Author Archives: scillagrace

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Cool Colors

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“The half-circle of blinding turquoise ocean is the love’s primal scene. That this blue exists makes my life a remarkable one, just to have seen it. To have seen such beautiful things. To find oneself placed in their midst. Choiceless.” – Maggie Nelson

John’s challenge to us this week is to depict cool colors. He says, “Cool colors evoke calmness, serenity, and tranquility, feelings often associated with water, sky, and nature.” From green to violet, the short wave colors reflect a part of the spectrum found in abundance on our blue planet. As the northern hemisphere turns away from the sun, days are growing shorter, nights are growing colder, and the change in light brings a mellow calm to the excitement of summer. I wish you well, Friends, as this season comes to an end!

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Sense of Scale

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How much do I love you
I’ll tell you no lie
How deep is the ocean
How high is the sky

How many times in a day
Do I think of you
How many roses are
Sprinkled with dew

How far would I travel
Just to be where you are
How far is the journey
From here to a star

And if I ever lost you
How much would I cry
How deep is the ocean
How high is the sky

Irving Berlin penned the lines to this song, trying to express the meaning of an important love. As a human, I sometimes feel my experiences can fill up the whole world, when in truth, they simply fill my own body and mind and soul. Keeping a sense of scale in the Anthropocene Era is difficult. Human impact is literally changing the planet. It’s important to look around at the other branches on the Tree of Life and practice being mindful of their significance.

This oak tree in the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge near Vancouver, WA is about 400 years old. When the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts, this tree was but a sprout. When I look at the size of the limb that fell to the ground compared to my friend walking around the tree, I am in awe. This living being has been through a LOT – while staying in one place.

Is there a place you go to put your human self in perspective with the rest of the Universe?

Thanks to Sofia for the technical instruction and inspiration for this Lens-Artists theme.

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: What’s in a Garden?

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My last Challenge post on the subject of Garden was three years ago. You can see that post HERE. So how do I answer Ann-Christine’s question in a new way? What IS actually in a garden? Please see HER POST for some examples around the globe.

Wikipedia says: “A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, or enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature, as an ideal setting for social or solitary human life.”

I am taking care of a friend’s house, pets, and garden for a few days. Her garden is quite whimsical and full of unusual things. Here’s a gallery of shots I took today:

In the Wheel of the Year, we are just past Lammas or Lughnasadh, the first of the harvest festivals. This is the midway point between the Summer Solstice and the Autumn Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere. Invasive Himalayan blackberries are ripening everywhere along the roadsides and creeks. Neighbors are harvesting zucchinis and other veggies in abundance. The blackberries take no planning at all, but the other crops require diligence and sweat equity to nurture them through the dry summer months when pests of all kinds threaten the possible returns. I send my gratitude to the growers who provide an abundance of beautiful produce to the markets here.

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Zig-zag

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“Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for a change.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Our Challenge host for this week, Patti, writes, “It’s time to take a photographic detour off the straight and narrow path and veer into the territory of unexpected turns, switchbacks, detours, and zigzag lines, much like our journey through life itself!”

When I think of meandering rivers or of trails that switchback up and down a steep grade, I think of the dangers of a straight shot. Without zig-zagging a bit, you pick up too much speed. Too much sediment rushes downstream, you tumble head over heels, or you break down in exhaustion trying to go up against gravity. Slowing down and lengthening your path of travel allows you to see more sights, to savor life along the way.

It seems that in building structures, the zig-zag of diagonal beams builds strength and distributes stress. That sounds like something that could benefit us all.

I think seeking and celebrating all things Zigzag is a worthy Challenge!

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Balconies

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I’m really enjoying seeing balconies from my fellow Lens Artists who are world travelers! They are so diverse and interesting and culturally influenced by weather and social status and other factors. Our host, PR, gives many beautiful examples – visit our inspiration HERE.

When I visited New Orleans in May, I was very impressed with the balconies in the French Quarter. I suppose they function to move air in the upper stories of these city buildings, but they are decorated so lavishly as well.

However, as a performer and a theater nerd, my first thoughts about balconies are about the ones inside a concert hall or theater.

