The Only Pink Tulip © 2012 Bo Mackison
The truly important things in life — love, beauty, and one’s own uniqueness — are constantly being overlooked. ~ Pablo Casals
Everywhere I walk I see a new combination of tulips. So many different colors, shapes, styles. I think this Wisconsin spring must have been gifted with an abundance of tulip beauty!
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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC.
Garden Door in Late Autumn © 2011 Bo Mackison
Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile is the source of your joy. ~Thich Nhat Hanh
I am smiling at the memory of the many hours I spent in the gardens and national parks in Arizona. The waning sun often cast a golden glow before it quickly set for the evening.
The quote that I used today is one I repeat often to myself. I found it easy to be filled with joy when I was strolling along the garden paths at Tohono Chul or the Tucson Botanical Garden. A smile came readily to me. Back in Wisconsin, I find the conditions outside are not always conducive to outside shoots. And when the temps are below freezing and the skies are gray, I have to work a bit harder to reach that feeling of joy.
I find that the simple act of smiling while preparing a cup of tea, or sorting through photo catalogs brings me joy. My smile can be a source of joy — for me and for the people around me.
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Bo Mackison is a photographer, owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She has returned to Wisconsin from the Southwest to celebrate the Holiday Season with family and friends. Bo’s first show back in Arizona will be in early February – the Tubac Festival of the Arts!
Garden Gate © 2011 Bo Mackison
My favorite thing is to go where I’ve never been. ~ Diane Arbus
Travel and blogging – a difficult pair. I always have much I could write about when I am traveling. But I never have much free time. And when I have free time, I am at the end of my day and my motivation to ready a photo and write are struggling with my needs to relax a bit or go to sleep in order to be ready for the next day.
I’m not in my more accustomed Tucson mode. This is trip one of two trips to Tucson in the next few months. Sherpa and I decided November was a safer time to drive the art trailer to Arizona. Less weather drama. And after last February’s travels through rain, sleet, ice and snow, we decided “no more winter travels, not if we can avoid them.”
Sherpa hooked his remaining vacation days to the long Thanksgiving holiday and so, on this first trip to Tucson, we are officially on vacation. We’ll return to Wisconsin for most of December, and then I’ll return to Tucson in January and be here for a few months to do a few winter art shows in Arizona.
Today I am going to do one of my favorite things – go where I have never been. (Diane and I must have a lot in common!)
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Bo Mackison is a photographer, owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC.
Three Tops at a Mic © 2011 Bo Mackison
I am imagination. I can see what the eyes cannot see. I can hear what the ears cannot hear. I can feel what the heart cannot feel. ~ Peter Nivio Zarlenga
Ever get carried away with your imagination as you look at the most ordinary of scenes?
This photograph of the prairie as it is breaking apart and shedding its finery in preparation for winter is straightforward. A few coneflower seed heads plus a stem in focus in the foreground, and more seed heads — out of focus — in the background.
And suddenly I no longer see the dying autumn prairie:
I see the “Three Tops,” a premier singing group in Prairie Land, at their microphone. Singing their hearts out as their fanatic audience sways to their rhythmic beat. Many in the audience are singing in their seats, but a few of the “Three Tops” most ardent fans are squealing and dancing at the bottom of the stage.
Hmm . . . Ursula Le Guin wrote, “I doubt that the imagination can be suppressed. If you truly eradicated it in a child, he would grow up to be an eggplant.”
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Bo Mackison is a photographer, owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She walks the prairie, thankful she did not grow up to be an eggplant.
Zinnia © 2011 Bo Mackison
Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it. ~ Buddha
I have had some wonderful successes photographing the late summer gardens at Olbrich Botanical Gardens. Every garden I visited seemed to hold me hostage until I could get a some photographs that made me smile. I sure don’t mind being a hostage in a garden. Imagine having a tiny home surrounded by acres and acres of gardens (and lots of gardeners to help, too!)
I’ve been to Olbrich almost everyday for the last week. First, the hosta and elephant ear plants seemed to mesmerize me, as the early morning sunlight made the leaves almost translucent. I t was as if they were holding the sun. I almost felt like I truly was in a trance.
Three days in a row I shot nothing but these green plants, and they were only about 15 feet from the entrance to the garden complex. I just could not past this entrance area until I had nearly exhausted the plants and flowers (and myself) with all that photographic attention.
But the last two visits, I strolled right past the entrance — I waited to sneak in several more greenery photos as I was leaving — and I got as far as the gardens filled to overflowing with cosmos and zinnias. Since the cosmos are one of my favorites, I spent a fair amount of time lying on the sidewalk next to these beauties, having long conversations about important world events — like the advances autumn is making in its bid to overtake summer!
Finally, when the sun began to rise high enough in the sky to lose that soft lighting, I spent the last half hour with the zinnias. Lucky, I had the diffuser with me, so I could both reduce the shadows, and protect the flowers against the winds that started blowing off the lake. This pink zinnia had with her head down, and so I happily got a few photographs from a different angle. I love the little pockets of shadings caused by the gentle curling of each petal.
Tomorrow the forecast is for a rainy Friday. Might have to stay home and tackle some house cleaning and computer work. That would be a good thing — plus the gardens would appreciate the rain, too.
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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. Bo is having a most excellent start to the month of September. So many amazing projects are popping up, but no complaints. Creating and making meaning with photography is one of the highlights of her life!
