Shaking off the Rust

Whatever your medium, if you've been away from it for a few weeks, the first days are going to be clumsy and fruitless. But things get easier as the rust falls away. The ideas come more smoothly. The hands on the instrument, the fingers at the keyboard, the eye at the easel respond in sync to the urgings of your mind and heart. You are fit and gleaming. You can't wait to attack your work.

- Twyla Tharp in The Creative Habit

Those of you who subscribe to my newsletter will recognize this quote. In the last newsletter, I talked about how rusty I am, not really photographing anything since my move back to the US. That all changed yesterday, when I took my camera out to explore my sister's little town of Carbondale, Colorado.

I may not be fit yet, but I'm getting back in shape. It's amazing how quickly the rust falls away, when you get back to doing something you love and have invested time learning. I found many interesting scenes to capture, and I could tell I saw things that I never would have seen two years ago.

Over the next few days I'll share a few images of repeating patterns I found in Carbondale, since that's the Exploring with a Camera theme right now. If you are ever in the Roaring Fork Valley of Colorado, between Glenwood Springs and Aspen, stop in this little town. It's worth a visit.

PS - Today is the last day of the One Life 2011 Photography Contest. Will you come vote for me one last time? 

Share Your View: Group of Three

The best laid plans sometimes go awry! When I went into Flickr today to pull some of your "group of three" images from the Exploring with a Camera pool to post here, all of the sharing had been turned off. At first I thought it was just a couple of people but it must be a Flickr-wide issue because everyone has sharing turned off.

Instead, I'm improvising to share with you this group of three pots spotted on the streets of Ravenna. I'm never at a loss of photos to share! It's actually quite fun, my family gets into Exploring with a Camera along with me and after I've posted a new topic they are most helpful in pointing out possible images on the theme as we travel. My husband spotted this group!

This post is about you though, and your view. Since Flickr is acting up, please be sure to link in your Group of Three images below so that we can all enjoy them. I love the different finds and compositions you all have shared so far!

The Gift that Keeps on Giving

Yesterday my fellow muse Suki asked a question to the Mortal Muses, "If you did a 365, what did you learn this year by doing it?" Initially, I dismissed the question because I didn't do a 365. (For those of you who don't know, a "365" is where you take a photo every day, for an entire year.) But then I realized that I do my own sort of daily photography practice, if a bit different.

A little over a year ago, in November 2009, I started posting a photo a day here on the blog. Up to that point my blogging had been sporadic, and I didn't have much focus. I had all of these great pictures from our travels, but it was so overwhelming to think of editing and posting many of them to tell the stories. I wasn't interested in writing about our daily lives or travels. Sorting through, editing and picking one favorite photo a day, however, was doable. I decided to try that.

This simple little decision has had a profound impact on me. Today I found myself journaling this in answer to Suki's question, on what this simple daily practice has given me:

• The discovery that photography is art. And I am an artist. I've been able to claim that title, grow confident in myself as an artist. Along with seeing myself as an artist, I see my work as art.
• Finding my "eye," the portrayal of the world around me that is all my own. I can see it, own it as mine. There is huge confidence and satisfaction that comes with that. 
• The discovery that photography is a passion for me. I love being in the moment. Finding the evidence of life - beauty, joy, love, happiness, even imperfection - all around me in the smallest of things.
• I've become deeply aware of my art and creativity as an extension of my soul. It links to something at the core of my being, unlike anything else I've ever experienced.
• The discovery that I can share this passion, this confidence and wonderful self-awareness I've gained, with others through writing on my blog and now with my Find Your Eye course. My "corporate world" skills are not completely unrelated to my passion, they can directly translate into great things in my creative, artistic life.
• I've found that I'm a writer. I enjoy writing, like communicating ideas via words, having a conversation with others online. Combining words with photos has been an incredible source of creativity for me.
• I've learned that following my heart - whether it's in taking a photo, writing a blog post, taking a course of action - is never, ever wrong. It has always led to good things, even if everyone around me is not immediately happy about it. Following your heart is not about making other people happy. 
• I've found an amazing community of people here on the internet - through the blogs I read, the people who read mine and comment, Mortal Muses, other groups and challenges I've participated in. I've found people who have similar interests and passions and challenge me in such positive ways. Those connections are incredible. I look forward to forming more of them, more interaction, more friendships as I continue on.

It's good to take a moment, look back and see all of the gifts I've been given through this one step. I don't think it matters whether you specifically do a 365 or post a photo a day or write three pages every morning or whatever it might be. I don't think it even matters that it is every single day (I certainly haven't done that here!). What matters is that you find a regular practice that you learn and grow from, and you stick to it long enough to see the benefits.

