Articles by Bo Mackison

Sunrays on the Valley

Oro Valley Sunset

https://www.52editions.com/absences/ Sun Rays over Oro Valley

Tramadol For Sale Online The weather has been volatile in southern Arizona the past few days. Layers of billowing gray clouds, scattered puffy white clouds, rain, icy mix, a bit of snow, lots of wind, a few periods of bright blue skies.

get link This is the type of weather changes I’m accustomed to in the Midwest, but my weather watching skills had gotten a bit stale. When I looked at the weather graphics over the Arizona map, there was usually a sunny sun. occasionally a sun with a few clouds, infrequently a chance of rain. It is easy to love a blue sky day.

But these past few days offered opportunities in sky watching that were unmatched in my brief history of Arizona sky watching. Wow. The clouds hovering atop the many mountains peaks or obliterating the mountains themselves in gray swirly masses are captivating. Rainfalls in the desert bring a certain sense of glee, suspending all manner of plans and sensibilities.

And the cloudbreaks, just as the sun is setting are enough to make me stop the car, haul out my camera gear, and capture the sun rays spreading far across Oro Valley.

—————-

Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. Yesterday she took a day trip across southern Arizona, was enthralled with the scenery and the pageantry in the skies.

Arched Gate in Tubac

Arched Gate

Arched Gate ©2013 Bo Mackison

“Still round the corner there may wait, a new road or a secret gate.” J.R.R. Tolkien

Sherpa and I were wandering the back roads of Tubac, Arizona, a small community about 50 miles south of Tucson, this past weekend. I’ve walked these roads many times. Tubac is one of my favorite visits – one of the oldest towns in Arizona and one of the largest art communities in Arizona. Tubac prides itself as being a place where history and art merge, and they have reason to be proud.

It is a historian’s paradise – the oldest Spanish Presidio in Arizona dates from 1752 and is maintained with care by a community consortium at the Tubac Presidio Park. Old Town, the original part of town, is often missed by visitors – it’s a treasure trove for architect lovers and photographers. Most of the shops and galleries are in the newer part of Tubac, near the road leading into town. Numbering in the nineties, there is always one more shop to browse or art gallery to visit. Then there’s the Tubac Center of the Arts in the heart of town, an anchor that provides art workshops, lectures, and seasonal exhibitions.

And if all that shopping and art and history isn’t enough, the mountains of the Coronado National Forest loom to the east. The Santa Cruz River, a riparian corridor, offers a ribbon of green and opportunities for birding. Scenery is awe-inspiring in all directions and an easily accessible part of the Anza National Historic Trail is just a few steps away.

In a few weeks – February 6 through the 10 – the village will celebrate the arts in a big way as the 54th Annual Tubac Festival of the Arts springs into life. Hundreds of artists from all over the United States be there. It’s a show I’ve done the past two years. When I decided against hauling all of my large art and tent set-up to Arizona this year, I knew I’d be sorry to miss the Tubac show. But next week I’ll be at the Art Festival, this time as a patron,  and this year I’ll be able to see the whole show.

I spoke to a shop owner, asked her if she was ready for the arrival of the many artists and visitors. She gave me an enthusiastic yes, and explained that many of the shops did enough business during the five-day art festival to support their business and livelihood for the year. An example of how art is such an inherent part of a small community, not only as an extra but as a vital contributor.

If you are in the Tucson area, consider a visit to the Tubac Festival of the Arts, visit some of the shops and galleries, have a look around at the amazing history visible in the very seams of the community. It’s a trip well worth your time.

———–

Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She loves to photograph the many small communities in southern Arizona where history merges with the arts.

Shadow Play on the Patio

Favorite Stop for Coffee - Arizona Sonora Desert Museum

Shadows on the Patio ©2013 Bo Mackison

Almost all my middle-aged and elderly acquaintances, including me, feel about 25, unless we haven’t had our coffee, in which case we feel 107. ~ Martha Beck

Now that I’ve completed the initial phase of my photo project on my Barriers series, I’ve returned to walking the desert trails. One of my favorite stops is the coffee shop at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum. This desert discovery place in the midst of the Tucson Mountains, one of my favorite destinations for hiking, wandering, or just setting up my day office at a picnic site for hours of art, journal writing and photography. It’s also a grand way to either start or end my day – complimentary coffee or iced tea for members!

I can never sit on the patio overlooking the desert exhibits without getting at least temporarily distracted by the light and shadow contrasts from the slatted beams of the ramada offering protection from the elements.

And I always appreciate a good cup of coffee or a prickly pear iced tea as I consider the play of light and shadow. Oh, yes I do!

——————-

Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. And she always enjoys a good shadow photo opportunity!

Barriers – A Series

These twelve photographs are from my portfolio “Barriers”. I explore the journey of claiming my story and sharing my healing process, using my photography as a stepping off platform. I have posted each photograph with my story compiled from journals, letters, and personal conversations during the past two weeks. This is the series in completion.

I.

23 Lizard in Bisbee Arizona

Threatened © 2011 Bo Mackison

Let go of the need for perfection – perfection bought at a high cost.
Embrace imperfection, acknowledge mistakes, claim the lessons they provide. Embrace change.   ~ Bo Mackison

II.

