Day 1 Convergence in Albuquerque, N.M.

OK - it is now day 5 but I finally have internet connection.  Here are my notes.  

Convergence is the bi-annual conference of the Handweavers Guild of America.

Plane left Detroit 50 minutes late but managed to make my connecting flight in Minneapolis.   After arriving at the hotel and picking up my conference packet I wandered around the downtown area.  From the convention center it looked like an old train station in the distance and that is what it turned out to be.  It is now the transportation hub with Amtrak, Greyhound and the local bus system.

From there I walked down Central, which is part of the old Route 66 route.  Had a quick afternoon meal and found the hat store that Frank and I bought Kris and Chris cowboy hats when they were little. 

After a short swim, went down to the hotel bar for a light meal.  While I was deciding where to sit, another lady asked me what I thought of the menu.  I indicated that the bar had a light menu and when she said that sounded good, I invited her to join me for dinner.

She was enjoyable company.  She owns the Folkways Pattern company and had previously owned a local wool shop and worked at Fiber Arts before her current job.

Buried in Homework

Just saw that it has been almost a month since I posted to this.  Between work and the homework from the Design Class as CCS I have had no time.

But over the 4th of July weekend I tried to relax and do some reading and weaving.

On the Friday I finished the book "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" by Junot Diaz.  I had given it to Frank for Christmas and he enjoyed it.   It had won the Pulitzer Prize and I did like it - but I am sure he enjoyed it more understanding the Spanish that was heavily sprinkled about.  

On Saturday I started "White Oleander" by Janet Fitch.   I went on a reading marathon and finished it on Monday.  Compelling writing though I felt it could have used a few less different foster home horror stories as she moved from one to another.  A good story though about how her mother, who was in prison, still has such a strong hold on her and who she is.

DPChallenge #3

Going downhill on scores.  Last weeks challenge was "Take a photo in which two similar subjects are captured at once."


I titled the picture "My Eye is Fuller than my Vase" which is from a poem by Emily Dickenson.  

Received my lowest score of 20%.  


Two comments:
 1)  Nice Composition harmonious use of color.  The on camera flash is a big detraction.
2)  You got hit because the items weren't similar enough - but this is an exquisite shot. Beautifully done!


But despite the score - two people gave me a 10.  So I was pleased.  
(and no you cannot vote for your own)

DPChallenge #2

Did better on my second attempt at the DPChallenge.  This time the topic was "Family".  The instructions were "take a photograph that conveys the idea of family.  Your photo need not contain a person."  


This time I managed to get in the top 50% (barely - with a 53%).  The last time was a 15% (or they rated 85% of the other photos better than yours).  I feel pretty good about it. 


I titled the picture "Fading Immortality" and it is below:

Some of you may recognize who this is -- the snapshot is an old picture of my grandparents (my dad's parents).  The picture on the left is part of an encaustic collage I had made in a workshop I had attended.  It is a collage technique using colored wax.  The family tree on the left if from a copy of the Lolli family tree that my dad had done.


So far - I am having fun with this.  I have another picture I submitted yesterday for this weeks challenge - looking forward to see how I come out.  Looking at the other pictures - I don't think I will make the 50% goal.

More Views from the Back Yard

DPChallenge #1

A friend of mine talked me into entering the DPChallenge which is a web site that has a weekly photography contest based on a topic.  Last weeks topic was "Other Art Forms".  You needed to take a picture of another piece of art that you do.    I entered a picture of one of the scarfs I wove.  Ended up 125 of 146 with an average score of 4.8 (out of 10).  Why I really entered is to start trying to get more creative with my photos and also to get ideas about how to improve.  I received three comments and two were constructive (the third was a pat on the back).

One person suggested I crop it differently to concentrate more on the fringe against the black.  I tend to agree.

The other comment was "Looks just a bit low in contrast: there could be brighter color in your image to display those colors".  Now I have to figure out what she/he means and how to do that!   Life is a learning experience.

May Be Changing My Favorite Flower

I have always loved lily of the valley.  Those of who have seen my bathroom you would see that I have a lily of the valley them going.  But I find I have not learned how to photograph them very well.  My pictures always turn out to be fairly blah.

But I love how iris's come out.  I have printed up one of my iris pictures from last year and hung it in my other bathroom.  Here are a couple of my latest pictures from my yard.