Bo Mackison

Art is What We Call . . .

September 8, 2012 by Bo Mackison 5 Comments

Spotted Lily, Olbrich Gardens, Madison Wisconsin

“Art is what we call…the thing an artist does.

It’s not the medium or the oil or the price or whether it hangs on a wall or you eat it.

What matters, what makes it art,
is that the person who made it overcame the resistance,
ignored the voice of doubt and made something worth making.

Something risky. Something human.”

~ Seth Godin

I read Seth Godin’s words this weekend, and thought, “Oh yes, spot on.” This weekend I’ve been working non-stop on a photography project – a project that means a great deal to me on a personal level. It is my hope that the portfolio I’m assembling will also speak to other people. But what really matters, has already taken place. My photographs speak to me, make meaning, explain life.

What other people think is interesting, and I am always curious to hear what people truly think about a photograph I take and process. But another person’s opinion won’t change my thoughts. I’ve taken the photo, chosen it, looked at it carefully, even listened to it, and – this is the biggest discovery – I’ve heard the photo speak to me with love.

It took time, and some learning, but finally, I’ve discovered my opinion about my photograph is the most important opinion. Not to say I don’t want to know what others think. I do, but with a caveat.

As Seth Godin so astutely said, in the last line of the above quote:

“Art is not in the . . . eye of the beholder. It’s in the soul of the artist.”

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She is currently assembling two portfolios for portfolio reviews — 5 reviewers, 5 reviews, 20 minutes each — for when she attends the Filter Photo Festival in Chicago in October. She is terribly excited about the coming experience!

Filed Under: Art of Healing, Photography Tagged With: art, art portfolios, Bo Mackison photographer, botanicals, Canon EOS 5D Mark II, flowers, macro-photography, Madison, Madison Wisconsin, nature, Olbrich Botanical Gardens, Photography, quotations, Seeded Earth Photography, Seth Godin, spotted lily, Wisconsin

To Walk in Silence

September 7, 2012 by Bo Mackison 9 Comments

The more zigzag the way, the deeper the scenery.
The winding path approaches the secluded and peaceful place.
~ Huáng Bīnhóng

The theme at Abbey of the Arts for September is silence. An invitation was extended to visually reflect on what silence looks like. I pondered what my photographs of silence might look like, and then went wandering (apt word) through a few of my photo catalogs. I immediately felt drawn to the many photos I have of paths or trails leading into wilderness areas, paths I walked alone and in silence. Meditative walking.

Whether I am walking along a sand dune, part worn boardwalk and part shifting sand . . . or through a green forest, thick with green vegetation, towering leafy trees, wildflowers sprinkling pastel colors amidst my feet . . . or tramping on a desert trail, worn deeply into the side of a mountain, stretching through stands of cactus, climbing over piles of tumbled rock . . . or strolling on the smooth pavement in a tended garden, walking further and further away from the crowds, deep into the recesses where few wander, but much joy is found . . . or hiking along a snaking path through the wilderness of badlands, a barren maze of eroded land, ridges, peaks, and mesas — all of these I walk in silence.

In listening to the silence, for silence has a sound, I find answers to my questions, and more questions seeking answers. I find my way through the wilderness and then I am home.

“People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle.
But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air,
but to walk on earth.
Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize:
a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black,
curious eyes of a child — our own two eyes.
All is a miracle.”
~ Thich Nhat Hanh

“Walking is the great adventure,
the first meditation,
a practice of heartiness and soul primary to humankind.
Walking is the exact balance between spirit and humility.”
~ Gary Snyder, The Practice of the Wild

“A fact bobbed up from my memory,
that the ancient Egyptians prescribed walking through a garden
as a cure for the mad.
It was a mind-altering drug we took daily.”
~ Paul Fleischman, in Seedfolks

Our way is not soft grass,
it’s a mountain path with lots of rocks.
But it goes upward, forward,
towards the hidden sun.
~ Ruth Westheimer

That’s the best thing about walking, the journey itself.
It doesn’t matter much whether you get where you’re going or not.
You’ll get there anyway.
Every good hike brings you eventually back home. ~ Edward Abbey

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. Walking is her daily pleasure, her daily meditation.

Filed Under: Art of Healing, Photography Tagged With: Arizona, badlands, Bo Mackison photographer, boardwalk, Canon EOS 5D Mark II, desert trail, forest path, garden path, meditation, National Parks, nature, sand dunes, Seeded Earth Photography, silence, walking

Pink Queen Anne’s Lace – August’s Photo-Heart Connection

September 5, 2012 by Bo Mackison 24 Comments

In the right light,
at the right time,
everything is extraordinary.
~ Aaron Rice

When asked the question “What kind of photographs do you take?” I usually respond with the same answer.

“Mostly macro-botanicals,” I reply.

When I get a questioning look, I explain further. “Close-ups of flowers and plants.”

And macro-botanical photographs are what I mostly exhibit at Art Festivals. As patrons enter my show booth, they tell me they feel as if they are entering a huge flower garden. There are that many large macro-photographs of flowers hanging on the walls.

