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Monday, January 31, 2011

Blank Slate Update



A quick update on the Blank Slate Project for you guys! The journal is moving right along. It will be making its way to the next host tomorrow. Already it has traveled to New Mexico, Oregon and of course to me here in Idaho. There are now 17 people on the list signed up to host the journal. Some are even from outside the USA. I am thrilled so many of you wanted to be a part of this project. If you want to see the images from the journal so far then hop on over and join the Flickr group called: The Blank Slate Project. I also want to express my deepest gratitude for everyone sending it back within such a timely manor. I think the journal could very well be filled way before 2012.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Live Original


The finished product of my first attempt at mixed media painting. I started small with a 4x6 page. Really could not be happier with how it turned out. Next step is a journal then onto canvas. I'm dreaming big here!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Friday Finds


I haven't done Friday Finds in awhile so I thought I would share something fun I found this week. Wednesday evening I ventured out to my happy place. I go to the bookstore to browse, shop, sit and drink tea. I do it every now and then when I need to recharge my batteries and be alone.

In walking through the isles I came across this book: One Line A Day A Five Year Memory Book. It looked simple yet elegant. A tiny book with enough room for one sentence a day for the next five years. What an incredible idea! It is even small enough to be portable. Now do I think I will fill it out every...single...day? Nope. I don't have that kind of discipline but I think it is an excellent way to add points of interest and milestones in my family's life. I am thinking more of an heirloom treasure here. Can you imagine my great-grandchildren one day looking through this book seeing the day to day points that made up our lifetime? It could even be a time-capsule of sorts, noting what gas prices were or the cost of a gallon of milk. Even in five years time these things are bound to change.  I absolutely go crazy for quirky stuff like this and quickly snatched one up for myself.

My first entry:

January 26, 2011. Bought this book at Barnes and Noble. Dinner: chocolate cupcake and chai tea.

See!! I can even document my poor diet choices!

Friday, January 21, 2011

Truth


"All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them." ~Galileo Galilei

No matter where I turn this week I am hearing/seeing/reading one common word: truth. I would not say it is so much as smacking me in the face but I think the magnitude of it is really showing me that I have a message I need to discover and learn all on my own. There has to be something I am on the verge of but haven't quite unearthed yet. So I've been digging deep this week searching for my own truths. I must be getting close...

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

I will always wander



I am so many things that anymore I find it difficult to categorize myself into profile subject lines. The word photographer no longer fits as comfortably as it once did and I realized why. I love to learn. I love the challenge of trying something new. The excitement and the shininess of it all. But then I learn as much as I feel I need to and the shininess wears off. What I need is purpose, projects and structure. If I don't have those things my photography falls into being an afterthought. I am allowing that to be okay. I am allowing myself the freedom to wander and to explore until I find that one thing that makes me so obsessively passionate that I cannot do anything else. Or maybe I am meant to be passionately obsessed with learning new arts. Maybe that is my path. Someday the answer will come.

As anyone who reads this regularly will know I have been doing my fair share of exploring other mediums lately. With this I am happy that I can cross yet another item off my Life List. I have always wanted to start painting again. I dabbled in it through High School art but that was as far as I went with it. I simply added: "start painting" to my life list. Not because I want to learn anything more with it, but simply because I just want to DO it. So last week I went to the store and picked up a small collection of acrylic paints and got to work on a chip board journal. I'm not worrying about form or vision or even technique. I'm just letting the paint flow and DOING it.

There and back



We are home after a quick trip to visit my husband in Salt Lake. He travels quite frequently for work so we try to squeeze in trips to visit so he doesn't always have to be the one to fly back. Plus I needed to get my IKEA fix. One can never really get enough of IKEA. I took very few photos with my Nikon. Mostly I just snapped happily away with the iPhone. I am still enthralled with the Instagram app. That and my lens started giving me trouble which in turn caused my Nikon to not function at all.

