May (which didn’t happen). I went to the dentist the beginning of March where the hygenist mentioned that there was a single case in Spotsy (Spotsylvania). I made an appointment for the end of March for replacing a filling. Worry is starting to creep in. I had an eye appointment for the middle of March. By this time there were cases starting to crop up in my county. I cancelled it at the urging of my husband. I was a little shocked when all I had to say to them was “I have asthma”. I was expecting to explain. They understood just from those three words. Then the dentist called and cancelled my appointment. I had been thinking about cancelling it but was a little surprised when they did.
Then my elderly cat got sick. He suddenly looked very fat and his belly was hard. The vet didn’t think it was serious at that point since I had been feeding him extra in an attempt to get him to gain weight. I cut back his food and the next day the vet closed due to exposure to COVID-19.
In the meantime I’m on Facebook with my artist groups and we’re all discussing how to safely do shows. I learned how to set up Square to not need a signature and threw a container of Clorox wipes in the van. I ordered a mask on Etsy.
Cutting back food for Tank was having no effect although he was still acting normal. I noticed my vet was going to be back open on April 6 so I made an appointment through an app. They called that night and said they thought it was serious now and I should make an appointment with a vet they recommended that was open. It was a Friday. Saturday I called and made an appointment for Sunday. Sunday I called and cancelled it. Monday morning I looked in his eyes and I knew he was in pain. I called at 10:00 and they gave me an appointment for 11:00. Just enough time to pick him up, put him in his carrier, and go. I have my hair pulled back, a washable hat on my head, long sleeved shirt, a washable jacket, a bandana and rubber gloves. Just a month previous I was at a convention and just made sure to wash my hands well.
The vet was very kind. I was terrified that he would have to be put down without me with him. I was hoping for a miracle but I knew that Tank had already lived longer than most Bengals and he had been going slowly downhill for the past year. He was my very favorite cat of all of them. He had slept with me all his life. All his life he had stolen my hair ties and knocked things off my dresser and sat in my lap while I worked.
The vet called and offered more tests but said yes, that he was in pain, and yes, it was time. I asked if I could be with him and they made arrangements for me to come in through the back door. Tank was put to sleep wrapped in a towel by people covered in plastic with kind eyes. But I was able to hold him and tell him how loved he was and that I would miss him.
It is the beginning of May now. Shows up until the end of July have either been cancelled or rescheduled for the fall. I will probably end up dropping out of the one the end of July but I have decided to wait to decide until June to make the decision. It’s a balancing act. If they cancel I probably get my booth fee back. If I cancel I don’t. I’ve seen how quickly things can change but I think it’s going to get worse for awhile.
I realize I’ve never written here about Tank. You can read his tribute at https://serenityscenes.com/pages/tank
Wow, I haven’t written anything since 2017 here. I moved my blog to Zenfolio and didn’t write in it much and now I’ve moved my website to Shopify (SerenityScenes.com) and decided to come back here. And I do happen to have a lot of time on my hands right now. Art shows aren’t happening right now and possibly for quite a while. And I have asthma which is usually well controlled but when it acts up it is bad and I am definitely a person who needs to stay at home right now. So I feel kind of useless.
I retired from my day job in January 2018 and embarked upon a crazy year where I did way too many art shows and burnt myself out. So 2019 was a whole new ballgame. I cut back on shows, put my work in a couple galleries, joined a local art center, and entered work in some exhibitions. It was a good year. I was able to pay off one of our vehicles and I had high hopes for 2020. It started out well. I had a solo show at my local art center and sold some pieces. Both galleries sold work and I made a nice commercial sale. And then the bottom dropped out. Shows were cancelled or rescheduled, exhibitions were cancelled, and galleries were closed.
Ever the advance planner I had the whole booth ready and loaded into the van by March. And it was a good booth too. Some old favorites I decided to bring back for a year and I had a lot of new images that I really liked. I had two sets of work to go for exhibitions that were cancelled. In short I have so much work that it wouldn’t even all fit in the van. After discovering the Garmin InReach I was all set to go deeper into hiking. I walked up and down our long driveway every day to get myself ready. I got maps and booklets of trails I wanted to do. I was just waiting for warmer weather. Then the trails in Shenandoah National Park were closed.
So here I am at home with a lot of time. Making dinner has become the high point of my day. My cooking has improved which has had an adverse affect on my waistline. Weekly date night has turned into weekly grocery shopping.
I am grateful though. My husband is working and we are both well. The cats are fine although we are missing one which I will talk about in my next blog.
The past few weekends I have been out searching for new roads. There are so many beautiful scenes near my house but most of them are not able to be photographed due to fast roads and no shoulders. I have a couple roads that I always go to because they are gravel with wide shoulders but I think I have gotten most of the pictures I can get from them. So I’m searching for new roads. This Saturday it was gloriously foggy so I took off early. It was also pretty gloomy but I managed to get one image that I really like. I also found some new roads for images so look for more coming (if it ever stops raining)
I also got a chance to test my new GPS attachment for my camera that I got for Christmas. No more forgetting where I took a particular image.
I got word on Friday that I have been accepted into the Banner Elk August Fine Arts and Master Crafts Festival on August 11 – 13.
Art, Trails, and Cats 