A Quiet Sunday Morning Here in Spadoville

Dream Catcher. Driftwood with black sinew 2009.

Early here, just past six a.m. Thought I'd jot down a few thoughts and show you some great pictures taken by my daughter the other evening. She sent me an e-mail that contained them, the subject was; Sunset or Forest Fire?

However, before I get to that, I just want to mention the picture I posted above is one of the newest Dream Catchers I made. (need more info, just ask) I'm using pieces of wood that may not be identical and joining them to form a circle, but not a circle in the usual sense, rather an enclosure in which to weave. I wanted to start the post off with a photograph of something. I also want to apologise for the soundless YouTube I posted on the previous post about Only the Good Friday. YouTube said I couldn't use The Doors music as I didn't have the rights. Next time, I'll use original music that I DO own the rights to.

I also need to mention that today is my Grand daughter's birthday. Lilly is five years old today. I call her Yoody and she is a sweetheart, but then again, so are all the rest of my Grand kids, (and your Grandkids, cats, dogs, cockatoos and other pets and plants)

Now, on with this post:

These are amazing photographs. I use them with her permission. By the way, she does a dog rescue service and has a website. I never knew she had her own website. I knew she did the dog stuff. Click Here to see her website and some great dog photos. She has some really cute doggie puppies. I know there are many of you dog and cat and pet lovers out there. Take a look at her site.

So, I bought this camera a couple of years ago. It was an upgrade to an old early edition digital pocket camera we had. The old original was an Olympus three megapixel. It lasted through a lot and broke after repeated droppings on the floor. I bought a new model with a lot of bells and whistles, manual adjustments and features. Mrs. Spadoman never liked it. She wanted small, simple, compact easy to use point-and-shoot. I gave the bigger full-featured camera to middle daughter and dog lover/saver Alyssa, and bought a new one of the more simplistic variety for us to have as a camera.

So daughter Alyssa, knowledgable about such things as cameras and photography in general, actually uses the built in fancy features of the camera we used to have. When I saw these pictures that I am about to show you, I mentioned how well the camera was. I was told that ".....it is the eye behind the lens that makes great pictures"

Touche'. But she is absolutely correct. The photographer can make things happen with any lens. Have you ever seen any of those pinhole cameras? Someone takes a cardboard box and pokes a hole in it with the tip of a pin or small nail, tapes raw film on the inside and exposes the picture to light by uncovering the pinhole. I've always wanted to try this. Maybe I will someday, but it has to wait. I have so many projects going on right how and a busy summer of travelling coming up.

This Guy at This Site has a great site and hosts a pinhole camera fair every year. Take a look at some of these fantastic photographs taken with an oatmeal box, (or a variation thereof).


Photo by Bob Cormack with his Pitts Special Aerobatic Biplane, taken with a home made pinhole camera.

These are some great examples of pinhole photography. This is definately one of those things I need to be doing when I'm sitting around wondering what there is to do.

Before I unveil these fantastic photographs, I want to call your attention to a blog I started going to lately. It is called Thorne's World.


An example of Thorne's beautiful work, "The Spirit Horse"

Thorny, as another friend of mine refers to her as, has a lot of talents, and one of these is that she is a tattoo artist. She started a series telling about herself and began with her interest and beginnings in the skin art. I found it to be a great read as I have been contemplating getting an old tattoo refreshed to brighten 18 year old color, and maybe a new tattoo on the opposite arm. Have a look.


Now, here are the pictures. Sunset or Forest Fire?



When I first saw these, I swear they were of a forest fire. We have spent a lot of time in California over the years, so has my daughter. I thought maybe they were pictures of a fire somewhere out West. Someplace we both have been or lived at one time or another.



Each photograph is deeper and more intense.



About now, I knew it was a fire.



This last one nails it. A forest fire, with flames shooting up from the treetops. Flares of burning, windswept and out of control.

That's what old Mr. Sun is. A burning ball of fire. It came to us this evening and it spoke to us. Alyssa captured it flawlessly.

Good Job! (That's my kid)

Peace to you all.