Sorry I've been gone so long but I've really been in a creative slump lately. I can always blame the weather. I think in the month of January we had 25 of 31 days at below normal temps — and for Northern Michigan that's cold. It's not that I'm a weather wimp. In general I can deal with the cold and snow but trying to deal with the weather and your camera system — switching lenses, changing settings, etc — it's tough. BUT really I've just been lacking in some creative enthusiasm. I happens to the best of us. I did read a good book though -- Blue Like Jazz. A real honest, refreshing, account of a person's life journey. As is often the case it is literature, music, or something other than the media that I work in that can get me out of a slump.
So I went to the dunes the other day to gather some images -- I heard temps were going to be reasonable and the sun was to be out most the day. I left home at 5:00 am and arrived at 7:30 and snow shoed up Sleeping Bear Point for a 8:00 am sunrise. The day didn't turn out to be all that productive as far as images go but just being outside and x-c skiing and shoeing was great for the spirit. Attached is one image that worked well -- although it's too much like other stuff I've done. I think I need to experiment a bit more to produce something more exciting.
See you SOON.

Holidays

I was hopeful that I'd have a little sun this morning as I walked the beach. When I woke up this morning at 6 am I could see stars out my bedroom window, but alas, the clouds moved in and I was forced to make my own sunshine. That's a good thing in some ways. When you are challenged to add some excitement to a gray day your creativity kicks in. It seems that a duffer decided to smack a bucket of balls into the bay so I collected his washed up trash and play with it on the pebbly back dune area at the park. A Petoskey stone and a single Christmas bulb found their way into the mix as well. A interesting mix of the natural and man made.
Anyway, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the Michigan Artisan.
Blessings and peace to you!

Bob

Looking Back

Sorry that it has been awhile since I posted but it's just that time of year — plenty to do and not enough time to do it. I should be out getting images of the winter wonderland but instead I wimped out and sat in my cozy office and started looking through bunches of old work. It's amazing how, when looking back, you begin to see things that you totally missed when the images were fresh. I'm convinced that distancing yourself a little (time-wise) from your work is often a good thing. When looking at images just a couple hours after the shoot I think your impressions are clouded by expectations of how those images should look. I certainly don't want to clear emotion from my work — it's important, but there is this block of thought about what I expected to create and what I was really able to capture that hampers good creative thought. I have a hard time explaining it. Maybe I need a little distance from this thought.
Anyway, I looked way back to my experience at Petrified Forest to put together this new piece from that experience. It was the last evening that I was there. I found this incredible valley not far off the main road and shot away. Colors, textures, drama — I like this piece.

Little Things

Why does a small wildflower bloom in the middle of November? Walking through the back dunes of Petoskey State Park a couple days ago I came across a harebell blooming on the side of a dune. Maybe there was just enough heat energy left in the sand to encourage the plant to produce one more bloom. The insects that may pollinate such a plant are certainly long gone. So you may say that this bloom is wasted. But it wasn't wasted on me. I felt like it was just there for me to enjoy — an audience of one.

And speaking of singularity, This one seed pod floated along the shore and somehow I felt obligated to pick it up and place it on a small piece of driftwood just to honor it's travels — a long way from mother maple. I'm sure by now it has been picked up by the wind and planted itself along one of the many streams that flow into Little Traverse Bay. Someday my grandson will play in its branches.

Capital Reception

My wife Manette and I headed down to Lansing on Monday for a reception at the Governor's residence, honoring those artists whose works were selected to decorate the residence for the coming year. I wasn't quite sure what to expect — if it would be just a "photo-op" with the Governor, Jennifer Grandholm, and a few hors d'oeuvres — or something more. As it turned out, it was more. And for a guy who's not big on the social scene it was very enjoyable. Governor Grandholm and her husband Daniel Mulhern hung around for a while and talked about how they enjoyed supporting Michigan artists. They gave each artist the opportunity to introduce themselves and their art and where their work was located in the residence. And what was especially fun was getting to know a few fellow artists. I'd like to thank the Governor for her support of the arts and taking some time out of her busy schedule to host this reception.


So enough with the party scene. As my wife will attest, I have this fundamental need to arrive at destinations way earlier than is necessary. Not sure what gene-pool that came from, but I'm sure I could blame some ancestor for this timely trait. Anyway, we were in Lansing a wee bit early so I thought, why not head to the capitol building and snoop around. So we did, and it was really an impressive place. And for a photographer it was good timing since the place was pretty well deserted —just one small tour group. I laid my camera on the floor, lens side up, and took a few pics of the dome above. The subjects don't fall into the nature catagory I so dearly love, but you need some new-ness in the mix once in awhile. I had fun capturing these images and that's key to learning and growing as an artist.

The House of Representatives

Warm Days and Coldplay

No sooner do I talk about how depressing November can be than we have a string of beautiful warm days. I think the Lord really has a sense of humor. So I got out here a few times and took advantage of the weather and I think I made a few respectable images. See what you think.
And amidst all the great weather I had an experience that I haven't had since my college days (I won't say how long ago that was). I headed to the Palace at Auburn Hills on Monday evening for a Coldplay concert. I'll admit it wasn't my idea. It all started when my college freshman daughter wanted desperately to attend, and being the good Dad that I was I decided it was OK to go as long a I went along. And guess what? I really enjoyed it! In fact I've had their songs running through my brain all week. And now that I look at the images I've created this past week I'm thinking that they reflect the music. So enjoy my Coldplay art. By-the-way I've titled the top image "Yellow." If you're one of us Coldplay groupies you'll appreciate that.

Stripped Away

There are few leaves left on the trees here in Petoskey. A stiff northern wind has made sure of that. For many, it is a depressing time of the year. The colors are gone and the snow has yet to brighten the landscape. And I have to admit that I end up spending more time indoors than is typical — a good time to catch up on my blog.
But I do relish a weather challenge and Sunday afternoon was perfect — rain, hail, thunder, lightening, and occasionally the sun broke through. I headed just a mile down the road to a nature conservancy. Deep into the woods, the trail became a boardwalk as it crossed soft ground near a stream. Plastered to the walk were leaves in various patterns. Most folks would overlook them but I enjoyed the intensity of the wet, earthy, colors and the simplicity of their interaction on the easel of the boardwalk. As I worked on my images Sunday evening I was reminded of a story my pastor had used the previous Sunday. He talked about the experiences of a family in German occupied Netherlands in WW2. Their incredible story was made known through a book written by Corrie ten Boom called The Hiding Place. Corrie and most of her family ended up spending time in German concentration camps for being part of the underground and hiding Jews in their home. Four of the ten Booms died in the camps but Corrie survived. As you can imagine her return home at the war's end was bittersweet — very happy to be home but missing her family. One would think that on looking back at her time in the camps Corrie would have nothing but feelings of horror and despair but that was not the case. There was a part of her experience in the camps that she actually missed. In the camps, life was minimal — barely enough of the essentials to survive. But in that place where life was stripped down to almost nothing, there was a moment by moment reliance on God. The spiritual life in the camp was very strong.
So now, when I see a bare tree and a few decaying leaves on the ground I think of what is really important in life — certainly not my things — not even my camera or computer :) — it's my walk with my Savior and my God.