I'm getting a bit of a late start on my blogging today. I didn't wake up until almost 7 a.m. and then I did a couple of things to get the day going -- checked the garden cam, started some laundry, made coffee, unpacked the dishwasher. Anyway, I'm here now!
I woke up in the middle of the night and had a wander around the flat, which I occasionally do. It's not that anything is bothering me or that I can't sleep for any serious reason -- I usually just need a drink of water. While I was up I took these photos of the streetlights in the dining room, and the view out the window. I like the peacefulness of the house and neighborhood at night. Occasionally when I look out the window at the street I see a fox trotting along the pavement, but I didn't see one this time.
Remember how I just washed the windows a couple of months ago? Well, urban life has speckled them with grime once again. They look OK in daylight so it will be a while before I give them another cleaning. I have higher priorities.
Once again I've had a busy week and I've fallen behind on everything not work-related. I did manage to get my UK passport application mailed off, so hopefully I'll have my new passport in a couple of weeks. And I scheduled the delivery of our new couch on Oct. 2, and contracted with the council to pick up our old one on Sept. 29. (This is assuming Dave and I can get it out to the street!) For a couple of evenings in between, I suppose I'll be sitting on the floor next to Dave's recliner, like a pet.
I haven't mentioned it until now but the head of the Art Department at school has pulled together another faculty/staff/parent art show. You may remember I entered last year's, so she came to me a few weeks ago and asked if I wanted to enter a piece once again. Unfortunately I've been too busy to give much thought to my options, never mind get something printed and framed, so I took the easy route and submitted a photo I took back in 2014 and had already framed in the library. You can see it, along with the rest of the art show, in the video above -- mine is the "Mr. Scissor Hands" picture. (This one.)
Once again, I'm impressed by the creativity in our community. There are a lot of photographs this year, but also pottery, sculpture, painting and textile art. The video gives a general overview, and I conclude on perhaps my favorite piece, an embroidered picture of an Edwardian building where the artist lives.
Today I'm going to finish "City of Night" if it kills me. I'm just not able to read during the week and although I like this book I want it done.
Thank you for the tour of the art show. Very enjoyable and as good as if not better than a lot of professionally curated art shows I've been to in the past. She H
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed it! :)
DeleteThose nocturnal photos could go in any show, they are so photogenic - light and dark.
ReplyDeleteI've always loved streetlights at night. Very dramatic and noir!
DeleteSome really good pieces there in your video. My two favourites are both portraits - the vividly colourful painting of the strong featured woman (above your photo of Mr Scissor Hands) and the later one of the white haired, bearded gent in a white t-shirt. That is quite an arresting picture.
ReplyDeleteYes, the portraits are both very good. Far better than I could do, that's for sure!
DeleteYou do live in such a nice part of a very large city. The night time photos are lovely.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember your photo but it is great, encapsulating a snap of London life.
I hope Dave pats your head as you sit next to his chair, and tells you what a good boy you are.
I took that photo so long ago, I'm not sure you were even reading my blog then! So it's possible this is your first time seeing it.
DeleteThere are some exceptionally talented people in your school community, and what a great display space.
ReplyDeleteI’m ba-ack! Forgot to mention how much I love your nocturnal creations.
ReplyDeleteI'm always surprised by the level of talent in our community! Glad you liked the products of my nocturnal wandering.
DeleteMy former neighbor was a noted photographer in the area who was on continual oxygen in his final years so was always tethered to a long cord in his house. Thus he did a lot of shooting of photos through his bay window of his house. I think he told me that he had to clean it twice a week to keep it clean enough for his liking. I have sometimes wondered how many pictures he has of myself or my family in his digital archives and where those personal archives ended up. His historical archive of photos are now stored at a University and accessible online.
ReplyDeleteI would think his personal and/or digital archives are at the University as well! Seems like he'd leave them everything. Maybe they're just not online?
DeleteSurprisingly, his widow had a hard time finding someone to want them, at leas the historic aspect of them. He was of a different generation so much of his most significant photos were on glass plate negatives through brittle rolls of 35 mm film and I'm sure required a significant amount of capital to preserve and digitize. I think it took her three or four years before she finally found a home. I'm guessing she still has the personal photographs with no historic significance since they likely didn't want to spend the money preserving those for eternity. Some may have slipped through the cracks but I haven't seen any posted online as of yet.
DeleteThere are so many talented people around and most of the time they are unrecognised.
ReplyDeleteIf there's one thing the Internet has revealed it's how widespread talent is. We once believed it to be such a rare thing but I think a lot of people are good at a lot of things. Not to say everyone is a true artist but a lot of us can make a decent showing.
DeleteLove the creativity of people.
ReplyDeleteMost of the time! :)
DeleteThis is a really good range of art, thanks for the tour.
