Morning Play-A rose is a rose

A few days ago I tackled the piles of paper on my desk so this morning a clean desk and my new glass pen, which I purchased at Papier Plume when I was in New Orleans, were an invitation to play. I recently reviewed my slides for my upcoming talk on the Gardens of Paris (Tues, April 22, 7 PM at the Newburyport Public Library) and one of a white rose was in my mind. I printed the photo, put tracing paper over it, and filled the rose with Gertrude Stein's famous words.

Paris Gardens I

What better way to spend a cold March morning than looking at photographs of Paris gardens? I'm giving a talk for my local garden group a week from today and then a talk for the public on Tuesday, April 22 at the Newburyport Public Library. I narrowed my vast collection down to 271 photos. There has to be lots more pruning before the talk. I thought I'd share a few with you. These were taken at the Jardin de l'Hotel-de-Sens. The garden is young (1957) compared to its surrounding building (1475-1519).

Valentine Count Up-Stravinsky Fountain

I am ever so slowly working my Paris photos. This heart is in the Stravinsky Fountain which was created by Jean Tinguely and Niki de Saint Phalle (the heart is part of her contribution) in 1983. I'll be spending more time with the photos this month as I prepare for my talk on the Gardens of Paris for the Newburyport Horticultural Society at the Newburyport Public Library on March 11 at 7 PM.

I'll be posting a Valentine related image each day through February 14.

Studio Sunday-Paris Photos

Almost two weeks back from our wonderful three weeks in Paris, I am slowly dipping into my large collection of photos. They have been transferred from the laptop to the computer where they await my inspection. It's a slow process. Although I feel like I made the transition back to reality reasonably well, I find that too much time with the photos makes me cry.

When we arrived in Paris, I had one particular goal for my camera and me—photographs of gardens for a possible talk for the Newburyport Horticultural Society and two general ones—to document the trip and to take pictures of anything that struck my fancy. I did take lots of photos of gardens (the talk will be next March) and also found several other themes occurring—cemeteries, street art and graffiti, lettering, and blue doors.

I'm looking forward to working with this collection of images and see where they lead. I'm starting with the documentary part and hope to get a set, or sets, of images to share with you here and on flickr in the somewhat near future. After that, we shall see.