Serendipity is Nature's Generosity

Lamb's Ears - Image c Lynda Lehmann

I've been wanting to get back to painting, because painting is my first love.  I had promised myself that my next post would be about pigment instead of pixels.  But nature intervened and threw me a curve.  
I had all but given up on finding anything pixel-worthy on my walk today, when I stumbled upon these dried "Lamb's Ears" plants (as a friend of mine calls them).  They are just slightly wilted from the cold, which has been intense for a December on Long Island.  But their light gray-green color was outstanding against the auburn of dried, fallen leaves.
It's sometimes hard to find subjects to shoot on suburban streets, unless one comes across a wooded area or something at the very edge of the street. In order to respect people's privacy, or should I say their feelings about privacy, I never point my camera towards a house.  That's why I so enjoy getting out of the neighborhood to the larger outdoor spaces with my camera.  Not only is there usually more to shoot, but I feel free to point my camera in any direction.
Nature came through again today, with a subject that I feel holds a good deal of beauty and mystery.  I've seen this cluster of plants in the same location before, but today the light was right and the colors just popped! Whenever I take in a scene or object of beauty, I feel rich. So today held a tiny bit of serendipity for me.
I hope you found beauty and a touch of serendipity in your day, as well!    
Reposted from Peripheral Vision blog.  All images and text  are copyrighted material, and may be used only with written permission (email is okay) by the author/artist, except where syndication rights have been granted. All other rights reserved. Please visit my primary art site at http://www.lehmann.myexpose.com/gallery if you would like to see my paintings and more of my photography and digital art!

Sibilant Songs of the Shoreline: Surf, Shells, Seagulls, Sand, and Sky

Early Bird - Image c Lynda Lehmann 2010

Winging It - Image c Lynda Lehmann 2010

Feeding Time - Image c 2010 Lynda Lehmann

Alone Among Strangers - Image c 2010 Lynda Lehmann

Anticipation - Image c 2010 Lynda Lehmann

Blue Sky, Blue Water - Image c 2010 Lynda Lehmann

Nested in the Sand - Image c 2010 Lynda Lehmann

Gull Walk - Image c 2010 Lynda Lehmann

Beach Baubles - Image c 2010 Lynda Lehmann

Inevitable Beauty - Image c 2010 Lynda Lehmann

What's sibilant at the seashore? The hissing of the foaming surf, the shrill screeching of gulls, the satisfying intervals of silence and solitude.

Okay, you've got me. The words I've used to DESCRIBE those natural phenomena are instances of sibilance, whereas the phenomena themselves, are not.

Nevertheless, every time I go to the beach with my camera, nature reveals her little secrets to me, sights and sounds and smells (there I go again) that fill me with joy. It seems that by looking through my camera lens, I've made a pact with beauty. Each time I see more than the time before. No exotic foreign scenes, just everyday sights of the shoreline. Each time, I feel so rich and enriched: my cup of beauty is full again!

I see the entire animal kingdom in the clannish squawking chatter of the gulls, moving mostly in unison against the waves, in vigilant outlook for their next meal. I see the cosmos in a brightly colored scattering of shells, the treasures of ages in a golden, iridescent conch half buried in the sand.

It's an addiction. Framing an image in your viewfinder or LCD screen can do two things. It can actually insulate you from the walking/hiking experience because you loose yourself in the intention of getting satisfying photographs to document the experience you're only HALF having, lol....

Or, by the concentration of your focus on aspects and segments of the surrounding environment, you actually sense and see MORE of it! Most of the time it's a wash (no pun intended) and what I lose in the directness of the experience, I'm compensating for by the poignant visual moments--those shining little moments of thrilling epiphany--in which I entirely lose myself. Nature spins its magic around me and I'm in FLOW for as long as I go with it.

At one point I had hundreds of gulls taking wing around me--and for a moment I was immersed in a universe of fluttering wings whose "whooshing" sound filled the beach and drowned out the crashing of waves and the hiss of sea-foam. (As you can imagine, I was immensely grateful that none of them dropped on me...)

I watched in awe (through my lens) as one sedate gull was knocked over backwards by a wave. He had to use his wings to straighten himself and scramble back into his sitting position. If a gull can look surprised and flustered, I think he did! But maybe I'm anthropomorphizing too much....

I've been carrying my tripod lately. It becomes quite heavy to lug over long distances on sand or muddy trails. But it's worth the benefit of better photo quality--and I'm finally training myself to carrying it religiously. I've been shooting at narrow apertures, as small as F 11 and even F 16 on sunny days, to facilitate depth of field. Although JPG noise continues to be a problem, even when I use a noise filter in the processing.

Here are a few of the many images I shot the other day. My favorite shots are "Anticipation," "Nested in the Sand" and "Blue Sky, Blue Water." My greatest joy is finding beauty and tranquility in everyday scenes, including local beaches and parks. Most of us are fortunate enough to have a park, or a stretch of forest, or a garden, somewhere nearby. Do you have a favorite sanctuary where you habitually go to find natural beauty and peace?

NOTE: I would like to thank all those of you who voted for my photo in the Newsday photo contest. I believe the winner had literally thousands of votes, and was a shot of a child hugging a marine mammal. I haven't been able to find it again to verify this, but it was an adorable and heartwarming photo, well deserving of the votes.

All images and text c Lynda Lehmann. If you would like to view more of my art or make a purchase, please visit Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography or my gallery at Imagekind, where you can choose from several sizes and paper types or buy my prints plain or matted and framed.

