I was recently invited to join an etsy team . I am deeply honored, because some of my favorite artists are on the team....and we will be developing a group blog and website and running ads together.....By pooling our resources we can do so much more than one of us alone...It is so difficult to have your artwork seen....on such a large site as etsy.....pages and pages of images...hundreds of thousands of photographs to choose from...How can anyone even see your work?
For this blog and website....we were told to write a brief piece about ourselves, where we live, where we work and what we are inspired by....I don't know why this is so difficult to do....I don't want to sound pretentious....or unprofessional......I don't know why it is so nerve wracking!!!!
I thought I would experiment, by writing a little blurb here first...to try to describe what motivates me...and how I work..and who I am.....
And, also....I've been very busy.....I was shooting on my vacation..and now I am sorting through my work...posting some and working on others..and trying to sort through the images...mining for gold......
My work is continually changing.....I really do work from inspiration...I mean...I force myself to work..when I am not inspired..but the true...."work" comes from my heart or soul or from every fiber of my being...(ooh..is that pretentious?)..It's difficult and challenging to describe...
When I was a child..my best friend and I spent every afternoon writing and illustrating books for each other...that chronicled the story of our adolescent lives.....the boys we had crushes on...sort of merged into the Victorian and Gothic fairy tales we had been reading....unrequited love..was a big theme.....
I also wrote, directed and starred in plays, entered short story competitions and basically grew up wanting to be a writer. In Los Angeles, I finally began writing for underground zines and national newspapers...and first rented a camera to "illustrate" my articles.
Later I switched my major from journalism to photography....loading my film cannisters in the closet and developing film in my bathroom and hanging my negatives on the shower curtain rod. The dark room magic hooked me and I bought my first medium format camera from one of my professors...
Now, I live in a remote rural area....it is both naturally beautiful and somewhat limited culturally..let's put it bluntly..there are not a lot of free thinkers where I live...I moved from a city...devoted to the arts...so that is difficult for me....I sometimes feel stifled or trapped. However, within my photography I am free....I can go anywhere I want....hampered only by my imagination and skill.
I am inspired by all of the arts: music, film, literature, nature, animals, architecture, antiques, dance and even fashion.
Every day I get up and work on my craft...every day it changes...Some days I am inspired by a dream I had...or see a vision while listening to a song or reading a poem....Some days it is the way the light illuminates a bird feather....or the reflection in a pond or a puddle after a summer storm. ....It is all so visual....yet comes from a deep place within. Ever day, I attempt to hone my craft....but , more importantly, I hope to Deepen my artistic vision....both the quality and "feel" of my work.
Basically, I am obsessed with art and addicted to beauty!
I am still shocked when people relate to what I do..and are actually moved by it!!!
In memory of Donald...who always inspired me..who always had time for me....who created magic in the lives of all who knew him..and loved him. Who was always present....listening, giving, helping, uplifting....Who lived in a miraculous way.....creating beauty and meaning while planting an exotic seed in his garden, making a cup of tea or creating works of meaningful brilliance in almost any artistic medium....But always, wise, funny, warm, kind and humble...Donald lived deeply...and made my life richer and more magical...The Sage...
Compared to last year,
this has even more loneliness--
early summer evening.
by Buson and Lu Ci
