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!

Spring Cleaning Giveaway Winners for February

Congratulations to the two winners:

Nancy -- you have won Springtime Vision!

Allison -- you have won Farmer's View!

Please e-mail me with your addresses, Nancy and Allison, so that I can send out your prizes. My e-mail address is:

the_phoenix_42@yahoo.com

Here's how the winners were selected:

It was a case of "pick a card, any card," doubled. Since there were only eleven entrants, I decided to choose the two winners by drawing two playing cards from eleven playing cards, with the ace being number one and the jack being number eleven. The first card I selected was an ace, and Nancy being the first entrant and first winner won first choice of photos. The second card I selected was a five, and Allison being the fifth entrant and second winner won second choice of photos.

Because this giveaway was fun and my studio still needs some spring cleaning, I'll be planning another giveaway. Stay tuned!

A Dance of Winter Sun

Ice is filled with creative possibilities.

The painterly photo above shows just one way in which nature can be transformed into abstract art.

Here's the original icy pond, which has a pretty cool pattern in its own right as the sunlight dashes across its slippery surface:


Enjoy the seasonal beauty!

Spring Cleaning Giveaway – This or That, Part I

Two lucky blog readers will have a chance to win a 5x7 fine art photo matted to 8x10.

With tomorrow being Groundhog Day, many of you will be looking forward to things like flowers and warm weather, and envisioning scenes thereof. While the good news is that here in the realm of Narnia on my blog, winter with its lovely ice and snow will continue, at least I can get into the spirit of things by taking this opportunity to do some early “spring cleaning” in my studio.

How the giveaway works:

You can win either a matted 5x7 print of Springtime Vision, which is the photo shown above at the top of this blog entry, or you can choose a matted 5x7 print of one of the other following photos from this list:

1. Fall Reflection
2. Farmer’s View
3. Leaf Harvest Road
4. Road to the Shire
5. Springtime Vision

To see what the photos in the list look like, you may visit my Etsy shop at the following link:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/CountryDreaming

Then simply leave a comment below letting me know which photo you’d like to win. Two winners will be randomly selected two weeks from now. The winners can then e-mail me their home addresses so I can send out the prizes.

All sons of Adam and daughters of Eve are eligible to participate in this giveaway.

Sunrise Surprise of a Bookish Nature

Spent part of today listing items in my new ArtFire studio to try and broaden my internet presence as an online artist. The above photo, Dawn Kindling, was the one I chose to focus on and upload to ArtFire. This photo was taken on Kelleys Island looking out across Lake Erie.

Soon after I finished uploading the photo, a coincidence two years in the making happened. Back in the fall of 2008, a lady from a publishing house contacted me to ask permission to use Dawn Kindling in a textbook meant for young adults. As my payment I would receive a free copy of the book with my name listed on the Photo Credits page.

The book arrived in the mail today. It's called "La Salle - French Explorer of the Mississippi" by David Aretha. It's part of a series called Great Explorers of the World. My photo Dawn Kindling is spread across two pages and in the lower right corner of the image is an old-fashioned-looking paper scroll with the caption: "La Salle was the first European to cross the Great Lakes by ship. The first of the lakes that the Griffon crossed was Lake Erie."

Here's a link to the book on Amazon.com:

La Salle - French Explorer of the Mississippi

And so I'm published! Life is full of surprises!

Anyone else have a nice surprise that makes you smile? You're very welcome to comment and share ...

Flown South

This fine art photo, taken several years ago, shows a heron rookery in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Brecksville, Ohio. The Great Blue Herons have flown south for the winter, leaving behind a scene of still beauty in glimmering metallic tones of gold and aqua.

Nearby Cleveland, Ohio, just a hop, a skip, and a jump away was recently ranked number one by Forbes magazine on its list of America's Worst Winter Weather Cities?!?

Personally, I think there's some mistake, as a Cleveland winter is normally absolutely gorgeous. What the editors of Forbes * really * meant to say was that Cleveland is absolutely at the top when it comes to the best winter weather ever!

The crazy thing to me about the Forbes list is that Buffalo, NY of Blizzard of '77 fame didn't even make the top ten. Wow. I grew up in the Buffalo area, which more than likely gave me a lifelong fondness for snow.