Envisioning a Web of Light

Web of Light - Image c Lynda Lehmann

Today was gray--a raw, damp, winter day. The solid stripes of snow slathered on the north sides of all the trees we saw along the roads we drove, had not yet melted or been blown off the bark by the wind. The dirty but otherwise undisturbed snow-cover gave the landscape a formidable look, reduced to a blatant, cold contrast of black and white. It was a day bereft of color and warmth. Snow and ice-sheathed and chilly, without a trace of color to behold in sky or forest, without the generous wafting scents or caressing breezes of spring.

Old Man Winter really is a stingy curmudgeon! I had to close my eyes to find an image that was warm and inviting, and I remembered summer days spent dangling ankles in river water and staring into endless reams of light thrown upon the lake by the nurturing sun. I came home and had to upload this image, to remind us all that warmer, more gentle and affirming days are on their way....

Impressionistic images like this are among my favorites. I could spend hours or days filling my "cup of beauty" with the shimmering patterns of sunlight on water and the pebbles underneath.

Image and text copyright Lynda Lehmann. All rights reserved.

If you would like to view my art or make a purchase, please visit Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography or my gallery at Imagekind, where you can choose from several sizes and paper types or buy my prints plain or matted and framed.

The Beautiful, Beckoning Wood

The Beautiful, Beckoning Wood - Lynda Lehmann c 2010

The arbor gleams. Trees gesture, dance and sway, playing with the showering gold of sunlight. Vines crawl and meander, yet always ascending. Textures pop and reflect the underlying vitality, setting the precedent for "Form." Wood wet with past rain glistens orange and lush vines play a rich green counterpoint. Shadows vignette the drama, and my heart leaps joyously into the cauldron where Creation plays out its evolving domain.

Note to My Readers: I want the above paragraph to stand alone, hence this note. My husband and I walked on the Long Island shoreline the other day, enjoying the sunshine and the January thaw. I was serendipitously graced with this image on the way out, at which point I was resolved to my day's photo-taking being over. It was getting late and the light was fading from the part of the shore we had been walking on. But we emerged into the sunlight and there it was: one of the most beautiful forest scenes I have witnessed: the bright side-lighting, the moisture on the trunks that brought out the rich colors of the bark, and the complements of orange and green. I hope this image brings to mind for you, some of your favorite moments of encounter with nature. I'd like to hear about them!

Image and text copyright Lynda Lehmann. All rights reserved.

If you would like to view my art or make a purchase, please visit Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography or my gallery at Imagekind, where you can choose from several sizes and paper types or buy my prints plain or matted and framed.

Rockin' Out

Unexpected Yellow - Lynda Lehmann c 2010

Arizona Mineral Abstract - Lynda Lehmann c 2010

I love rocks. Rocks in any form. Little shards, rounded pebbles, mighty boulders, and vast canyons--they all resonate with me. It's as if I can feel their solidity, their might and permanence. They give me a feeling of being anchored to the great mysteries at our feet and in the more vaporous elements of the atmosphere around us. They make me feel strong. They are enduring and completely OF the earth!

In our everyday lives we may see rocks as inorganic, consisting of minerals steeped and birthed in the heat and power of the Earth. But if one believes in quantum physics and the concept that everything is energy, one must believe that rocks too, consist of and emit energy. (I am speaking of rocks in a metaphysical sense. As for the emissions of radioactive elements, now THAT is another subject altogether....)

Here are a few photos of boulders I took in Arizona's Tonto National Forest. Not only do the rocks resonate with me in some enigmatic energy way, but their surfaces are a feast of form and color. Abstracted realism is one of my favorite forms of photography, and these boulders make powerful abstracts in their own right. It's just amazing, how much beauty is embedded in flowers, plants, trees, animals, air, water, fire, and yes, rocks!

Again, my eyes rejoice in what my camera can take away from majestic natural scenes filled with mystery and surprise. Every day is a gift of vision and inspiration.

Layered Rock in Tonto Forest - Lynda Lehmann c 2010

Sanguine - Lynda Lehmann c 2010

And here is an example of the total package--a macroscopic view of multiple microcosms, a vast panoramic landscape supported by rock. A canyon is a universe unto itself.

Red Rocks Ridges - Lynda Lehmann c 2010

Note: This is my first post in the New Year. I want to wish everyone health, prosperity, and happiness in 2010 and beyond. And for all of humankind, peace on Earth. May beauty fill your cup and lead you to your fulfillment, whatever its form. And may we find a way to justice, for all people.

All photos and text copyright Lynda Lehmann. All rights reserved.

If you would like to view my art or make a purchase, please visit Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography or my gallery at Imagekind, where you can choose from several sizes and paper types or buy my prints plain or matted and framed.

The Elegance Of Lichen, Revisited

Branching with the grace of trees; sparkling with the light of stars; spreading with the hope of life; imbued with the energy of Creation; pastel-colored like fairies and rainbows. What am I talking about? LICHEN, of course!

Welcome to my "Garden of Earthy Delights!" Here are some recent macro shots of majestic trees whose bark presents a cornucopia of smaller lifeforms. They represent a microcosm of organic form that rivals the beauty of any flower garden. Form, color, infinite configurations: the peaceful symbiosis of bark, moss, insects, and lichen defy the hungry eye to ignore them. At first glance you might feel these shots are redundant, but if you look closely, you'll see a great variety of abstract compositions!

I LOVE photographing lichen. I think that some of my Abstract Expressionist paintings reflect my fascination with the kind of bursting forth of life force reflected in the orderly disorder of lichen!

If these images awaken your sense of wonder and you'd like to view more of them, please visit my "Living Surface" Gallery at Imagekind.

NOTE: Please click on any image to see the enlarged version.

All images and text copyright Lynda Lehmann. All rights reserved.

If you would like to view my art or make a purchase, please visit Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography or my gallery at Imagekind, where you can choose from several sizes and paper types or buy my prints plain or matted and framed.