These photos were all taken on June 15 in our garden. The subjects are some of the more colorful parts of our garden at this time of the growing season.
Please enjoy the slideshow format. You can view any of these images enlarged as part of the Picasa album, by clicking in the lower left corner of the slideshow box, where it says: View Maureen's Album.
Web designer, John (fd on flickr) at Big Huge Labs, recently introduced a fun, fast and easy way to generate a harmonious color scheme from a photograph. Imagine using this tool to quickly generate color combinations for graphics, painting, design, interior design ... whatever you can come up with. They new tool is called Palette Generator -- it works with any photograph on your computer, on the web, or in your Flickr account.
I used this series of stormy weather photos:
to generate this palette, complete with color specific numbers:
#595f56; #9ca99f; #333126 #484f49; #3f483b; #4d4a3d; #5f6653 #423926; #8a8a79; #827e78; #304150; #6a655b; #716f67; #344451; #716c61
Of course, this color combo includes lots of grays and browns because there are some sepias and black&white photos in the group. It's a slightly brighter palette if I analyze just one of the storm photos:
Below is a another color scheme generated from this photo of Dune Juniper I shot at Coral Pink Sand Dunes.
In the past, when I've had the urge to create a palette based on a photo (for instance, when I'm laying out a print ad and want some harmonious solid color areas surrounding a photo) I have used Photoshop's color sampling (eyedropper) tool to do that. It takes time to generate more than just a few colors this way.
Have fun with this new tool/toy from fd. I hope you find it as useful as I do.
Dear Readers:
welp, it's that time of month ... guess I'm a bit early this month, but wanted to get out the June calendar because it's the month my family (my mother and siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews) are having our 2007 Family Reunion and there is lots of planning still left to do.
Sooooo.... please feel free to print the calendars for your own use -- I publish downloadable calendars monthly as a gift of appreciation to my readers, for sharing your lives with me through your writings and photos and comments on my blogs.
Click here see my photoblog, Land of Little Rain.
To download, click anywhere on the calendar and you should get a new window with the image. Click on the photo again in that new window to go to the large version of the calendar. Right-click to download the calendar. It should print out 8.5" x 11" -- if you have a printer that requires a margin, please print this slightly reduced to fit on a standard letter-size paper.
Printing Tip: set your printer to the highest quality print setting and use a heavier weight paper, preferably matte-coated, to get the best quality prints.I hope you enjoy the monthly calendars, and please let me know if you have any problems downloading I can send them to you by email attachment.
Here's the April 2007 Calendar ... a little late. Please enjoy this and my other monthly calendars for your personal use -- you can download these calendars to your computer by clicking on the image, left, then right-click to download.
Tim and I have recently returned from an awesome trip to the Greek island of Crete. We were both working there as well as spending time at a spiritual retreat on the island. It was a physically demanding time, yet we both want to go back as soon as we can. Crete is an incredibly nourishing place while at the same time presenting challenges (such as the prickly shrubs that seem to fill in all of the open spaces on the island). The Mediterranean was warm enough to swim in, especially on days I thought I was going to keel over from sweating and working in the sun!
4wd ... no coffee yet ... road block ... pre-dawn ... blur vision
Originally uploaded by MontanaRaven.
1. Sunrise Work Break, 2. Defense against the Cretan Goats, 3. Sunrise Glow, 4. 4wd ... no coffee yet ... road block ... pre-dawn ... blur vision, 5. Before Dawn Monolithic Stones, 6. Sea Foam, Crete Morning, 7. Forms of Crete, 8. Gentle Mediterranean Shore, 9. Springtime surf on Crete, 10. Slow Denizen of Crete, 11. Wild Orchid, 12. Lone Carob, 13. White, 14. Blue & Yellow on Crete, 15. Mediterranean Blue, 16. Crete Lavender, 17. Phlomis growing wild on Crete, 18. MidDay Shade on Crete, 19. Red Dancers, 20. Garden Wall, Greece, 21. Growing Low in the Gardens Now, 22. Roadside Shrine, 23. Good Friday, 24. Pondering layouts over Nescafe
Hi friends and family, here, again, is my monthly offering to readers of my blog, this calendar which you are welcome to download, print, use however you want to. I'm on time with the calendar this time!
Click on the photo for a larger version. It looks best printed out at 8"x10" size on heavy weight matte photo paper, but any paper will do.
I'm always curious if anyone is actually using these calendars, so if you do, please leave me a comment. (that's optional as always, though). And for sure ... enjoy it!
