A Bike and a Smile

I've been getting a lot of smiles on my bike ride to work lately. It's been odd, people see me coming and they smile at me. It took me a while to figure out what was going on. Why all the smiles? It turns out, they were smiling at me because I was smiling as I rode. 

You see, riding my Italian city bike makes me happy. It's not as cool-looking as this bike I found in Pavia early on in my time in Italy, with its stylish zebra basket liner, but my bike still makes me happy. With it's basket, fenders, chain cover, dropped bar and completely uncool kickstand it is a comfortable, functional bike. It is me.

I've had a lot of experience with bikes that were not me. You see, a long, long time ago I hated riding a bicycle. I taught myself to ride a bike at 8 years old. I never got that comfortable, like the other kids who had been riding since they were 5 and were jumping off curbs around the neighborhood. As a teen, I went to summer camp where one of the activities was cycling. They put everyone on 10-speeds, assuming we could ride them. I was nervous and scared on the 10-speed, all leaned over on a twitchy bike. I felt like I was going to crash, and eventually I did. So much for biking! 

And then... about a year after getting married, I mentioned I might like to try out mountain biking. The bikes looked more comfortable and it was the latest craze. My husband, an avid cyclist prior to our marriage, turned so fast into the parking lot of the bike shop it was almost illegal. Newly armed with biking gear I started to ride the trails with my husband and other friends from work. It was all guys, and I tried to become the cool biker chick. I tried to like mountain biking, I really did. But after a couple of years I decided that I just didn't get why people would want to ride on these skinny dirt trails that you can easily ride off of. I didn't get why people would want to ride on paths with obstacles like roots or rocks in the way intentionally. I made myself ride with the "must-have" clipless pedals for a year, to see if I would eventually like them. I hated them as much the day I took them off as the day I started with them. I forced myself to do all manner of things that didn't seem to fit for me, in order to "become" a mountain biker. I tried to fit in with the mountain biking crowd, my husband and the guys I worked with. For years, I tried. It never worked.

What I did discover though, is that I liked biking to work. I liked the routine of getting out there, twice a day. Clearing my mind by working my body. Both getting somewhere and getting some exercise. Riding an exercise bike, nowhere? Ugh. Riding a bicycle to get somewhere? Perfect! 

One of the things I loved in Italy and Europe is that bicycling is not only a "sport" but a way to get around. A bicycle is an acceptable form of transportation. You don't need snazzy gear and spandex to ride a bike. It opened my eyes to these bikes that were both comfortable and functional, with maybe a bit of style too.  I loved the look of the city bikes that were everywhere. I captured them with my camera but I think it was my heart speaking through the lens, reminding me this type of bicycling was for me. 

So, last summer I went out and found a city bike. It's an amazingly huge and heavy bike, no worries about the lightness of frame here. I sit upright on a comfy seat. The bike has fenders, a chain cover, front and back racks, lights that run on a wheel generator, a kick-stand, wheel lock and a bell. It has the requisite drop bar in the front for riding in a skirt (although I've only done it that one time). I added a basket to the front rack, for even more functionality. I think I'm going to add some flowers to the front of the basket, that would make me even happier.

I look strange riding here in the US, among the mountain bikes on the bike path. There are more and more "city bikes" around but they still aren't that common. My bike is giant and odd-looking. But I'm no longer trying to fit in, I'm just trying to fit me. Seeing as I'm smiling as I ride without even know it, I think I finally got it right. 

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What's going on around The Kat Eye View of the World...

• The current Exploring with a Camera theme is The Color Wheel: Part 1. Check out the post and join in the exploration.
• Are you ready to find your own unique vision through photography? Tomorrow is the last day to register for the fall series of the Find Your Eye e-course. Class starts Sunday, September 25! Visit here for more info.

From Where I Stand

I didn't actually intend to blog today, I was kinda thinking of taking the weekend off, pondering how to bridge the gap. Then I took this cute picture to celebrate my first time going for a bike ride in a skirt, and I had to share. I've wanted to ride in skirt for quite a while, since seeing all of those European women riding around in their skirts so casually. No spandex there! The feet point of view is inspired by this week's Picture Inspiration prompt and fellow Mortal Muse Holly (aka Soupatraveler), who takes these cute "where I stand" pictures every day. You can join in too, visit the Flickr group from where i stand or tweet with hashtag #fromwhereistand.