Have you ever stood on a stage and looked into rows of balconies? Have you ever stood on a stage and looked into the faces of people in the balcony, anticipating your performance, eager to be entertained, to be moved, to feel alive? Would you find that exciting…or terrifying? For me, the difference is whether I believe I’m being celebrated…or being judged.

Have you heard the term “balcony people”? Joyce Landorf Heatherly wrote a book about them, saying, “Some people are in the ‘balcony’ of your life, cheering you on, energizing you with their affirmation. Others are in your ‘basement’ doing exactly the opposite. This book is about being a balcony person.”

Jennifer McClure writes in LinkedIn: Balcony people are intentional with their encouragement. Balcony people listen well, and ensure others feel they’ve been heard. Balcony people focus more on facilitating victories that solving problems. Balcony people have the courage to share constructive feedback – even when it’s difficult.

So, I would like to add to our weekly Balcony challenge and invite you to consider how you gaze at others from above. Are you looking on in love and encouragement, benevolently shining your smile in a glow that allows the one in focus to shine? Or do you perhaps gaze in judgement like a magistrate whose frown sparks fear into the hearts of those standing below?

I find the balcony to be an interesting arena, worthy of creative thought.


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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Perfect Pairs

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My driveway, good for gathering blackberries or snowballs

Elizabeth of Albatz Travel Adventures hosts the Challenge this week with a tutorial on creating photographic diptychs. I’ve been playing around with the WordPress image gallery options, and this makes me think of pairing up mis-matched socks or table place settings. Do you wear imperfectly mated socks? Do you put differently colored dishes together? Do you match up contrasting fabrics and textures and patterns to create an ensemble (or a room) that is balanced and pleasing? I am in awe of people with that kind of design sense. This is a fun way to play along! I will close with one of my very favorite pairings…

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Habitat

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“A habitat is a place where an organism makes its home. A habitat meets all the environmental conditions an organism needs to survive. For an animal, that means everything it needs to find and gather food, select a mate, and successfully reproduce. For a plant, a good habitat must provide the right combination of light, air, water, and soil.” – from the National Geographic website 

Star Solomon’s Seal, Marys Peak in the Oregon Coastal Range

It is wildflower season in the mountains of Oregon. Hundreds of native pollinators are gathering food, spreading pollen, and laying eggs. It’s a “FEED AND BREED” fest that is breathtaking to behold, especially with a backdrop of snow-capped volcanic peaks.

Cone Mountain meadow
Indian paintbrush, Menzie’s larkspur, cat’s ear, etc. on Cone Peak, looking at Iron Mountain in the Cascades.
The Three Sisters, Cascade Range

I hiked the Cone Peak-Iron Mountain Loop trail on Tuesday. The high point was the observation deck at the top of Iron Mountain, 5440 feet above sea level. From there, several snow-topped volcanic peaks along the Pacific Rim range are visible: Mt. Hood, Mt. Jefferson, the Three Sisters, and Diamond Peak. My friend and I had hiked under utterly cloudless skies for hours. From the summit, though, we sighted some clouds gathering southwest of the Sisters. One looked suspiciously vertical and grayer than the rest. Could it be smoke? When I got back home, I looked up the wildfire news. Sure enough, a wildfire near La Pine, Oregon, had started. The latest report says that the “Darlene 3” fire is 42% contained and has burned 3,889 acres as of Thursday.

Wildfires are a huge threat to habitat here in the Pacific Northwest – for plants, animals, and humans. In others parts of the world, flooding is the greatest threat. Both are linked to the warming of our planet’s atmosphere, which I believe is the most destructive and catastrophic phenomenon in human history. I grieve habitat loss and climate change deep in my soul. For my sanity, I witness the beauty of Nature and photograph what I can, when I can. May this testimony stand with others as an inspiration to make adjustments to the human habits that effect and dominate our global habitat.

My thanks to Tina for her stunning wildlife photos and her invitation to consider Habitat. Do visit her post HERE.