So how do you feel about the Forbes "America's Worst Winter Weather Cities" list? Is your city there? Does it deserve to be? Do you like the weather where you live?

Enquiring minds wanna know ...

Creek with Winterglow

A cold beauty runs its watery course through the ice and snow of wintry banks. This is another fine art photo look at Hemlock Creek in Walton Hills, Ohio.

EcoRover wanted to know where the hemlocks are ... that I cannot say. Maybe they left the forest, like the Ents of Fangorn on the move. EcoRover, meanwhile, can be found here:

http://ecorover.blogspot.com

Birdhouse

Remembering warmer days at the Rocky River Nature Center in North Olmsted, Ohio during a snowstorm. Decided to give this photo a painterly look.

Back for Some Splashing Cool Conversation at Ye Olde Summer Watering Hole

This photo is called "Keeping Cool." These two horses were happily splashing around in their watering hole just like little kids. Photo taken at the Southern Cross Ranch in Madison, Georgia back in May, 2007.

What a long, strange trip it’s been … and the journey continues.

So what’ve I been up to?

Driving back and forth like a mad woman between Ohio and New York to participate in not one, but two art shows at the same time. Right now I have two photos on display: “Memories of Ellen” is up at the Market Street Art Center in Lockport, New York. “Intergalactic Scenic Overlook” … the photo that won first place back in February up in New York … is up at the Zanesville Art Center in Zanesville, Ohio.

“Memories of Ellen” is named after a childhood friend who grew up and moved away. In fact, this is the playhouse in her backyard. Link to the Market Street Art Center: http://www.marketstreetartcenter.org/

“Intergalactic Scenic Overlook” … as mentioned in an earlier blog entry … here’s a link to that blog entry:

http://countrydreaming-countrycorner.blogspot.com/2009/02/sky-is-not-limit.html

And here’s a link to the Zanesville Art Center: http://www.zanesvilleartcenter.org/

Worked on a short-term, time-sensitive technical writing contract assignment during the month of June. Long hours, but so rewarding to work with manuals in foreign languages from Spanish to Japanese as well as with excellent supervisors.

Feeling a bit under the weather with one thing or another, just now feeling like my old self again.

Attended a 4th of July picnic at a relative’s house. Most memorable moment was hearing from across a smoke-filled backyard, “Mom, he’s got one of the sparklers in his mouth …” Don’t try this at home. Even though someone else actually did.

So that’s what’s been up with me. I look forward to visiting blogs now that I’m here … Wow I’ve missed you guys! :-)

Question for Readers: So, how have you been spending YOUR summer vacation?

Kelleys Island Photo Published in Lakeland Boating Magazine

As February ends, I just received in the mail some copies of this month’s issue of Lakeland Boating Magazine. Page 41 contains a photo I took on Kelleys Island called “Glacial Grooves."

The original photo was taken in May of 2005. What amazed me was how the striped pattern in the clouds matched the rock formation directly below.

Getting the shot was a matter of timing where I had to hold my breath. Reason being, when I first saw the cloud formation hovering over the rock formation, a family with small children was just starting to make its way around …allll the way around … verrrrrrry slowllllly around … the entire walkway surrounding the glacial grooves. Now that rock formation had been around for 30,000 years since the ice age that carved it, but cloud formations vanish into thin air instantly and without warning. So patiently I waited, at least outwardly. Inwardly I was thinking, “Come on, comeon, comeon, comeon, hurry, hurry hurry, please, please, please!”

The family finally reached the end of their groovy tour. No sooner had they stepped down and past me that I snapped my camera shutter and caught the shot. Good thing too. The cloud formation changed shape and floated away within ten seconds.

For more information on the Glacial Grooves of Kelleys Island, here are two websites you can visit:

http://www.hollianneholmes.com/glacialgrooves/

http://www.kelleysislandhistorical.org/island_places/glacial_grooves.htm

And for more information on Lakeland Boating Magazine, please follow the link below:

http://www.lakelandboating.com/

Question for Readers: Do you have any photos that you snapped just in the nick of time? Where everything came together perfectly? Have you had any photos published in a magazine, or do you plan to? Please feel welcome to leave a comment and share your experiences.