Where do you stand today?



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What's going on around The Kat Eye View of the World...

• The current Exploring with a Camera theme is Process of Elimination and we only have a few days left! Check out the post and explore with us. 
• Do you want to deepen the connection between your heart and soul and your photography? Registration for the fall series of the Find Your Eye e-course is open! Visit here for more info.
• You can subscribe to the Kat Eye News to stay up-to-date on all the happenings.

How are you Hard-Wired?

Each of us is hard-wired a certain way. And that hard-wiring insinuates itself into our work. That's not a bad thing. Actually, it's what the world expects from you. We want our artists to take the mundane materials of our lives, run it through their imaginations, and surprise us. If you are by nature a loner, a crusader, an outsider, a jester, a romantic, a melancholic, or any one of a dozen personalities, that quality will shine through in your work.

-- Twyla Tharp in The Creative Habit

I ran across this quote while reading over the weekend and said a huge "YES!" It's always amazing to me when I read the work of these famous, creative people and it basically restates what I've come to believe through my own experiences. This quote from Twyla Tharp in her book The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life so completely expresses the idea behind my Find Your Eye classes: We all have a unique vision to share with the world, and it comes through in our work. We just have to look for it.

In my photography, I find that I typically like the scenes that show both details and context. Not the grand sweeping vistas so much or super close-up details, although you will see those on occasion. This one, a new one in my market/wheels series, is from Milan. A little scene of a market in the Brera district, the same market as my Orange Power shot but a different perspective capturing different details. Kind of typical of my work, don't you think? Not just in this series, but in the selection of composition, subject, camera settings. How are you hard-wired in your art? Do you know? If you're a photographer, I can help you find out in the Find Your Eye series of classes, and I'm so excited about that! Registration is open now if you're interested.

I'm barely into reading The Creative Habit and it's fantastic so far. It's been great to get my back into my own creative habits of journaling, reading and blogging in the mornings since the move. Together, these habits are my personal recipe to keeping me grounded, aware and creatively charged. I look forward to reading more of Twyla's wisdom in the coming days. You can expect me to share the bits and pieces I find interesting here! 

Summertime in the 'Hood

I've always love the number of bicycles you see here in Italy. I love seeing old ladies in their skirts on bicycles, with the basket full of groceries. I love seeing people riding in the rain, holding their umbrellas. I see people riding while talking on cell phones every day. Bicycles are a normal form of transport here. Just another way to get around the busy streets.

And, on summer time weekends, wow. Bicycles galore. I captured this last summer in Milan, on a summer Saturday when the bicycles were out in force. We see a lot of bicycles by our house on the weekend, since we live right near Parco di Monza. Without much green space in the greater Milan area, a day spent biking and picniking in Parco di Monza is a nice treat. The park is packed on summer weekends, the paths clogged with bicycles and strollers and rented carrozellas (a multi-person pedal-powered cart sort of vehicle/bicycle that a family can fit in - I'm not sure what they are called in English).

This weekend we are going to visit a few haunts a last time. Brave the crowds and rent a carrozella in Parco di Monza, pick up some of the chicken strips that Brandon loves at the Saturday market, head into Milan to climb the Duomo and explore the countryside by Lake Como. One last look around, close to our home for the last two years, before the movers come on Wednesday to pack up our household goods.

And next weekend, our last weekend as residents of Italy, what will we do? Visit Venice. I can't leave Italy without a last trip to my beloved Venetian lagoon. There are two places on earth so far that never fail to inspire me photographically: Venice and the Oregon Coast. (Well, maybe I should add Parco di Monza too, given how often I share photos of the park here.) It's amazing how completely different these places are and yet they are so inspiring to me. Thankfully, I'm headed back to one of my photographic loves as I move. I have no doubt I will find more places too.

How about you, do you have a favorite place? One that never fails to inspire you in your art?

Florence Market, and an Announcement!

Our weekend in Florence was enjoyable, and confirmed once again that the back alley wanderings are the most fruitful for my photography. This lovely scene, another addition to my market/wheels series, was found taking a side street as we wandered.

This is our second visit to Florence, and I found I had gotten all of the Duomo-and-Ponte-Vecchio pictures out of my system the first trip. We visited a couple of lesser known museums (Bargello, for some fantastic sculpture, and the Museum of the History of Science, which houses some of Galilleo's original instruments) and then wandered what we could find of back streets. Oh, and shopped for Florentine paper! There may be another giveaway, coming soon to a blog near you.