I spend lots of time photographing flowers, too. Each week I spend three or four days visiting and taking photographs in the botanical and horticultural gardens near my home. When I travel, I search for the locations of the nearest gardens and I try to schedule time for a visit. Yes, I photograph macro-botanicals!

So you would think when it is time for me to choose a Photo-Heart Connection photograph at the beginning of each month, I would naturally pick a macro-botanical. Not so. Today I realized that this is the first time in 2012 that I have picked a flower photo.

So. Why did I choose this photograph of Queen Anne’s Lace? I loved the colors. It is unusual to see Queen Anne’s Lace this color — they are usually white with perhaps a touch of pink. But this small stand of QAL was bright pink. And I loved how the rising sun shone on this roadside weed and turned it into a glowing, dew-drenched beauty. And I loved that I took this photo while I was on a long weekend with my husband in one of our favorite places in Wisconsin – Door County, a peninsula that juts out into the waters of Lake Michigan.

Three good reasons. Color. Light. Memories. Perfect for August’s photo-heart connection.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. During the first week of each month, she re-visits photographs she’s taken the previous month, searching for that month’s photo-heart-connection photo. Bo is always quite thrilled when that special photograph finds her.

Filed Under: Photography Tagged With: Bo Mackison photographer, botanicals, Canon EOS 5D Mark II, color, Door County, gardens, macro-photography, nature, Photo-Heart Connection, pink, Pink Queen Anne's Lace, Seeded Earth Photography, sunlight, sunrise, Wisconsin

Dahlia and Bud

September 4, 2012 by Bo Mackison 4 Comments

When words become unclear
I shall focus with photographs.
When images become inadequate,
I shall be content with silence.
~ Ansel Adams

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She photographed these flowers while walking the paths of a sculpture garden near Fish Creek, Wisconsin.

Filed Under: Photography, Travel Tagged With: Bo Mackison photographer, botanicals, bud, Canon EOS 5D Mark II, dahlia, Door County, Fish Creek Wisconsin, flowers, macro-photography, Seeded Earth Photography, Wisconsin

Traditional Fish Boil – Sunday Series

September 2, 2012 by Bo Mackison 8 Comments

Traditional Fish Boil - Begin with Potatoes

A visit to Door County is hardly complete until one experiences a Door County Fish Boil, a Scandinavian tradition. Now the Fish Boil is a tourist attraction, but in the 1800s it was the most expedient and cheapest way to feed the masses of fisherman and other workers in a sparsely populated area.

Traditional Fish Boil - Lake Michigan Whitefish

It is cooking at its simplest. Outdoors over a log fire. A huge black kettle. Plenty of salt water. Basic ingredients – potatoes, onions, and Lake Michigan Whitefish. Tradition has given way to modern convenience in one way – the stainless steel inserts often come from recycled washing machines. The Whitefish is only hours from Lake Michigan. Three or four steaks are cut from each fish, and fileted by machine.

Traditional Fish Boil - Checking the Progress

Potatoes go in almost whole. The ends are cut to allow the salt water to flavor the whole potato. Next the fish boil master adds the onions. And then he adds the whitefish last.

Traditional Fish Boil - Adding a Little Salt

He adds a huge scoop of salt. This is salt water cooking!

And then the wait is on. All the diners circle around the cooking area, all with cameras in hand. The littler kids squeeze up front for a good view. These little guys, brothers who wer 5 and 2, kept chanting. “Hurry up! Hurry up!” Ten minutes is a long time to wait when you’re a little kid (or an adult for that matter) and you’re waiting not only for dinner, but for the fish boil master to yell “boil over!”

Traditional Fish Boil - Regulating the Boil

The fish boil master regulates the fire and the cooking temperatures by kicking away logs. Logs standing on end keep the fire burning intensely. Logs kicked to the side allows heat to escape and reduces the heat.

Traditional Fish Boil - Adding Kerosene to Fire

When the fish and accompaniments are fully cooked, kerosene is added to the flames. This cause a flash of fire, the water boils over the pot, and the excess oils from the fish wash over the pot.

The fish pot is then lifted by two men with long poles, and delivered to the kitchen where dinner is quickly put on plates and served. The clean plate award is a slice of cherry pie. That’s another Door County tradition, courtesy of the many orchards on Door County. Its geographic position, a peninsula stretching into the waters of Lake Michigan, keeps the county more temperate than the rest of Wisconsin, so apple and cherry orchards are plentiful.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She took this series of photos while on a weekend trip to Door County this summer. Bo has been to many a fish boil, beginning with her first one when she was ten years old. She remembers taking a single photograph of a fish boil with her Brownie camera, and wishes she still had a few photos from her earliest attempts.

Filed Under: Photography, Travel Tagged With: Bo Mackison photographer, Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Door County, feeding the masses, fish boil, Fish Creek Wisconsin, Pelletier's Restaurant, Photography, Scandinavian tradition, Seeded Earth Photography, Sunday Series, traditional fish boil, Wisconsin

Art is What We Call . . .

To Walk in Silence

Pink Queen Anne’s Lace – August’s Photo-Heart Connection

Dahlia and Bud

Traditional Fish Boil – Sunday Series

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