I can't stop doing this now, posting a photo and some words most days on my blog. I would lose some important, integral piece of myself. This practice, for me, is a gift that keeps on giving.

Today's 9 Muses Musing challenge is GIVING. Stop by and leave a comment or link up to win the giveaway.
Tomorrow is my challenge day for 9 Muses Musing, and it's LIGHTS. I know, big surprise! Get those holiday light photos tonight if you can - I have a great giveaway you won't want to miss!!

The World is a Canvas

Wandering the back alleys of Burano, I found this. Sometimes I wonder, do the people who leave these things out, for me to see, know what they are doing? Do they see what I see in them? The fusion of textures, the contrasts, the repetition of color? Sometimes I think they do, and I am lucky enough to see it with them. Sometimes I think no, this may just be a chair someone set here, to sit outside their house on a summer evening. I wonder.

This morning I picked up Eric Booth's book, The Everday Work of Art, for the first time in a long while. Here is something I read on this topic:

The moment we see that the world we inhabit is not just a sequence of hard, dead surfaces with fixed absolutes, but that it also can be seen "as if" it contains many non-logical truths, many mysteries, we head into a better future. The "as if" transforms artifacts into live media for the work of art.

I don't quite know if that makes sense outside of the context of the book, but I see it in this photo. This chair, in this location can be a place to sit, or it can be seen as a work of art. How do you see the world?

What Inspires You?

Maybe it's light coming in through the window, maybe it's color, maybe it's a wonderful quote. What is it that makes you want to perfect your craft, become a better person, explore new things? We all have different sources of inspiration. I was inspired a few weeks ago by this random composition in my window after I was done playing around with capturing the plant shadows. Lines and light and plants peeking out, it was interesting to me.

Today I'm musing on inspiration over at Mortal Muses. We're in the second day of 9 Days of Inspiration, with lots of giveaways - every day! Come on over and comment to enter. Also visit our More Musing site, where today's post of Muse University - a repost of this week's Exploring with a Camera on Rain - has an awesome giveaway for rainy day photography! Every day for the next 9 (well, now 8) days you will see inspiring posts from amazing women around the internet on the More Musing site in addition to the usual daily inspiration from Mortal Muses. Hope to see you all over there.

Today's update on the piles: Thanks for all of the advice yesterday, last night I took it easy and just talked to a friend, then put my feet up and watched a movie and read for a while. Today the piles are slowly disappearing as I work through the house, but I've also made pancakes with my son and done some other organizing, so it's all been good. In the words of one commenter: What needs to get done, will get done, with plenty of time. :)

Sweet Relief

Isn't it funny, how you can totally love something, but you can sometimes get too much of it? That's how I feel about night photos right now. Bring on the sun! I captured this one in my living room last weekend, a nice break. Just a plant and a shadow and the sun. Simple pleasures.

This weekend we're heading to Oktoberfest in Munich. Should be fun to see this crazy, big, famous festival. Lots of photo opportunities, and a Radler or two. (For those of you who don't know, a Radler is half beer, half lemonade, and pretty darn good!)

I also wanted to announce that I'm planning a Photowalk in Portland, Oregon when I head back to the US for a business trip next month.  Mark your calendars - Sunday October 10th at 10am. Please email me (kat [at] kateyeview.com) if you are interested, and I'll send you the details on meeting place when they are finalized. Many thanks to Jenny C in Portland for helping me to get this together. Come and join us, rain or shine!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Making Ideas Real

Flowers in pots on doorsteps or windowsills are favorite subjects of mine. I love the angles of the architecture as a backdrop for the curves of the plants and the pots. There is often interesting contrast in textures and colors of ground, wall, door, pot and plant. I love the care that the inhabitants take in creating the little scene on their doorstep or windowsill. Each one is different, unique, like the people who create them. So I keep being inspired by them; I keep photographing them and sharing them here.

This morning in reading Simple Abundance, one of my favorite books at the moment, I came across this thought from the author Sarah Ban Breathnach, "...While you are offered many dizzying opportunities in a lifetime, Spirit only comes once for each Work seeking creative expression through you, then moves on. The bottom line is that the Work must be brought forth. If you don't do it, someone else will."

Interesting thought to ponder... that these ideas that come along to us are only "ours" as long as we do something with them, make them real. If we don't, someone else will get the opportunity to be inspired by the same idea, and we'll be left in the dust saying, "Hey, I had that idea first." Which, as we all know, doesn't count for anything.

So the "work" I'm doing with my art and the creative inspiration I receive for this blog - whether it's sharing the art of doorstep gardens, the little everyday details I see as we travel around, the ideas that come to me for my Exploring with a Camera series, or the insights into my creative process - are only "mine" as long as I actually use the ideas. Make them into something real.

