A few days ago, on one of my walks with Sam, I came across an old dumping grounds and some rolled up circlets of barbed wire. I brought one home with me - this is a photo of the pile -- thinking I will make it into a Solstice wreath for our front door. I have to come up with some ideas for a way to make it look festive with a Western motif. I'll post photos after I put it up.
Yay! I finally learned a new technique for masking backgrounds and isolating objects without a background. Thanks to Corrie Haffley, an expert Photoshop-er and author of several useful articles at SitePoint , for her super-clear and easy tutorial. This is my first attempt. The background was complicated and multi-color, so it wasn't as easy as her example, but I think it came out okay.
The Japanese Garden This website is produced by Bowdoin College, specifically by Prof. Clifton Olds. Check out the page on "Elements" for more details on garden elements such as Stones, Bridges, Waterfalls and Sand. An educational site with a great overview about Japanese Gardens - their philosophy and history, and links to a couple dozen gardens in Japan, with photographs.
What a strange tangle ...
I found this odd growth pattern on a hike up Davis Gulch. This is just one shrub about 12 feet high. It's growing like some fantastical Watts Towers sculpture. Some of the branches seem to twist and twine around 306 degrees until they grow back into themselves. At first I thought it was a "fort" made by kids, a hide-away place on the hill, but when I came close to it and examined it, I realized it has nothing to do with human machinations ... this was formed by nature, somehow. I'd love to know how this happened, why the shrub grew this way.
It reminds me of Mary Robinson's print, "Tangled Branches" -- she is on the faculty of the College of Art at the University of South Carolina, and teaches printmaking.
I'm always looking for good writing resources, both online and in print. One of my favorites websites is Bartleby Reference. When you do a word or phrase search, you can search all of Bartleby, or narrow it down to dictionary, thesaurus, literature citations, verse, prose, symbols, synonyms, etc.
I also like the RhymeZone for poetry, poetic-prose writing stimulation and inspiration -- or, for that matter, you can also use the Rhyme Zone as a thesaurus. The Rhyme Zone also has a feature for searching for particular words in the works of Shakespeare (in case you're into that ...)
Today I stumbled upon the HyperDictionary, which seems pretty comprehensive - there is even a "Dream Dictionary" search to find associations for many words. Although I'm not one to "interpret" my dreams in the strict sense, I do like to consider my dreams, use them in therapy, use them in my creative life as inspiration or as jump-off points for my artwork or poetry. And the fact that this reference gives you a comprehensive list of the word's definition, along with the "dream dictionary" meanings, synonyms, related words, antonyms ... makes it an excellent resource for using your dreams as fodder for your writing, art, whatever ... Reading through the official definition of a word might spark a unique line of thought or inquiry when considering your dreams.
The diagram above is from one last reference site I have to mention, although you can only "try it" for a few times before they ask you to buy a subscription. Even so, the Visual Thesaurus is so fascinating it's worth checking out. It is an interactive visual (duh...) constellation of words and connections between words - a creativity and thought-stimulating interactive tool for exploring the relationship between thousands of words. It takes a bit to get used to it, and in some ways I think of it less like a direct tool for writing and more of a tool for getting my creative juices going. If you find it useful, and want to take more time to explore the Visual Thesaurus, a subscription (or buy it outright for your desktop) may be worth it.
