My life and outlook have changed in recent months … long-felt passions and long-time interests* are losing their importance. And more-and-more, I am finding that a certain phenomenon realized centuries ago, rings alarmingly and frustratingly true today, namely …
"We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid."
_ Benjamin Franklin
* My artwork keeps me "grounded" … but, in perspective … it has become more a diversion and less of a passion. So, share your creativity and hopefully inspire us all to keep on creating and sharing what is positive.
I find that today the things that I worked hard to achieve, and were mostly intended for the use by others, have become a work of love and fulfillment. What I do today is from the heart, not from the assignment book or by contract. I do it for my own pleasure and enjoyment, and to share with those who I feel will find the same. And perhaps some level of Spiritual inspiration and/or enlightenment.
I may not always achieve that goal, but, as they say, the real enjoyment of the experiment is more in how I get there than when I arrive.
With that in mind, here is my creation for this week's article. I hope it is something that some may find interesting and/or inspiring. (smile)
Thank you Kavika. In most, if not all, Native American Tribes, children are most important above all else. They are the Tribe's tomorrows, and each new generation brings new life to the Tribe, reinforces the cultures, traditions.....and dreams, of our ancient ancestors.
The children belong to all Members of the Tribe, and the elders teach them the ethics, rules, laws and history of the Tribe starting from a very early age.
YW Dave. I am a creative writer, as well as a keen interest in creation of Native American artwork. Thus, many different topics are of interest to me, and especially, those in which I have little knowledge. Seeing the interests and artistic works of others opens the doors to many areas for me to learn even more.
btw.....my Brother used to drag race his 1971 Plymouth Duster in San Diego CA. He took home several trophies.
btw.....my Brother used to drag race his 1971 Plymouth Duster in San Diego CA. He took home several trophies.
Wow, memories. I had a 340 Duster too. Can't even remember if it was a 70, 71 or 72. I do remember it had the "340S" motor. Lot of gear, big old Mickey Thompsons. That medium blue with similar interior and could smoke those M/Ts at any point in time.
I am not surprised your Brother won some Trophies.
You're welcome Dave. As a Disabled Vietnam Vet, being able to race his own dragster was his dream come true. A picture of that car went with him when he walked on from this world to his next big adventure. His Son still has his trophies.
You and a couple others here have that photographic talent.
Thank you. I've learned a lot from AMac and some of the professionals that were on old NV. You only get to see the good images. LOL! Like any other hobby I had to put in the time to practice and learn from my mistakes. Someday I hope to get a better lens for birding, but the one I want is about $1000.00 and well out of my price range for now.
How much does something like that cost? I have a couple of photos that I've been thinking about ordering on canvas, but haven't gotten around to pricing it out yet.
And gorgeous photo!
I wish I could get one of a pileated woodpecker, but they're always too far away in my woods or partially hidden by other trees.
snapfish.com always has a promotion going on for things like these. They say their normal price is $64.99 plus tax and shipping, but with the "promotion" I got it for half that shipped. They aren't the best place to get things printed, but they are usually cheap. Were I printing to sell I'd go to my local print shop. They offer all the same kinds of things snapfish does and they are used by all the local professional photographers.
I'll be in Red Lake and than up to Lake of the Woods and...
It's all good. I've never gotten up to Lake of the Woods, but the photos I've seen have been fantastic. I've driven up around Red Lake a few times, but didn't get to stay to enjoy it. Enjoy your vacation!
The little Ground Squirrel is truly adorable. Its coloring is very well depicted, and it looks as if it is 'packing in' for a rainy day. I have had my share of squirrels over the years and they have quite the personalities. I always enjoyed their company. They are quite the clowns. (grin)
Thanks for providing the title and author, because although I could not open the image you posted I opened it on the internet. It's a great piece in your collection. Makes me think of the one I posted a little while ago that you noticed and commented on of two riders holding flags in Millennium Park in Kaifeng.
Lately I've not been taking many photos, but last night the sky here was unusually clear. I tried to get a photo of Jupiter and its moons, as they have been fairly visible, but didn't succeed with that so I aimed at the moon, using my camera's built-in 30X optical zoom telephoto (35mm camera equivalent of 720mm) I got this shot. This photo is FULL FRAME - it is not cropped. I was actually very pleased with the result.
