Morning

I remember waking up in the morning and feeling the sun warm the earth and greet my mind. If there is a more earthly feeling I am not sure what it would be. This picture is taken in Minnesota about 5:30 in the morning. The grass was damp and there was fog in a lot of the small valleys and across the lakes.

As I prepare to leave my summer home and go back to my semi-metropolitan life I find that my mind is starting to shift to a different place. Maybe a physical place or maybe a psychological place. I have spent most of my summer here in Minnesota, in a hundred year old house on a beautiful lake. A lot of my day is filled with tending the (large) garden, preparing food, visiting with the parents and multitude of relations and friends. Every evening I set aside time to go fishing and generally relaxing in the boat on the lake. Gently swaying side to side in a boat in the warm air with the smell of lake water and small waves hitting the side is such an amazing way to relax. When you start to be in your head too long the rhythmic popping of snapping Turtles or the gentle calling of the Loons bring you back to the 'Now'. It is all so soothing you can almost feel the tension leave your muscles.

Gallery Show

Last week I had a piece in a gallery show. I have been working recently with 'out of focus' images and identity. I have found that working with focus controls is a lot more effective in camera as opposed to trying to reproduce it in Photoshop. The two silver panes are mirrors so you can focus on your own identity. The piece is 8' tall and 3' wide. All dirt and rust included.

Artist Statement
I have always been fascinated at how peoples Identity’s are formed. Identity is the product of how we view ourselves and how the world views us.
We look through subjective lenses, which are cluttered with the debris of different stereotypes and generalizations. Sometimes the way we focus is not always representative of who that person is, maybe it is a reflection of our own wishes, dreams and aspiration, maybe our own fears surfacing, reminding us of who we do not want to be, or want to become.
How we focus our lens on other people also gives us a sampling of how we in turn might be viewed ourselves.
But we do not know for sure, maybe the focus stays somewhat “out-of-focus”.

Little Contessa Consuela

Yes, finals and the end of the semester are driving us nuts. As a result of pressue, Contessa Consuela came into play. She started as a lump of clothes, a pile of bones, a cosmetology head and was in desperate need of a rebirth.

Consuela now has an existence and a history. Here is the beginning of her story as told by Katy.

"Long, long, ago,.... in a galaxy far, far away..........there lived a poor Mexican peasant family in the dusty, barren poverty-stricken confines of the mountainside villages of Mexico. It was in such a trailer park of a village that Corazon Constipatio, and his new bride Conchita, made their humble home. They worked long laborious hours, for mere pennies a day, just to keep Doritos and Pepsi on the table. ...In fact they didn't even own a table, they kept their measly rations in a sack on the floor. A sack that dear Conchita made with her own two hands, with remnants from her wedding dress. Ah yes.... the very dress that became tattered and soiled from their journey over the mountainside. Frugality was not an uncommon trait amongst these settlers, and the neighboring villagers would welcome the many more sacks that Conchita would sell door to door, in her off hours, all made from the same beloved dress. Always a little on the hefty side.....Conchita had planned to join Jenny Craig prior to the wedding, but became disenchanted with the program when America Ferrera didn't become the company's new spokesmodel. Never a true Valerie BertinellI fan, she opted out, and decided to just pack on a few more pounditos. Alas, despite the enormous success of her wedding bag sales, Corazon & Conchita struggled to make ends meet. Barely making ends meet, the couple scrounged for most of their meals and supplies. Tension mounted in their humble abode. Bickering , endless arguments, and nasty text messaging filled their long hard days on the mountain. Corazon tried to remedy the financial burden by working longer hours, and finding good deals on e-bay,... but to no avail.......they would just have to learn to cut back their budget in other ways........ It was Conchita who persuaded him to bid on that defective case of condoms from that guy in El Paso. As fate would have it, Fed Ex actually did detect a cross street for the village, and dropped the box at the village outskirts......... it was only a matter of time before disaster would strike. Despite his best efforts, Corazon was unable to use the damaged goods. Conchita suggested he seek help from some of the more virile neighbor-men in the village........ To this day, paternity suits still flood the tiny stone courthouse in the village...... Villagers still fight, each trying to stake their claim of fatherhood for the one who made their village famous, the one, the only.............Contessa Consuela....... Born on a hot and humid day, little Consuela.............

Ice Racing

Ice racing is an interesting sport. You put a car, usually a little banged up, on a track of ice and see how fast it can get to the finish. If you have ever driven on ice then you know that it is not a matter of just hitting the gas pedal. That could just send you into a spin. You also have to take into account that the other cars could be sliding your way and to get out of the way is a tricky business. All in all the cars were not moving very fast and often they were going slow forwards and faster sideways! There was a lot of ice vs. car finessing going on. I was also impressed that there seemed to be a very diverse set of drivers. Women, men, boy, girls, old, young. I didn't get a picture but I thought it quite amusing to see a man with a long beard, farmer overalls, and John Deer cap as one of the drivers :)

Out of place?

When you are in the snow country there are certain things that you come to expect. Snow in the trees, on the ground, on the road, and under your feet. And when you see something that seems to not make sense, such as a chair out side and tilted in the snow, there is an uncontrollable urge to just stand and stare at it. As if somehow that will bring more order to the world. But no, this green chair tilted in the snow made no sense to me. It just sat there as if it had something to say that was a mystery and I could not hear it. I was tempted to sit in the chair and view the world from that perspective. Alas, I didn't. This green chair has maintained a spot in the corner of my mind. As if to remind me that there are positions in the (my) world that don't make sense. At least it wasn't clear to me why this chair had this position in this climate. Actually it was rather amusing in it's non-ubiquitousness.

Where the colors change

The weather is confusing these days. It ranges between sunny, cold, foggy, warm and rainy. I guess we call that spring. Is spring in the air? The picture above is where I would love to build a straw bale environmentally sound house. It is a 9 acre parcel that my mom owns overlooking West lost lake and looking toward Tingvold church in Minnesota. I would love to wake up to this view and watch the seasons change, the maples change color and the fish jump right into the Ice house fry pan .... ha ha, April fools. Well, maybe?

Whose state of motion

I was experimenting with a pocket camera and found I could get some interesting images. So, who is in this picture? Take a close look. Add a comment if you like.



This is actually a picture of Lynnett and Florance. Florance was walking by Lynnett as the photo was shot.

Minneapolis arrival

When we arrived at the Minneapolis Airport, Roger and Anders came to pick us up. Anders come into baggage and nearly bowled us over with his enthusiasm.










He then became quite helpful!

Denver has yummies!

A few weekends ago I went to Minnesota to visit Anders. I had a great time and met and re-met some wonderful people. I am excited to go again soon. On the way to MN are airline had a layover in Denver Colorado. Mom and I had the most wonderful curry sandwhich. We enjoyed it very much and Mom so much that I just had to take a picture of her eating it. Once we arrived at the airport we were met by shy Anders. He was so cute and shy!

Happy Birthday Victoria!

My wonderful Sister had a birthday a couple of days ago on March 14th. We missed her and wanted to send her a song just for her. This video was taken with a small little camera. Amazing what pocket camera can do these days.

We love you toooooo
Valerie/Mom/Jay

Raining

Today it is raining. It is as if the previous sunny sky's have something that they just had to let out. A release of pressure I think. When I let the drops land on my shoulders I feel a lightness rise up.