I love to travel but it occurred to me this weekend that I love to travel more when A. we drive somewhere new and not fly and B. we book a suite where our daughter is in another room all together. Me and lack of sleep do not go well together. Period. My heart sunk earlier last week when I realized I had booked PM flights out instead of AM. My husband was supposed to work on Monday and we would be stuck without a car. After weighing options we decided to stick it out and keep the late flight. I didn't feel like chancing it to wait at the airport on standby. We got home at 12:30AM this morning. I didn't feel like the worst parent in the world dragging my 6 year old on a late flight after seeing so many other red-eyed children wearily following behind their parents at the airport. It was a school night but not the end of the world. I sometimes forget how resilient my daughter really is. She marched off to school today like the trooper she is.
The highlights, bullet style:

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

A Poem


Inside of me there is a river
Flowing
Beautiful
It washes over me
I am warm, like fire
My breath holds wishes for you
Gentle
Beautiful Wishes

Love, Celina

I am in the middle of reading Liz Lamoreux's book, Inner Excavation.  One of the first exercises is to make a list of words that draw your attention in a random book and use them as writing prompts. Strung together I came up with something I feel quite proud of. It may even be mildly coherent! I think this may be the very first time I have attempted to write a poem since High School. I am no poet. Nor am I anything close to being a writer but exercising new ways to be creative and express myself is so refreshing.


Sunday, January 9, 2011

Wishing



For Mocking Bird's Project Twelve. A low pressure photography project with prompts and inspiration? So up my ally! If you want more info clicky here. These are my interpretations of January's theme "Wish" using the color white.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Winter Views


There is something magical about the view from my backyard this time a year. I didn't' have time to locate my camera, memory card and tripod before the light faded so I snapped a quickie with my iPhone. Lately, I am really loving playing with the Instagram app. My username is Shutterbugcel for those of you who have fallen in love with that app as well and want to connect.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

My Word for 2011



So many of you have inspired me with your words and posts for the year that I cannot help but jump on the bandwagon and choose a word for 2011. For me choosing a word creates a vision for the next year and something to focus on. I can see a path before me. It isn't a resolution but more of a state of mind to work towards. There are so many wishes, hopes and words I have swimming through my head for the year ahead but the word that holds the most meaning for me right now is Laughter.  The beginning of last year was all about health issues, relationship issues and self isolation for me. Then I started to emerge. I was creative, I learned, I grew, I shared and I learned to let love in again. I did not choose a word to focus on for 2010 but I think the word found me: Grow.

I want my focus for this year to be about living life and having fun. Far too often I am stoic and often the laughter never comes. I want to find a way for it to come bubbling out readily and easily. I need to be less self conscious and more free. I need to let the laughter come. I want to foster more intimate relationships. I want to explore and discover new ways to live life fully. I want to continue on the path to being a happier mother, wife and friend. These are the wishes I am quietly sending off in the wind for 2011.

What is your word?

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Blank Slate Update



All I can say is: "Wow!" I am humbled so many of you want to participate and be a part of the The Blank Slate Project. The response has been amazing! There are already 13 people on the list! I am happy to report the the journal was sent off into the world to visit its first host yesterday. I have high hopes that all with go well with the mail system and the journal survives each and every mail trip. I have just a few quick updates to share. First if you have commented that you are interested but have not yet emailed me then you are most likely not on the list. I am not adding people to the mailing list order until I have their information and address. Second I have created a Flickr group for everyone involved to join. This will allow for easy updates, discussion and photo posting. Please head on over and join to stay in the loop.

Thank you to everyone who is making this crazy little idea of mine have life! I value each and every one of you and cannot wait to see what you contribute!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

The Blank Slate Project



What would you do if a blank page was laid out in front of you? Would you draw? Would you write? Would you doodle? Would you share something inspirational and uplifting to help others? This is my vision for 2011. To start with a blank journal to be mailed around the world filling the pages with photography, poems, quotes and messages. By the end of the year the journal will be full and I can share it here in its entirety.

With any great project comes guidelines. Here is what I was thinking:

Each person on the list will be sent the journal and can keep it up to 2 weeks. The current host can fill anywhere from 1 to 10 pages of their choice. Then it will be sent back to me. I will then send it on to the next person. Why the double mailing? One because I want to keep track of it (or because I may or may not have control issues). Other traveling journal projects I researched online seemed to repeatedly get lost in the mail or never get sent at all. This project means a lot to me and I want to make sure it makes it to the end of its journey safely. Plus this will give me a chance to scan all the pages as we go and keep an album of them for others to enjoy. Also it will keep the project moving along and others won't have to worry about contacting someone else to send it to.

Want to find out more about participating? Click here... If you would like to host the journal please send me an email at celinawyssphoto@gmail.com with your mailing address and what you would like to contribute.