There is a a saying I love in Italian, "Tra dire e fare c'è di mezzo il mare," which translates roughly to "between saying and doing there lies the sea." I want to be on a boat, crossing that sea, as much as possible. I don't want to lose out on all of these wonderful opportunities that inspiration brings along, even if it's as small sharing the image of a few potted plants on a doorstep. Thanks for joining me along this journey to turn these ideas into something real.

Bonne Journee!

Wouldn't you love to see this every morning on your way to work? Some one wishing you "Have a good day" in such a wonderful way? I would! I loved this florist display in Lausanne, in the French region of Switzerland, for it's cheerful message and abundance of flowers and plants. It just fills me with a positive happy feeling and I can't help but smiling. (And wondering how long it takes them to set all of those plants out each morning!)

So to you all today I say Bonne Journee, or maybe more appropriately for where I live, Buona Giornata!

PS - This was the post I was planning to write yesterday morning when the muse struck, and my heart told me I had a different message to share for the day. What an amazing experience that was, both in how it came together and with the response. Thanks so much for all of the wonderful comments, it is so awesome to connect in that way.

The Zebra in Switzerland

"I really believe there are things nobody would see if I didn't photograph them." - Diane Arbus

Perhaps you were thinking that upon my return from Switzerland, you would see grand vistas of the alps? Snow capped peaks and high alpine meadows? Yes, those are somewhere in my pile of files. But what I wanted to share first is the zebra bench. This is something that stuck in my head. I loved this bench, and the plants around it, that I found wandering in Unterseen and Interlaken. I had a great time photographing it, studying it from different angles and compositions while Patrick and Brandon waited for me. There is nothing like a scene like this to give me a wonderful creative burst, and I knew I would love at least one of the photos I took.

But almost as interesting, is the conversation I had afterward with Patrick. I mentioned something about loving the zebra bench, and he said, "What zebra bench?" He hadn't even seen it. Wow. I spent 10 minutes photographing something that someone else didn't even see. Now, I doubt that I'm the only person to have photographed this little scene, I'm sure there are many others who have done the same. But the idea that there are many more that didn't see it at all, makes me realize, once again, that I have something to share with the world. I can show people what I see, from the Kat Eye View.

"The camera doesn't make a bit of difference. All of them can record what you are seeing. But, you have to SEE." - Ernst Haas

So, so true.

Why Windows?

An attractive set of windows in Dubrovnik caught my eye. As I was editing this photo and others from this day I wondered, why windows? Why do they catch my eye so? Especially ones with plants and flowers in them. Ones like this, with interesting bars to cover them too.

Maybe it's because of the individuality of each of them. Each window is different, unique, has a history of its own. The decorations reflect the individuality of the owners, no two are alike. They are an outward display of the lives inside. So much of peoples lives is closed inside here in Europe - inside the shuttered windows and big solid doors - that this is a little glimpse that there is someone living in there. And someone there who cares to make their place look pretty on the outside, even if the only way to do that is to decorate the window. Not for the tourists, but for themselves and their neighbors, the people who will enjoy it every day.

And I get to enjoy these windows, to photograph them, and to share them with you. Thanks to all of these anonymous people, who make my images possible. They are the true artists here!

Always Looking In

It seems I'm always looking in. Into windows, courtyards, towns. Capturing the evidence of the lives of people in the places we visit. I love windows like this one from Split, Croatia... so full of plants the shutters won't close. Full of the day's laundry drying. Full of texture and rust, of times past caught along with the current moment.

Isn't that what photography is about? I guess it is, at least from the Kat Eye View!

So, what's your view?

Creative Spirit

This photo gives me such a good feeling. I can remember the creative excitement I was feeling when I took it, this greenhouse at Castello di San Sebastiano da Po (Piedmont) was such a wonderful place to photograph. I was filled with an urge to capture as many images as possible, from all different points of view. How many ways can you photograph something? An infinite number. And what I'm finding is that the one I like best of series or place changes over time.

Reviewing the photos of this year since I started posting a photo a day has been enlightening for me, seeing what caught my eye at the time and what catches my eye now. Finding the little details I capture of the places we've visited. Picking out the specific ones that I like best, that show my unique creative spirit, my eye for a place has been interesting. This blog has truly become the "Kat Eye View" on the world more than I expected. Thanks for sharing it with me, I'd love to hear your comments!

Windows on the World

I love window shots. I especially love window shots here in Italy. Just look at this window. Imagine it without the flowers and plants - it's just a barred window at the back of a building, by a parking lot with all of the electrical boxes. Ugh. But add a couple of window boxes (creatively made of wine boxes, no less!), some draping vines and you have a beautiful little garden scene. Still at the back of the building, still with a parking lot right next to it, but you don't notice that! Window art, for sure.