But today... as promised on Friday, I have an announcement...

Today I am launching a newsletter for my blog!  I'm so excited to have another way to chat with you, through an email newsletter that I will be sending once or twice a month. It will include articles on art, creativity, photography and interesting places, notifications and special offers on my classes, and will provide you a handy reference to what is happening on my blog in case you miss a post or two. Won't that be nice?

As a thank you for signing up, I've created this little book on basic composition that I call a "Camera Companion" that you can fold up and put in your camera bag. Whenever you are feeling stuck you can pull this out and get a few ideas to help you, in the moment. The download and instructions to make the Camera Companion will come via email as soon as you sign up.

There was a lot of prep work to get all of this ready to launch today, and I have to thank my son for his help in filming a video. He was so funny, he had to go find these headphones, just so he would "look" the part of the director. He took his job seriously though, directing me quite well.

Aren't you curious now, to see the video we made together? You'll have to come sign up for the newsletter to see it! Just enter your information in the box on the left sidebar, as shown below. You'll need to confirm your subscription via a link that will arrive in your email, and then you'll get your first message from me in your inbox. I can't wait to share all of this with you!

Circling Around

No matter how much we travel in Italy, I always find myself delightfully surprised. Each town has its own claim to fame, but often it's the little things that are more interesting. Our latest visit to Ravenna was no exception. The town is known for the amazing Byzantine mosaics of its churches, but it was the number of bicycles on it's streets that captured my attention. They were everywhere, all shapes and sizes and colors - compositions just waiting to be captured.

I especially had an eye out for groups of three, as always happens with my Exploring with a Camera theme. I loved this little family of three bicycles. It's looks like a family, doesn't it? Look how they are all grouped, overlapping, in each other's space. Maybe I see it that way because my family is a family of three, and our images are always a reflection of our selves. Upon review today I also discovered the row of circles - wheels, chainrings, hubs - that forms a chain along the bottom of the image. How cool.

Ravenna as a bicycle city was a delightful find, a surprise that you likely won't find mentioned in any guidebooks. That circles me around again to where I started - there is always something interesting to be found in the towns of Italy. For me, it's always in the streets, not the churches.

A Personal Equation

art + creativity + photography = bliss

I've been coming back to this equation over and over again in my journal lately. It was only a matter of time until it showed up here. It's a personal equation, something that speaks to me at a core level. I've been exploring what it means...

art = all of that which has been created before, by others. Art includes the formal definition of art, such as the paintings of the great masters, but it is also so much more. Art is the design of a building, the cut of a dress. It is the interpretation of musical notes written on a page. It is the combination of spices and ingredients. It is all that we experience, that comes from outside of ourselves.

creativity = a process, a practice. Creativity is not a "thing." It is the swirl of ideas, the stringing together of old and new. Creativity is where observation, knowledge and action meet. It is the process by which we learn to make sense of the world around us. It is innate, in each of us. It is what allows us to string together words into a sentence and actions into a life.

photography = an artistic medium, a personal form of expression. My photography is the combination of all of the art I've seen and experienced in my world run through my own personal creativity filter. It is the way I can share my vision. Photography allows me to share the stories I see, in the details of life around me. Like this bicycle, in Ravenna. Photography is my art, given back to the world.

Input, process, output.

Art, creativity, photography.

Combine these three ingredients and I get bliss. What do I mean by bliss? I mean happiness that goes beyond the moment, to the core of my being. It is the connection to the heart and soul of who I am, who I always have been, who I always will be. It is something deeper than a pretty picture, a fleeting emotion. 

art + creativity + photography = bliss

It takes all three to make the math work. Without one of them, the equation would be unbalanced. It might equal "content" or "satisfaction," but certainly not bliss.

I imagine that we all have our own personal equation. Part of our life's journey may be to define it, as we live it. Do you know yours? If not, I'm guessing that creativity is in your equation somewhere too. Start there, and see what begins to fill in the blanks.