Hi friends and family, here is my monthly offering to readers of my blog, this calendar which you are welcome to download, print, use however you want to. Click on the photo for a larger version. It looks best printed out at 8"x10" size on heavy weight matte photo paper, but any paper will do.
I'm always curious if anyone is actually using these calendars, so if you do, please leave me a comment. (that's optional as always, though). And for sure ... enjoy it!
You do not have to be good ...
Originally uploaded by MontanaRaven.
I know this poem has possibly been repeated near to death with all the people who love it and want to share it with everyone they know. I heard this for the first time in the early 80s ... (hmmm, I wonder when she wrote it?) during a body massage. The massage therapist had made a tape of her wooden flute music mixed with readings of her favorite poems. I listened to these words of acceptance and felt Mary Oliver was talking directly to me ...
Over the years I have come back to this poem again and again. I never tire of reading it, writing it down, typing the words, hearing other people say this. I hope there is someone reading this who needs to hear these exact words right now. Take it in and know that you don't have to do anything. You are precious just the way you are.
Wild Geese
You do not have to be good
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers,
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting –
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things
-- written by poet, Mary Oliver
My constant, soul-full friend
Originally uploaded by MontanaRaven.
A couple of days ago, I took Sam out to the fairgrounds for his afternoon walk -- it has become one of his favorite outings. He loves the wetlands, the secret aspen meadow, the old barns and the duck pond for many reasons. Not least of those reasons, I'd venture to guess, is that the fairgrounds is a literal soup of good smells (at least for a dog) and in spring, those smells are bursting from the warming duck pond like something delicious baking in a oven!
I took Sam to the duck pond at the county fairgrounds today -- seems to be no end to the interesting places we can find around the fairgrounds. Lately Sam hasn't wanted to go in the water and I have figured it's because he's over 100 (in dog years) and maybe, just maybe doesn't want to get his old creaky joints all wet and cold. But today he walked right into the water and flopped down maybe to cool his belly. Then he slowly got up, walked right out to where the water was too deep to stand and kept on going. Swimming slowly towards the geese and ducks he could see off a ways ... he can't hear much, so I'm pretty sure he wasn't going toward the "noise."
Sam's vision and sense of smell are still keen and it seemed he was heading toward the excitement, the festive atmosphere filled with the smells of duck poop, soggy bread chunks (people throw bread to the birds) and just plain ol' spring-in-Montana smells! There was definitely something going on of some interest out there in the middle of the lake and he was damned if he wasn't going to participate!
Anyway, I will post a few of the pretty-good-pics I took of Sam in the water .... tomorrow. In the meantime, here is one I clicked, of some brave and curious Canada geese who came close enough for a decent shot.
Smooth
Originally uploaded by MontanaRaven.
Run your hands over any part of this chair, made by my husband, Tim Carney,
and it will remind you of the smoothest skin, or warm glass. Tim polishes his furniture to a soft gleam, super smooth. People can't resist touching ... when they see this rocker.
This is the crest rail for his first rocking chair ... it's made of curly mango. The rest of the rocker is of mahogany.
To see more of Tim's furniture, check out his website, Timothy's Fine Woodworking.
and his blog, Shoptalk
Cowgirl Dreaming Originally uploaded by MontanaRaven.
This digital painting for Beautiful Sunday, is dedicated to one of my flickr friends, Christine, whose photo-imagery I truly enjoy. She has a keen interest in and love of horses and all things-horse ... and she is consistently generous with her comments not only on my photos, but on many others as well. Christine, may all your dreams come true.
check out this idea, if you're into blogging on Sundays:
This is from one of my most favorite poets, whom I've quoted many times, May Swenson. Seems lots of people are discovering her these days.
Originally uploaded by MontanaRaven
Night Practice
I
will
remember
with my breath
to make a mountain,
with my sucked-in breath
a valley, with my pushed-out
breath a mountain. I will make
a valley wider than the whisper, I
will make a higher mountain than the cry,
will with my will breathe a mountain. I will
with my will breathe a valley. I will push out
a mountain, suck in a valley, deeper than the shout,
YOU MUST DIE, harder, heavier, sharper a mountain than
the truth, YOU MUST DIE. I will remember. My breath will
make a mountain. My will will remember to will. I, suck-
ing, pushing, I will breathe a valley, I will breathe a mountain
--- May Swenson 1913 - 1989
to enjoy more poetry from other poetry fanatics like me ,,,, go to Liz's blog.