When I was young, I always wanted to hook up cameras to our telescopes, but never did. Based on this, maybe it is not necessary to team them up anymore?
I guess it just depends on how small or far away an image you wish to capture is. When I lived in Toronto I had an amateur telescope that enabled me to see the rings of Saturn and 4 moons around Jupiter. With my Canon F1 35mm SLR I had a number of lenses, the largest being a 300mm telephoto that weighed a ton. Now everything I need and want is built into my Panasonic pocket-sized point-and-shoot digital camera.
I decided about a year ago that my apartment living experiment wasn't going well. So, I decided to invest in another house. I went in search of my little piece of shangri la and this is what I found. I haven't had a lot of time to enjoy it because of work but it makes me smile every time I return home.
I don't blame you. My maternal Grandparents had a stone house made in 1629. I still have a copy of the deed and how it was transferred from King George to William Tell and all the way down to my Grandparents. There was even an escape hatch out of the attic in case of Indian attack. I kid you not.
At least 2 battles of the Brandywine were fought there. We found all kind of Revolutionary and Civil War artifacts in the fields. Even a real Wilkinson sword with an English Lieutenants ("Leftenent" lol) name engraved on one still in it's scabbard.
It was deemed to have been a place where George Washington slept. Where didn't he sleep?
Most importantly, it had a real stone spring house where my Grandfather brewed his own beer in 5 gallon glass jugs.
As a kid, you wanted to sleep in the attic. It was a a time machine to the past, wonderland.
This will be a little mini series all in one post.
After a bunch of stuff this happened. Tip of the hat to the professionalism of Brad, Russ and Leon..
Along the way such things as camshaft selection is needed, though this is not Brad's this is a good example of filtering through 4,000 possibilities before actually needing a true custom set of profiles.
Intake Lobe:
Exhaust Lobe:
Then the whole thing needs to go in to the car. Better build that exhaust too.
Full exhaust actually from the MKI engine.
Time for a road test. Notice the street tags. Those are for real. Drives down to the local servo (gas station) and gets the same 98 Ultimate anybody else can.We already saw the full exhaust system.
On the other end of the 1/4 mile, it was a 9.56 second ET @ 139.6 mph.
In high school there was a choice of 3 options: Woodworking, where a student could use power tools (lathe, band saw, drill, circular saw, sander, etc) and build a chair or small table, Motor Mechanics, where the students would take apart and rebuild a Ford or Chevy engine, and Commercial, which is what I chose, to learn to touch type (I don't look at the keys and I'm fairly fast) and bookkeeping. At this point in my life, the choice I made is of course the most useful. I know very very little about the mechanics of a vehicle, and I have never made a piece of furniture in my life.
Functional Art is just that ... both with a literal purpose and a design.
Leonardo’s approach to art was once explained by historian Kenneth Clark, as follows;
”If a flower had 6 petals, most painters would paint it with all 6 petals lest it would not look right, while Leonardo would do so because otherwise the flower would not work right.
Thanks for a great insight to your functional art.
They're all great this week. I've been sort of preoccupied for the last few weeks, mostly with these two works of art:
Greyson's team is tied for first place in the league. We'll know more after the tournament next week. Levi's team, like all T-Ball teams had a season consisting of six games tied at 36-36 each. Since nobody ever strikes out (when you hit the ball off from a tee) and they aren't counting tag outs on base, everybody eventually ends up at home plate. None of the 6 year olds at that level ever heard of a double play. Greyson, on the other hand, just got caught in one yesterday. Hard not to; he was on first and the ball was hit right to the kid on second. The only game they lost all season, and they needed it. They were getting a bit overconfident.
Good news. The Hummingbirds are back. Not so good, the pictures I got of them are a bit blurry. I need to set up the tripod to get some good ones. Maybe next week.
How beautiful, nightwalker! What an amazing array of colors in the night sky. And the contrast of the dead tree and abundantly alive heavens above is stunning.