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome! I thought you'd appreciate the fiber creations. :)
DeleteThe last two book I checked out I turned in without finishing. Haven't been finding time to read and neither one grabbed me. There's a lot of nice work in this year's exhibition.
ReplyDeleteYeah, there's something to be said for not reading a bad book. I enjoyed this one but it took me WAY too long, just because I have been so busy with other stuff.
DeleteWhoa! Your school community really does have some pretty amazingly talented artists within it. You being one of them. Some of those portraits are truly beyond amateur level.
ReplyDeleteI think quite a few of our parents and teachers have some degree of real training in the arts.
DeleteI think you're right.
DeleteInteresting night photos. What does this look like if it's a day photo?
ReplyDeleteMore cluttered! :)
DeleteThe stillness in the darkness of night with only streetlights glowing is beautiful. Nice photos Steve. You are a very skilled photographer.
ReplyDeleteYour school has lots of talented artists. The art show and display encourage talent, and I think that's a very good thing.
I was assisted by the technical prowess of my iPhone, which takes very good night pictures with little adjustment from me.
DeleteI love those 'wandering around the house in the dark' photos. It does look very peaceful. The art show is great. There is a lot of talent represented. I had no idea the last one was embroidered. I thought it was a sketch. That's great.
ReplyDeleteI had to take a second look myself!
DeleteI'm truly impressed by the talents of the staff/parents at your school—it's no surprise that the students are just as creative! (See your recent post about their new artwork.) Thank you for the tour.
ReplyDeleteWe do have some very skilled art teachers, who are practicing artists in their own right.
DeleteAs wifi is dodgy here at the hotel, I have not watched the video, but I think it‘s a great idea to have an exhibition of staff‘s art. Usually, there is a lot of hidden talent among our colleagues; at the insurance company where I work, we have some great singers, dancers and one lady who designs and sews wonderful outfits.
ReplyDeletePS. I forgot to say that I wander my flat a night, too. Not always every room, but whenever I get up during the night, I always look out of the kitchen window across the dark, silent gardens towards town centre, at the nightly sky and the quiet street. I also usually briefly open the window and breathe in the scent of the night, which of course changes with weather and seasons.
DeleteI always get such a profound sense of peace from exploring a bit in the dark. Maybe it reassures our inner primitive animal that all is well with our lair?
DeleteI agree that your night-time photos are excellent; shadows and light personified. The Portraits of States, and their captions,. is hands-down my favorite. Is Gary Larson on staff?
ReplyDeleteI too thought the final piece was a sketch, had to look at it twice to confirm it was embroidered. A very diverse exhibit, with some really excellent work.
Chris from Boise
PS I love the portrait of Olga on your sidebar.
Yes, I LOVED those state portraits too! So funny!
DeleteNice photos in the dark. That art exhibit is really terrific. Such a great variety of styles and subjects. You are all so talented at your school.
ReplyDeleteOr at least we fake it well. :)
DeleteA pet sitting next to Dave's recliner... but what kind of pet? I am guessing you will be a chipmunk.
ReplyDeleteOh, I dunno. I'm thinking something larger and more substantive. A crocodile?
DeleteThe art exhibit is once again amazing. Who does the sculpting?
ReplyDeleteI was up for awhile in the night, Jack woke me up and crawled into bed with me. Took him forever to fall back asleep but he finally did, me too.
I think parents did both of those sculptures -- from stone!
DeleteCodex: The show is quite imressive with some interesting pieces like the one at around 200. Woman in front of the blue house. Lots if these could show in a gallery.
ReplyDeleteYour photograph is calming and disquieting at the same time. Well done.
Thank you! I was going for that both-positive-and-negative vibe!
DeleteP.s. responded to your post on mine.
ReplyDeleteI love the line drawings of the US states - so clever! Start planning ahead now and have your favorite photo of Olga framed for your next year's entry. In the meantime, you can enjoy it at home. I can remember some lovely photos of her with flowers, in the cemetery, etc.
ReplyDeleteHmmmm...an Olga collage! That sounds promising!
DeleteThe art exhibition is really good! I like the variety.
ReplyDeleteMe too. Lots of people talented at a variety of things.
DeleteI love your night picture. That would have been a great entry!
ReplyDeleteMaybe next year!
DeleteIt's great that they do so much with art and recognize the creative talent. There is so much focus on STEM (which is good) but the arts often are ignored or even cut. Hope you can figure out the couch changeover! Moving them out is no easy task.
ReplyDeleteOur school does a very good job supporting arts-related education. In fact not too many years ago we opened a whole new arts building.
DeleteNice middle of the night photos. I didn't watch the video yet, but I'll get to it.
ReplyDeleteIt will be there whenever you're ready! :)
DeleteLove the art show. And your home is lovely at night with the quiet street and lights outside. It's truly peaceful.
ReplyDeleteThat's an impressive array of talent.
ReplyDelete