Blog

Slowing Down

After days of working on my first hand-made sample book and other projects last week, this week I’m feeling like Slowing Down and spending some time simply being present and quiet. My body is feeling a little achy and tired and my mind is feeling fuzzy and slow. Snow is falling outside my office window (still/again/seemingly forever) and the skies are gray. Fortunately, though it’s been snowing most of the day, very little has accumulated. Thank goodness for small blessings! I read the way a person might swim, to save his or her life.― Mary Oliver This morning I read, Read more…

By Marilyn, ago

Green Get-away

Today Jon and I headed to the Como Park Conservatory for a morning walk and Green Get-away It was beautiful, though there were lots of people there, too many for me to really slow down and make serious photographs. I find that I need a lot of alone time to truly pay attention when I photograph, otherwise I simply don’t see the world the way that I want to see it. Still, I enjoyed being surrounded by green. My heart soared inhaling the scent of flowers and green things in the air. And my senses basked with the gentle touch Read more…

By Marilyn, ago

Visual Prayer

It struck me today that the photographs that I make and share are a kind of Visual Prayer My photographs are not about words. They are about feelings of gratitude, wonder, grace, and mystery. I don’t know exactly what a prayer is. I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass, how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields, which is what I have been doing all day. — Mary Oliver When I pause and look—really look—at the world around me, I cannot help Read more…

By Marilyn, ago

Perfectly Imperfect

Today I’m sharing a short post to share photos of my first hand-made book. I finished the sample book project that I began earlier this week. It is Perfectly Imperfect, like all of life. The most important thing about art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying.” ― Steven Pressfield, The War of Art: Winning the Inner Creative Battle The perfection for me is that I overcame my fear of failure and overwhelm at doing something that looked so hard, and I did it. The imperfections are easy to see. But since I made Read more…

By Marilyn, ago

Squirrel, book-making, roses and more

Yesterday was a day filled with writing, making photographs, working on my sample hand-made book, and enjoying nature right outside my office window— Squirrel, book-making, roses and more! It felt like a Mary Oliver kind of day, perfectly imperfect and full of light. I began my day working on the cover of the hand-made book I’ve been working on. I would give myself a grade of C for my results so far. But I’m happy with my progress anyway. I now know that I need to learn more about gluing down the corners. My efforts were less than successful. But Read more…

By Marilyn, ago