My life and outlook have changed in recent months … long-felt passions and long-time interests* are losing their importance. And more-and-more, I am finding that a certain phenomenon realized centuries ago, rings alarmingly and frustratingly true today, namely …
"We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid."
_ Benjamin Franklin
* My artwork keeps me "grounded" … but, in perspective … it has become more a diversion and less of a passion. So, share your creativity and hopefully inspire us all to keep on creating and sharing what is positive.
I find that today the things that I worked hard to achieve, and were mostly intended for the use by others, have become a work of love and fulfillment. What I do today is from the heart, not from the assignment book or by contract. I do it for my own pleasure and enjoyment, and to share with those who I feel will find the same. And perhaps some level of Spiritual inspiration and/or enlightenment.
I may not always achieve that goal, but, as they say, the real enjoyment of the experiment is more in how I get there than when I arrive.
With that in mind, here is my creation for this week's article. I hope it is something that some may find interesting and/or inspiring. (smile)
Here is another creation that is a little more serene.....
Beautiful, RW.
Thank you Kavika. In most, if not all, Native American Tribes, children are most important above all else. They are the Tribe's tomorrows, and each new generation brings new life to the Tribe, reinforces the cultures, traditions.....and dreams, of our ancient ancestors.
The children belong to all Members of the Tribe, and the elders teach them the ethics, rules, laws and history of the Tribe starting from a very early age.
Serenity personified - lovely.
Thank you very much Buzz.
Always such beautiful work Raven Wing.
Thanks Dave. I'm very glad you enjoy it.
You are very welcome Raven Wing. I always look forward to your next artwork and I am always pleasantly surprised.
I enjoy pretty much all the art on Mac's threads.
I would think most know by now, my favourite art subject matter, but I make and am involved in a different form of art.
Some of it is metal and some of it is just raw numbers that may seem meaningless, but to me is beauty.
If your art has meaning to you, Dave, it almost certainly will have meaning for those of us herein.
i appreciate all who have participated in this thread.
Thank you Mac. Thank you.
Then I will post a mini series down below. It will be different. LOL.
I for one would very much like to see some of your artwork, Dave, and I feel sure that I am not alone.
If you would like, please post some of your artwork so that we can enjoy some of it with you. (smile)
Thank you for your very kind words, Dave. I am most pleased and honored that you enjoy my creations. (smile)
Your creations always bring a smile to my face Raven Wing.
Thank you.
Thank you for the curiosity and encouragement Raven Wing.
It is at comment 8 below.
Maybe this link will take you directly there.
YW Dave. I am a creative writer, as well as a keen interest in creation of Native American artwork. Thus, many different topics are of interest to me, and especially, those in which I have little knowledge. Seeing the interests and artistic works of others opens the doors to many areas for me to learn even more.
btw.....my Brother used to drag race his 1971 Plymouth Duster in San Diego CA. He took home several trophies.
Wow, memories. I had a 340 Duster too. Can't even remember if it was a 70, 71 or 72. I do remember it had the "340S" motor. Lot of gear, big old Mickey Thompsons. That medium blue with similar interior and could smoke those M/Ts at any point in time.
I am not surprised your Brother won some Trophies.
Thank you for that story Raven Wing.
You're welcome Dave. As a Disabled Vietnam Vet, being able to race his own dragster was his dream come true. A picture of that car went with him when he walked on from this world to his next big adventure. His Son still has his trophies.
Glad his son appreciated what it meant to his Dad.
Silver lining.
You have outdone yourself with those paintings. Just perfect.
Thank you Perrie. I truly enjoy sharing my creations with my NT family. (smile)
What could be better than one of your squirrels?????
I'll tell you what!
One of your chipmunks!
I caught a chickadee in the neighbor's crab apple tree on Saturday.
Beautiful, EG. Love the variation of the lilacs, purples and greens surrounding it. Well done!
Great photo EG....Love the flowers/color surrounding the chickadee.
Great photo EG. You and a couple others here have that photographic talent.
Great photo EG. I love chickadees! And with all that pink... he really pops out.
Thank you. I've learned a lot from AMac and some of the professionals that were on old NV. You only get to see the good images. LOL! Like any other hobby I had to put in the time to practice and learn from my mistakes. Someday I hope to get a better lens for birding, but the one I want is about $1000.00 and well out of my price range for now.