The Next in the Series

OK, here it is. The third in the series I showed you yesterday. This is another image found on the streets of Parma. I'm toying with calling this series "Classic Italian" but we'll have to see how it forms up. So far, it seems to be classic red vehicles on the streets of Italy near some sort of grocery crates. I don't know if that will hold, but who would have thought I would have three of these? We'll see what I find next week, when we visit Sicily.

The Exploring with a Camera: Breaking the Rule of Thirds link is now closed. The winner of the "C is for Camera" journal is Michelle, who goes by Pixie Dreams on Flickr. Congrats Michelle! Thanks so much to all who linked in, it was great to see all of these wonderful images. Don't forget to visit Tammy Lee Bradley at Bliss and Folly to see who won the Vintage Camera trio.

Come back tomorrow for the next Exploring with a Camera post, this week we're going to Capture the Sky!

Snowflake Math

Snowflake + snowflake + snowflake + .... + snowflake = SNOW.

Today's 9 Muses Musing prompt is SNOWFLAKE, but I've been sick and in bed the last couple of days, and have not come up with a snowflake photo. So I'm trying to make one of my favorites from our little trip into Monza last weekend work for this prompt. What do you think? Are you buying it?

I loved this photo because it shows how bicycles are just a part of life here. A mode of transportation, regardless of the weather. I was a bike commuter back in Oregon, but I have to admit I would not ride in snow. I think many people have that opinion here too, but look - there were enough bikes to fill up a bike rack on a Saturday night in Monza. Only one of them had snow on the seat, and the tire tracks indicate most of these had been used recently.

Impressive. It should inspire me, but I still don't think I want to ride in the snow.

Tomorrow's 9 Muses Musing prompt is STOCKING. I'd better get creative...

Images and Words

If an image is worth a thousand words, why do I find myself writing so much? This is an interesting quandary I have found myself in... As my passion for photography has increased, so has my need to express it. Not only in images, in words. Where I took the photo, why it caught my eye, how it makes me feel, what I've learned from the experience, how you can do it too... writing, writing, writing.

The surprising thing, to me, is that I have discovered that I enjoy it. I like to write. I like to find the words to express myself, to bring an idea into reality. To help someone understand something new, maybe see things in a different way. I never though of myself as a writer, yet here I am writing, almost every day. I think I'll add it to my little "I am" statement...

I am an artist, a photographer and writer, and I have a unique vision 

to share with the world.

It feels a little weird. Like a new style I'm trying on, one that looks good but I'm not comfortable with it yet. I think I need to wear it a little while and see how it feels before I go off and change my "About Me" page. :)

Speaking of writing, what brought all of these thoughts to my mind -  my second article for Jenny of Rising Sun Coaching is now posted over on her blog. If you are interested in learning more about how I found my passion and purpose during my time in Italy, and how you can too, then give it a read. 

See you next week! We are off traveling this weekend. Venice again, the in-laws are in town for a visit. I know, rough life. :)

What am I Doing?

"If you do what you've always done, you will get what you've always gotten." 

This quote, by either Anthony Robbins or Zig Zigler from what I can tell by some brief and wholly inadequate internet research, is what I'm pondering today. It makes so much sense, it is so clear. I read it and say to myself, of course, how would I get anything different if I'm always doing the same things?

Why then, do we so often stay with doing what we've always done? What keeps us there, when we dream of getting something different out of our lives? I think it's fear.... of failure, of losing something we already have, of being uncomfortable, of the unknown. If we change, try something new, put ourselves out there, what we get might be... worse. Better to stay with what we have. 

But what if we get something better? What about the successes, the new wonderful things, that might be waiting for us if we change? So easy to forget about that, to brush it under the rug of fears we keep ourselves stranded on. Don't leave this comfortable, warm little rug for the big, bad cold floor of life.

Am I doing what I can, to get something different out of my life? That is the question I'm asking myself today, trying to move off of my little rug.  How about you?

The Power of Persistence

Nothing in this world can take the place of Persistance.
Talent will not; nothing is more commonplace than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education alone will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistance and Determination alone are omnipotent.
                                                   - Calvin Coolidge

Isn't that a wonderful messsage? Persistance is the key. You might not be the most talented, a genius, have the "right" education... but none of those things in itself is the key to success. It is true isn't it? So when we tell ourselves that we don't have what it takes to reach our dreams, when we compare to others and say "I don't have the education" or "They are so much more talented," we need to stop and remember this message:

"Persistance and Determination alone are omnipotent."

