I'm so involved with living life right now.

I love it.

also, I haven't really been taking pictures lately. which has been good. I needed a small rest.

Oliver James

hmph.

sometimes things just don't work.

and it's frustrating.

the end.

three hundred and sixty five days

three hundred and sixty five photographs.

three hundred and sixty five special days documented with dancing light, digital sensors, and thin emulsions on film.

one whole year.

a year full of dear things. dear friends. dear memories.

I cannot believe it's over.

out of three hundred and sixty five days, I only skipped ten times. that's a lot. and I'm ashamed. but still.

I have grown immensely as an artist and as a person during this process.

there's nothing more challenging and wonderful as forcing yourself to create something nice every day.

many days I have felt distracted by the harsh realities of this world and the only thing to focus my mind on what really matters has been to grab my cameras and walk and see things.

I have appreciated my lovely and patient friends for being my fascinating subjects and letting me pose them as I want to or redo their hair or paint their faces or countless other ridiculous things I've done to them to get a photograph I'm satisfied with.

this project has been one of the many things that has helped me see that making pictures is in my blood and I can't escape it's call.

I will continue to photograph the world until I cease breathing.

free spirit.

so nowadays there are lots of little boys and girls going through life telling people they are a free spirit, without caring or knowing what that really means.

do they know that a free spirit isn't someone who "bucks the system" or "sticks it to the man"?

instead, a free spirit is someone who is not hemmed in or stretched thin by the expectations of society.

do they know that a free spirit isn't someone who is moody, loud, quiet, thoughtful, flippant, tame, or wild?

no no, a free spirit is someone who comes alive to the world around them.

someone who wants to know who their own self is.

someone who wants to know who their maker is.

someone who copes with the weight of sin by laughing, crying, dancing, singing, running, yelling and creating.

someone who strives to love deeply and intently.

someone who intends to only speak the truth.

I'm a free spirit.

are you?

I've always had

a wild imagination and a see-through heart

you really should click on these to make them larger. they look tons better.
so. inspired. right. now.

Oh Charlie. I love you so.

Today I watched a little documentary on the making of Noah and the Whale's album Last Night on Earth. Then there was a little cyber-chat thing where people could ask questions and Charlie Fink would answer.
These are my favorite answers:





Above all, this is my favorite question/answer:


Charlie, how is your hair made so perfect? We all want to know!

finished product

music- Addicted to Self Mutilation by M83

we are the children of tomorrow

some stills from a short stop motion.

you should click them to view them larger.

they look nice.

I'm Here

After seeing "Where the Wild Things Are" again the other day, I couldn't help but be curious about Spike Jonze's other work.

So tonight, I watched his somewhat strange short film "I'm Here".

It's about robots.

and self-sacrifice.

and a sweet kind of robot romance.

and I loved it.

So if you want a fabulous alternative to "Wall-E"...you should watch this.

the rain the rain.

little whispers echo in the hollow of my ears.
while the cold (drip) rain (drop) falls quickly (drip) on my windshield (drop).
it is Friday the 13th and the emotions pulsing through the Earth are all gloom and despair.
until the laughter and smiles of kindred spirits come.
and sadness is shooed away and replaced with a contented joy.

sometimes, I'm so scared of change my heart shakes like droplets on a dangling leaf.

lesson....learned?

Today was the last creek kids of the semester. and maybe the last one I can make until late July.

21 candy bags were made, bubbles were purchased, and face paint was packed. When my faithful helpers and I arrived at Rainbow Creek, no children were waiting on the playground as we've so often seen before. After knocking on some doors and asking around, three children came.

Three.

We've averaged 8-12 kids for this whole semester. For the last big blast, three kids are there. At this point, I'm thinking "so uh, God, what are you trying to say here?"... By the end of the night, after layers and layers of face paint were applied to my face, I was so happy we came.

I'm still wondering what exactly God wanted me to learn. Maybe He wanted to humble me, or maybe He wanted me to learn to rely on others, or maybe I'm not really supposed to know what He was doing right now. I'm kind of clueless.

All this to say, Creek Kids has been such a blessing and I cannot and will not ever forget all of the kids that came.

Hopefully, I'll see them this summer sometime...

tuesday nights

no creative captions tonight. just images.

mug shot?

snippets of inspiration

1) Artist: Ella Richards

she cuts the images out of black paper.

2) Yvonne Miller

i love surprises

Someone I know recently talked about practicing what he called "awareness". He talked about just being aware of his surroundings, his thoughts, and his emotions as much as he can. I've been trying to add being "aware" to my list of everyday activities. It's actually harder than you would think.

The past few days, when I've truly absorbed everything around me and everything I'm feeling internally, I've been amazed at how much I miss.

Tonight, I was surprised by a scary picture of Jenny as a clown when she was a child and by Jonathan coming to Chattanooga State's Fine Arts celebration thing.

I was quickly aware of how much I love surprises, my friends, and life in general.

Needless to say, I am too happy to go to sleep.

life is short

so you should try to truly live it.

loveliest jen

going through older photographs.

found this.

liked it a lot.

*click on image to make it larger. and to make it look better. please.

quiet sorrow

take slow walks at night. breath in the sweet, fragrant spring air.

cope with the quiet sorrows of this aging earth.

I was not made for this weight.

I was not made for this hurt.

I am not made for this world.

*please click on images to view them larger.