Thanks! I just ordered a 14 x 11 wrapped canvas of this image. Hopefully it looks as good printed as it does on the screen.
How much does something like that cost? I have a couple of photos that I've been thinking about ordering on canvas, but haven't gotten around to pricing it out yet.
And gorgeous photo!
I wish I could get one of a pileated woodpecker, but they're always too far away in my woods or partially hidden by other trees.
snapfish.com always has a promotion going on for things like these. They say their normal price is $64.99 plus tax and shipping, but with the "promotion" I got it for half that shipped. They aren't the best place to get things printed, but they are usually cheap. Were I printing to sell I'd go to my local print shop. They offer all the same kinds of things snapfish does and they are used by all the local professional photographers.
Reba has now discovered, in addition to squeaky toy, her orange toy and assorted other toys.
Here she is guarding them from me. She has come a long way.
Of course she now has her ''baby blanket'' on top of her bed....She can't sleep without it..
I'll be leaving on vacation tomorrow and will return around the end of June. Hopefully I'll have some photo from the great north.
The way Reba is protecting her toys, it looks as if she is saying, "Mine! Mine! Mine!" (grin)
Have a great trip up North, and be careful on the road. The weather can turn in a NY minute, and without warning.
Looking forward to seeing to some great pics, and hearing some even greater fishy.....er.....fishing stories.
LOL. Yep.
If you're coming this way let me know! We can sit and have a beer or a coffee or something.
EG, I'll be in Red Lake and than up to Lake of the Woods and Kenora Canada.
I'd love to have a beer/coffee or something with you, but I'm still a long ways from Superior WI.
Same here Kav, if you should happen in the direction of Southern Michigan.
It's all good. I've never gotten up to Lake of the Woods, but the photos I've seen have been fantastic. I've driven up around Red Lake a few times, but didn't get to stay to enjoy it. Enjoy your vacation!
Yes, she has come a long way.
Good work Kavika.
Reba looks like a happy girl now! Amazing what a little time and lots of love will do!
Happy Travels!
The little Ground Squirrel is truly adorable. Its coloring is very well depicted, and it looks as if it is 'packing in' for a rainy day. I have had my share of squirrels over the years and they have quite the personalities. I always enjoyed their company. They are quite the clowns. (grin)
From my art collection. Limited edition by Howard Terpning.
Sioux Flag Carrier
What a picture.
Fantastic image.
Thanks dave. Terpning is one of my favorite artists. He has a number of really beautiful paintings.
I imagine he does have a number of really beautiful paintings. I imagine, it might be hard to beat the one you just posted, though.
Thanks for providing the title and author, because although I could not open the image you posted I opened it on the internet. It's a great piece in your collection. Makes me think of the one I posted a little while ago that you noticed and commented on of two riders holding flags in Millennium Park in Kaifeng.
Very Spiritual and soul searching. Beautifully done.
What an inspiring print! A great addition to your collection.
Lately I've not been taking many photos, but last night the sky here was unusually clear. I tried to get a photo of Jupiter and its moons, as they have been fairly visible, but didn't succeed with that so I aimed at the moon, using my camera's built-in 30X optical zoom telephoto (35mm camera equivalent of 720mm) I got this shot. This photo is FULL FRAME - it is not cropped. I was actually very pleased with the result.
When I was young, I always wanted to hook up cameras to our telescopes, but never did. Based on this, maybe it is not necessary to team them up anymore?
I guess it just depends on how small or far away an image you wish to capture is. When I lived in Toronto I had an amateur telescope that enabled me to see the rings of Saturn and 4 moons around Jupiter. With my Canon F1 35mm SLR I had a number of lenses, the largest being a 300mm telephoto that weighed a ton. Now everything I need and want is built into my Panasonic pocket-sized point-and-shoot digital camera.
That is a very nice package Buzz.
A beautiful photo Buzz.
Very clear and detailed. Well done!
I decided about a year ago that my apartment living experiment wasn't going well. So, I decided to invest in another house. I went in search of my little piece of shangri la and this is what I found. I haven't had a lot of time to enjoy it because of work but it makes me smile every time I return home.
