Blocking Off Time ...

.. as a chip off the old ice block, of course! Above is another icy abstract, a moment frozen in time transformed into an iridescent panel of art.

Have you blocked off time to be creative this week? Would you like to? How so? What would you do? Or do you find yourself frozen up against a creative block? If so, you may wish to take a little time off and think outside the blocks.

Here's the original icy pond soaking in the winter sun:


Enjoy the seasonal beauty!

Terraform I, 2010

This study in transformative otherworldly geography is a new fine art photograph of mine that I'm working on together with a series of similar images. The abstract closely resembles what you would see if you were a space alien hovering above a planet to be explored for the purpose of colonization.

"I'd like to make myself believe
That planet Earth turns slowly
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay
Awake when I'm asleep
'Cause everything is never as it seems."

~~ Fireflies lyrics, Owl City
by Songwriter Adam Young

Ash Wednesday Abstract

This photo, taken in March of 2005, is called "A Wisp of Hibachi Smoke." In this image, a lingering trail of cooking smoke curls its way across a Japanese restaurant.

Transforming Ice, Water, Mud, Sunlight, and a Twig into Modern Art

The above photo taken yesterday at Mapleside Farms in Brunswick, Ohio is called “Mineral Water” and carries on a wintertime tradition of mine involving the creation of abstract art by using an ice-covered pond for inspiration.

It can be quite a challenge in Northeast Ohio to get decent sunset photos during the winter. The weather tends to be so overcast that there’s even a local folk song the gist of which describes Cleveland as the land of “a hundred shades of gray.”

Yesterday, when the sun finally came out and the clouds were magnificent dramatic billows in the sky, was a cause for celebration. So what caught the attention of my camera? The humble muddy edge of an ice-covered pond with an embedded twig and weak sunlight playing across the surface. Awesome!

Below is the original photo.

With the help of Photoshop, nature can become surreal to the point of unrecognizability and abstract to the point of one’s own imagination.

Question for Readers: Have you ever used nature photography as a starting point to create fantastic, otherworldly, surreal, or abstract effects? Please feel welcome to describe your venture from nature photography into art, or alternatively, your preference for realistic nature scenes.