And continue working onward, upward toward our dreams.


P.S. Today is one of those "out of the blue" blog posts, that I find myself drawn to writing instead of what was planned. Maybe I'll be inspired to write about Oktoberfest tomorrow. :)

In Motion

Go Lance, Go! Lance Armstrong riding by in the time trial of the Tour of Switzerland.

We spent the weekend in Lugano, Switzerland to watch the Prologue of the Tour de Suisse bicycle race and explore the area a little bit. Patrick got to see lots of cyclists he follows, Brandon got some autographs and I got to play around with photographing cyclists in motion. It was fun to do something out of the ordinary and explore the settings on my camera. Everytime I do something like this, I learn more.

Below is Fabian Cancellara, last years champion and this years time trial winner. I think the cameramen on the back of the motorcycles are awesome! Imagine riding around like that!

I have no clue who these riders are, but I love the look of intensity on their faces.

I have some pics from other locations on the course, but this was my favorite spot to photograph. No distracting background and on a hill so they were slowing down. I won't bore you with the gazillions of photos I have that are similar, but if you have a favorite rider or team and want a pic let me know the team name and I can email the ones I have of that team. Patrick will have more on his blog too!

Organized Chaos

Ah, Amsterdam. The jumble of bicycles everywhere you turn was marvelous. I love the organized chaos, the repeating lines of them all together. Trying to pick one bicycle, one focal point out of many, was a fun exercise. What do you think, did I succeed with this one?

Back with a Bell

I love the monochromatic scheme of this photo... in the weathered bike and bell, and wall, in Brescia. What stories do this image tell you? We each make up our own. That's what I love about these images.

We just got back from our week long vacation to Rome and Umbria. I had every intention of scheduling blog posts for the entire week we were gone but time got away from me. It was a wonderful week of experiencing something new (or ancient, depending on your perspective!) and I look forward to sharing some images after I sort through the gazillions of photos I took. I don't even want to think about the number!

(By the way, try explaining a word like "gazillion" to a non-native speaker sometime, it makes you realize how much a language is absorbed, just soaked from the environment, not intentionally learned.)

Beautiful Brescia

A hidden courtyard invites you to stop for a moment in Brescia, Italy.

Brescia is a medium-sized Italian town about an hour from here. Yesterday morning I had my Italian driver's test (I passed!) and then we headed out for a sunny Saturday in Brescia. Just a new place to explore. Brescia has it's own personality, with many of these hidden courtyards, large doors with stone arches and rock walls partially stuccoed. Every time I start to think, "I'm taking the same picture, over and over again, just in a different place," I realize the subtle differences that give each town it's own sense of place in the world. These little details are what make each town we visit more than just a point on the map, more than just the same thing over and over.

Summer Shadows

This image is about summer. Summer sun and shadows. Summer sports where you are out in the sun. Hot, direct light creating sharp shadows on the ground. Have you ever noticed how shadows change focus? Depending on the light, the subject, the distance to wear the shadow is cast. It's really cool, I've been noticing it more lately.

This image is from the Giro d'Italia in Milan last May.

Light and Dark

Many of my photos include lines, and this image of bicycles is just a different type of lines. Alternating light and dark, the rows of bicycles with the light coming through set them off perfectly. One of my favorites from Amsterdam.

Back to Amsterdam

I've had this photo of Amsterdam stuck in my head lately, so this weekend I went and found it to share. This photo to me says "Amsterdam" maybe in a way that no other does. It's the bike, the architecture. But not only that, I love that the bike is personalized. In a place with so many bicycles, a few people went a little step beyond to make theirs recognizable. With flowers, ribbon, special paint jobs. Bicycle as transportation, but also as a means of personal expression. I love it!

Energy

Last night, when I couldn't sleep, I went back and looked through photos from our first month and a half here. We visited so many places, I took so many pictures in that time period... I'm wondering where we found the energy? We were definitely in the "honeymoon" phase of our move, basking in the new and exciting, eager for something new every free moment. This photo represents the energy of our early time here, from the Giro d'Italia stage we watched in Milan in May. If only my calves looked that good...

I'm traveling to the US tomorrow so my Photo-a-Day may be a little interrupted. I've stocked my memory stick up on photos so I'll continue next week. AND I'll have a new lens waiting for me in Corvallis - can't wait to play with a new toy!!