Barbed Wire

Barbed Wire © 2012 Bo Mackison

Your life with its immensity and fear . . . now bounded, now immeasurable, it is alternately stone in you and star.
~
Rainer Maria Rilke, from Evening

III.

Warehouse in Winter

Boarded Window © 2011 Bo Mackison

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude
in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”  ~ Viktor E Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning

IV.

Barrio Brewery

Barrio Window © 2012 Bo Mackison

“We can spend our whole lives escaping from the monsters of our minds.”
~ Pema Chödrön https://www.appliquecafeblog.com/cray/ When Things Fall Apart: Heartfelt Advice for Hard Times

V.

Bathed in Bright Lights

Bathed in Bright Lights © 2012 Bo Mackison

“Fear is a natural reaction to moving closer to the truth.”
~ Pema Chödrön, Clonazepam Purchase Online When Things Fall Apart: Heartfelt Advice for Hard Times

VI.

Rapunzel, Rapunzel © 2012 Bo Mackison

“Only one thing is more frightening than speaking your truth, and that is not speaking it.” ~ Naomi Wolf

VII.

Bisbee Arizona

Art Lives © 2012 Bo Mackison

“Art is not a part of life, it is not an addition to life, it is the essence of those pieces of us that make us fulfilled.
That give us hope. That give us dreams and provide the world a view very different than what it would have been without us.”  ~ Hasan Davis

VIII.

Riot Art © 2011 Bo Mackison

Riot Art © 2011 Bo Mackison

Where something becomes extremely difficult and unbearable,
there we also stand already quite near its transformation.” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

IX.

Fire Escapes

A Means of Escape © 2010 Bo Mackison

Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time we fall. ~ Confucius

 X.

Defaced Wall II

Beyond, The World © 2012 Bo Mackison

Trees are sanctuaries.  Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth.  They do not preach learning and precepts, they preach undeterred by particulars, the ancient law of life. ~ Hermann Hesse

XI.

Looking Upwards

Looking Upwards © 2011 Bo Mackison

So you must not be frightened if a sadness rises up before you larger than any you have ever seen; if a restiveness, like light and cloudshadows, passes over your hands and over all you do. You must think that something is happening with you, that life has not forgotten you, that it holds you in its hand; it will not let you fall. Why do you want to shut out of your life any uneasiness, any miseries, or any depressions? For after all, you do not know what work these conditions are doing inside you.” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

XII.

Southwest at the End of the Medical Records Tunnel

Sunny Days at the End of the Medical Records Tunnel © 2012 Bo Mackison

“The portal of healing and creativity always takes us into the realm of the spirit.”  ~ Angeles Arrien

—————–

Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC.  “Barriers” – a twelve part series exploring photography, possibilities, and the healing process.

 


source

Gazing Upwards – Barrier # 10

Looking Upwards

Gazing Upwards © 2011 Bo Mackison

This post is the tenth in a series of my story, an intimate exploration of art and healing. See the introduction and complete series at  https://www.beyondagencyprofits.com/media-booking/ My Healing Journey.

“Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.” ~ Order Pregabalin Online Pamela Vaull Starr

I love this barrier in the photograph. In the physical world, it’s all bricks and boarded windows. A street address scrawled on a mural. Hinges and the door’s outline give little hint at what might be inside. Yet, the windows and door are covered with a huge print of a woman’s face, her eyes directed upwards and outwards.

Solid barriers. Yet the distance from behind all kinds of barriers to the beyond is never further than a gaze upwards and outwards. The barrier may be limiting thoughts. If I gaze beyond those thoughts, I can see the dreams that unfold into the plans that attain the goals. Step by step, baby steps. Many tiny steps forward and suddenly I’ve walked a mile. I’ve reached what I once believed to be the impossible goal.

“Ideals are like stars: you will not succeed in touching them with your hands, but like the seafaring man on the desert of waters, you choose them as your guides, and following them you reach your destiny.” ~ https://www.jacobysaustin.com/press/ Carl Schurz

The sky is always visible. The Universe, expanding beyond us in distances of time and space our human minds can barely grasp, is beyond our naked-eye visual capabilities, but it is there. We know the Universe exists, even if it is beyond our grasp, beyond our seeing.

When I get bogged down in present day happenings and the focus on myself, this photograph reminds me to move beyond, beyond what my mind can easily grasp, beyond what I can see clearly with my eyes. Listen to the messages from my heart and spirit. Choose my guides. Move beyond my comfort zone, beyond my preconceived notions of the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

“The lesson which life repeats and constantly enforces is ‘look under foot.’ You are always nearer the divine and the true sources of your power than you think. The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive. The great opportunity is where you are. Do not despise your own place and hour. Every place is under the stars, every place is the center of the world.” ~ source link John Burroughs

Once I have gazed at the stars, the moon, the sunlit sky, even the cloudy gray skies, once I have connected with the divine, then I return to my space and my time. I ground myself in this moment, the place where I stand. The place that grounds me in the here and now. I find the strength and the courage to set my goals for the day or the month or for a life time. And I move forward.

Possibility exists. The sky is visible to all. And as the Burroughs’ quote reminds us, we each have a place under the stars. We each have a place in the world. Opportunity is under our feet, even as we look to the sky and grasp for the stars.

Next: Through the Tunnel