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Two Rectangles

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This week’s challenge offers a photography technique about composition. Edigio of Through Brazilian Eyes illustrates how two dominant rectangular areas in a photo create a balanced and pleasing image. I thought the example below seemed to offer a good example.

The porch pictured above belonged to a historic building on the William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge not far from my home. Unfortunately, it burned to the ground last December. Here’s a news photo I found of it in flames.

(Photo by Damien Miller/USFWS)

When I first read of this composition technique, I was reminded of an annual event that I visited in the Milwaukee Art Museum. It was called “Art in Bloom” and featured a contest of flower arrangements inspired by the artwork on exhibit. I tried to photograph the original art and the flower arrangement in a way that would showcase the similarities. Lo and behold, the two rectangles technique seemed to emerge!

In this case, more than two rectangles…

Thank you, Lens-Artists, for continually engaging our creative community. I wish you all the best – see you next week!

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Behind (Backgrounds)

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What’s your back story?

What creates the context of this moment?

What supports and informs the action playing out in the foreground?

There is always so much more history to a scene than we can ever imagine. Eons of evolution, dependent and co-arising, have gone into this particular instance and presentation of matter.

Background is a LOT. It can be overwhelming and distracting. Sometimes we minimize it in order to pay attention to the immediate subject.

Perhaps there is great wisdom in the practice of selecting and managing the background to our focus and our living when possible, while being humbly aware that there is so much more involved. We are all part of an interdependent web of life.

There is always more than we can comprehend at play. Be kind. Be humble.

Thank you, Ritva, for inviting us into this challenge. Do visit HER POST to learn great tips on background composition.

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Connections

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“She would only point out the salvation that was latent in his own soul, and in the soul of every man. Only connect! That was her whole sermon. Only connect the prose and the passion, and both will be exalted, and human love will be seen at its height. Live in fragments no longer. Only connect, and the beast and the monk, robbed of the isolation that is life to either, will die.” – E.M. Forster, Howard’s End

My mother, a Radcliffe English major, used to quote Forster often. “Only connect!” she’d say, referring to a variety of ways that she’d joined thoughts and anecdotes and facts and trivia. I was mystified by this reference for a long time. I wrote a poem about her once, comparing this practice with my visual memory of her pairing up socks while sorting laundry. Helpfully, a Google search has led me to a new interpretation of that quote. The connection of prose and poetry, of head and heart, of physical, sexual, spiritual and intellectual energy alluded to in Forster’s novel reminds me of the theme in the 1927 film Metropolis – the intersection of industry and humanity.

I searched my recent photos to find illustrations of this concept. I quickly realized that I’d set my aspirations pretty high. I’m reaching for artistic expression that mirrors sweeping novels and ground-breaking cinema in my amateur snapshots! Well, let’s embrace that absurdity. Why not?

I finally came across a display of Love Locks on this pier on the Mississippi River in New Orleans. Here’s an AI generated summary of this cultural phenomenon (nodding to John’s challenge of last week): “Love locks, or padlocks of love, are a way for couples to symbolize their love by attaching them to a public fixture, such as a bridge, fence, or statue. The locks are often engraved with the couple’s names or initials, and sometimes the date, and the key is thrown away to symbolize their unbreakable bond. The tradition is thought to have originated in Serbia over a century ago when a young woman named Nada died of heartbreak after her lover was unfaithful. Inspired by her tragedy, local women began attaching padlocks to bridges with their names and those of their loved ones. The poet Desanka Maksimović later memorialized the story in a poem that helped spread the practice around the world. Today, love locks can be found in many cities: Paris, Cologne, Malta, Mount Huangshan.”

How do you anchor passion and hope? How do you create loving connection that endures in this technological age?

I find a precious connection in this moment between my sister and my son-in-love. It depicts two different generations connecting face to face, while his cell phone is idling in his hand.

This modern world can be overwhelmingly distorted and fragmented, filled with hard angles that force our soft bodies into tight spaces. How do we live in connection with all this, in right relationships where we are good for and good with the world around us?


Donna at Wind Kisses initiated this wonderful online connection between us Lens-Artists. Do go visit her post HERE for beautifully illustrated and intricate connections in Italy, Greece, and Turkey.