A stone house, very cool.
I always loved old stone houses. Never owned or lived in one but admired the ones I saw. Yours is no exception to that.
I don't blame you. My maternal Grandparents had a stone house made in 1629. I still have a copy of the deed and how it was transferred from King George to William Tell and all the way down to my Grandparents. There was even an escape hatch out of the attic in case of Indian attack. I kid you not.
At least 2 battles of the Brandywine were fought there. We found all kind of Revolutionary and Civil War artifacts in the fields. Even a real Wilkinson sword with an English Lieutenants ("Leftenent" lol) name engraved on one still in it's scabbard.
It was deemed to have been a place where George Washington slept. Where didn't he sleep?
Most importantly, it had a real stone spring house where my Grandfather brewed his own beer in 5 gallon glass jugs.
As a kid, you wanted to sleep in the attic. It was a a time machine to the past, wonderland.
A house that is the epitome of 'Home'.
What a charming house. I always saw myself in a house like that (or a Tudor), but I keep ending up in old American colonials.
May you only have good times in your new home!
This will be a little mini series all in one post.
After a bunch of stuff this happened. Tip of the hat to the professionalism of Brad, Russ and Leon..
Along the way such things as camshaft selection is needed, though this is not Brad's this is a good example of filtering through 4,000 possibilities before actually needing a true custom set of profiles.
Intake Lobe:
Exhaust Lobe:
Then the whole thing needs to go in to the car. Better build that exhaust too.
Full exhaust actually from the MKI engine.
Time for a road test. Notice the street tags. Those are for real. Drives down to the local servo (gas station) and gets the same 98 Ultimate anybody else can.We already saw the full exhaust system.
On the other end of the 1/4 mile, it was a 9.56 second ET @ 139.6 mph.
I like this art too.
That car looks as if it's taking off.
In high school there was a choice of 3 options: Woodworking, where a student could use power tools (lathe, band saw, drill, circular saw, sander, etc) and build a chair or small table, Motor Mechanics, where the students would take apart and rebuild a Ford or Chevy engine, and Commercial, which is what I chose, to learn to touch type (I don't look at the keys and I'm fairly fast) and bookkeeping. At this point in my life, the choice I made is of course the most useful. I know very very little about the mechanics of a vehicle, and I have never made a piece of furniture in my life.
LOL, I warned Brad about that.
He had 2 reactions. 1) Disbelief, and 2) Nervousness.
He's working on it and getting there.
Very cool Dave! I never knew this side of you.
Functional Art is just that ... both with a literal purpose and a design.
Leonardo’s approach to art was once explained by historian Kenneth Clark, as follows;
”If a flower had 6 petals, most painters would paint it with all 6 petals lest it would not look right, while Leonardo would do so because otherwise the flower would not work right.
Thanks for a great insight to your functional art.
Thank you Mac.
They're all great this week. I've been sort of preoccupied for the last few weeks, mostly with these two works of art:
Greyson's team is tied for first place in the league. We'll know more after the tournament next week. Levi's team, like all T-Ball teams had a season consisting of six games tied at 36-36 each. Since nobody ever strikes out (when you hit the ball off from a tee) and they aren't counting tag outs on base, everybody eventually ends up at home plate. None of the 6 year olds at that level ever heard of a double play. Greyson, on the other hand, just got caught in one yesterday. Hard not to; he was on first and the ball was hit right to the kid on second. The only game they lost all season, and they needed it. They were getting a bit overconfident.
Good news. The Hummingbirds are back. Not so good, the pictures I got of them are a bit blurry. I need to set up the tripod to get some good ones. Maybe next week.
They are too cute, TTGA. Nothing can beat the children in baseball uniforms.
And the hummingbirds being back is extra good news. You got to get a photo of that!
Reminds me of my younger playing days, TTGA.
How beautiful, nightwalker! What an amazing array of colors in the night sky. And the contrast of the dead tree and abundantly alive heavens above is stunning.
Is that a Bristlecone tree?
Very spiritual image!
When I look at that pic, I wonder what kinds of thoughts a person might have if camping there overnight.