While sorting old photos I was struck by the frequent composition I’ve shot for decades. The dominant landscapes of my life share something quite powerful with my sense of self. The proof is in the piles of photographs I need to sort through.
Without lots of breathing room, easily feel claustrophobic.
Walking Town Neck Beach on Cape Cod I get a familiar sense of spaciousness..and then often an accompanying longing for the South Dakota prairie where I grew up. The way these sensations are intertwined, my native Nebraska artist friend, Elizabeth Bunsen, and I have named our “interior geography”.
Interior might not quite describe how truly primal these feelings are for me.
I was going to edit all of these photos of photos which would’ve taken hours. However, since this is the first step in a series I’m working on I thought showing the images raw was more interesting.
Throughout my life I’ve spent too much time thinking I needed to remediate areas of perceived weakness: organization & executive function, time management, follow through, and prioritization. Sometimes they are still true, and I now solidly in midlife, I have strategies in place.
I don’t let too many things fall through the cracks and I meet deadlines when I have them.
I get a lot done most days & creative work takes a lot of time that is often unknown.
I do follow through on a whole helluva lot of my ideas and often help others when asked.
My home, work, health, and relationships are in pretty good shape.
Sure, I could be more organized or learn how to set better priorities for my time, but what might be lost if I’m constantly trying to correct areas of weakness instead of highlighting my strengths?
I’m pretty good at making art out of stuff I find and I can shoot a decent photo…to hell with my executive function and time management skills.
I found all of this rope on the beach. I brought it home, organized it and made a weaving. I think I really love weaving.
I’m researching/experimenting natural dyes/stains to create a body of work. Thank you Elizabeth Bunsen for inspiring this type of experimentation. I painted this with beet juice, red wine, coffee, and tea. I’m thinking maybe this series is the flags of unknown places, or untold stories…something along those lines anyway.
I shot these two images last week by ever-so-slightly pivoting just past sunrise on Town Neck Beachin Sandwich, Massachusetts. The moon is barely visible. The sun was uniquely red from the haze of wildfire smoke drifting from out west.
“Grown ups are complicated creatures, full of quirks and secrets.” ―Roald Dahl, author
The first shot was a funny accident…so I shot more. Fist bumps and hi-fives seemed like images I could use as personal emojis in some circumstances.
It’s time to let go of old stories about ourselves from childhood.