My Accidental Self:
For Jean, inspired by the many facets of her inner self she shares so courageously.
I was shooting some interior photos of Tim's woodworking, in a house that had lots of mirrors. It was a challenge to stay out of the photos, with all the mirrors and reflections. I noticed one photo where I didn't get out of the room fast enough after pressing the timed shutter. This is a very small section of a larger photo ... my accidental self-portrait.
Okay, so Self Portrait Tuesday is obviously supposed to be about our selves, so it may seem weird I'm sharing just one SP of my own, while sending you off to see someone else's photos. But to me it fits even the idea that I am writing about and sharing my own photo today and that is because my friend, Jean Albus, is the one who has given me so much inspiration to accept myself just the way I am. I have learned so much from her in a short time and look forward to a long, long time of being friends. Jean reminded me today that "There are no accidents." The comments on my photo make up a stimulating conversation about self-portraits.
If you have even just one free minute and you want to see some awesome self portraits, please check out Jean's album of strong self-portraits, My Aging Beauty. There are only 6 photos, so it doesn't have to take long to see all of them. Here's another album of hers I admire, Love Myself.
Please check out the Self Portrait Tuesday blog by clicking on this icon:
Night Riders
try to catch a dream then it will take you
riding, wild through the night wind
the tighter you cling the wilder it flies
wait a little, loosen your hold
look sideways at the shadows
the night riders will find you
when you least expect them
This is dedicated to all the mothers and fathers who have raised their children to adulthood and let them fly, whether those children be human children or creative works they have brought to life ...
And for those who have embarked on the second half of their lives, in hopes they find fullfillment, fruition and wisdom, spiritual seeking and renewed love of life.
This is for those parents who have fledged their children from the nest ... who have let go of the ones they love the most.
Milkweed Mother
milkweed mother, full bodied in the
evening light, her belly bulging
children round and round, she wants
to wait to let them go. keep them
til they're ready, wants
to hold them just a little
while. she turns her palm
up, lets it shake and glide, she knows
the zephyr beckons, she hears the
quiet, slightest sigh and feels air's
breath come on. it pulls them
lightly, lifts their silken
strands with gentle tugs, floats
their tiny bodies away then back.
they hesitate, she knows their
dreams. she pries small fingers from
her ruffled skirts, she smiles
and lets them go. like shy
ballerinas they take the stage look back
then lift and twirl and brighten.
she wonders will they be strong will
they fall well, will they go far,
will they be tender, will they remember?
she trembles, as they fly, she sees
herself again her hands belly breasts
empty and melancholy finds her.
she has released her brood to their
blind aerial dance. they gesture to her.
relieved and just a little lost, she
cups her palms into a golden
bowl as if to carry water to
her lips. like smoke, they fly, the ones
she loves the most they fly into the light
and she, left back finds wisdom, rest and
dreaming, dances with the light before it
sinks below the sky.
In honor of Joleen's request/idea that we post something "beautiful" on Sundays. I heard about "Beautiful Sunday from my friend, Kim in Seattle (on her Something to Say blog) This is something I made from a really really bad reject photo. It's more beautiful than the original, that's for sure. ;))
Day Dress: She complained that her gardeners had dirtied the veranda last week.
Tim and I often tell our dreams to each other; sometimes it helps to understand a dream (I don't mean interpret the dream) to reflect on it with him because he knows me so well. He is also very aware of his own dreams, and has a rich dream life. But we both go through dream-droughts, when it seems we are not dreaming, or not remembering our dreams as well. I haven't had a dry spell in a long time. Anyway, the following poem fits us -- and our dream-telling, so perfectly, that I felt compelled to illustrate the way it makes me feel, the way it fits around our dreams and stories and emotional lives. It's a poem byMoniza Alvi, born in 1954 in Pakistan. She grew up in England and I think she lives there now.
Fish
I envied my wife her nightly visions.
She'd lay each one proudly on the bed
like a plump, iridescent fish,
and ask me to identify it.
Some nights I'd even manage to trap
my own by concentrating hard,
submerging the net into blue-black waters.
I'd place my catch on the rippling sheet.
So we'd have our own two fish, almost
indecent, nuzzling each other's mouths,
soul-fish, awkward in our hands,
hungry, as if our lives were a host
of crumbs to gulp in greedily.
They'd beat their tails very fast
until we could only see the one dream
moving between us, or feel stirring
one enormous fish, with our own lives
grieving, joyful, growing in its belly.
-- by Moniza Alvi
