Flower Power

It was such a welcome change to work on this flower image and see so much beautiful color for a change...this endless winter landscape is so gray and drab that it's seeping into my spirit. Every blog post I write lately is about my melancholy, winter state of mind - I apologize for sounding whiny! This weekend the time changes and that always helps: more daylight in the evenings. Just a few more weeks and April will be here...

This was a flower I photographed at Disney World in January. I used Bonnie's "spring light canvas" texture and also played around with the cutout artistic effect in Photoshop. I then put my image through Radlab until I was happy with how it looked.

Flowers are those little colorful beacons of the sun from which we get sunshine when dark, somber skies blanket our thoughts. ~Dodinsky

Lines and Curves

Remember, a line cannot exist alone; it always brings a companion along. Do remember that one line does nothing; it is only in relation to another that it creates a volume. ~Henri Matisse

Bonnie's theme for Photo Art Friday this month is "geometric/graphic/angular". I knew right away I wanted to use a photo of Spaceship Earth at Epcot. It's probably the most identifiable structure at this park...I love all its lines and angles, which is odd considering it's a round ball! I added a couple of layers, including Bonnie's "Painterly Texture", and put the image through Radlab several times to affect the tones.

Winter Notes

WINTER NOTES

If winter were a book page,
what would you write
in the margins? I'd write
of bare limbs against
a frigid, pink horizon.
It would glow in a
straight line, nature's
cheerful offering,
a rosy hem offering up
color and jounce to the
ashen, bewildered trees.

I'd jot down gentle words
like freshly fallen snow,
describing the sound
of a wandering cardinal,
how the breath in its throat
smells of earth and branches.
I'd notice the brittle ivy
twining our oak tree,
how my own frozen breath
hovers over it like
a vapor ghost.

I'd write of January's
twilight, how it snaps
its necklace, scattering
its strung stars across
the sky like loose pearls
in a black, velvet box.
The stars would shiver and
dance to keep warm, and
I'd take notes while
yearning for the scents
of summer: moths and sweat,
bees and clover.

© Sherri Brannon 2014

When the long, freezing days of January through March start dragging by, I always find myself writing poems about winter...and my strong yearning for spring. Never fails! I enjoy cold weather during the month of December - somehow it's more festive and bearable during the holidays. But once New Year's passes, I'm ready for the cold days to be over.

This week I have cabin fever - we got snow on Tuesday, followed by several days of subzero windchills. It was even more of a shock to the system because we had just gotten back from Florida and I still had fresh memories of sunshine and palm trees. These brutally low temperatures we're having are not the norm for Virginia. April, where are you?

I had fun playing with my winter tree image in Photoshop - I created the "pink horizon" for the purpose of my poem. I used the gradient effect to achieve that appearance, and I also put my image into Radlab and tweaked it further with filters.

How the gravity of Nature and the silence startle you, when you stand face to face with her, undistracted, before a barren ridge or in the desolation of ancient hills. ~Guy Sargent

Less Is More

Everything wants to float. And yet we move about like weights,
attaching ourselves to everything, in thrall to gravity… ~Rainer Maria Rilke

It's time once again for Bonnie's monthly photo art prompt at Pixel Dust Photo Art...my focus word for this year is "less". Less worrying, less stress, less computer time, less news watching, less clutter, less distractions...if I'm successful, my hope is that it'll result in more joy, more peace of mind, more time, and more creativity.

I've been really struck this past week by how many people have mentioned the abundance of stress and worry in their lives, and how this year they hope to reduce it. It seems as if worry is becoming an epidemic. I think a lot of this is the plugged-in lifestyle that everyone now seems to have - the technology has overtaken everything. There's too much stimulation from every source - it begins to weigh us down, to numb us. I know I'm sure guilty of it. I want to remove myself from it this year so that my mind doesn't feel like it's in overdrive! In the words of Rainer Maria Rilke, I want to float again.

This beautiful eastern bluebird, which we rarely see in our neighborhood, decided to stop and rest in a tree right outside our front door last month. I was so excited - this is my favorite bird in the whole world. They are very symbolic for me spiritually...they've shown up at certain times in my life right at certain moments when I was in need of a boost. It has always been a moment that has stopped me short and taken my breath away. I take great comfort in seeing them. Anyway, the bluebird in this photo sat there on the branch for at least five minutes, and every once in awhile he'd turn his head and look right at me. It made me smile!

I used Bonnie's Backlight texture at Overlay/90% and also used a painterly effect in PSE (watercolor, I think). Thank you for stopping by!

The Art of Opening Up

I sit before flowers hoping they will train me in the art of opening up. I stand on mountain tops believing that avalanches will teach me to let go. I know nothing, but I am here to learn. ~Shane Koyczan

Remaining open is a challenge in this life, but I think it's key to growth and evolvement...I say this not because I've grasped this concept, but as a reminder. It's natural, I think, to want to close our hearts down...to harden them against being vulnerable. Throughout my life I've instinctively done this again and again, but at least I'm aware now when it happens...for years, I did it unconsciously.

I think it's a type of self-preservation to put up those walls, because life can be brutal and hard and we want to protect ourselves from pain. A hurting heart never feels good. But remaining open lets all the good stuff in, too, and there's so much good out there.

I like that the above quote describes opening up as an art...it's very true. Like any art form, it takes practice to develop the skill. If you walk away from the practice sessions, you will never become good at it. I'm still an amateur at opening up, but I aspire to one day be a professional. And I agree completely with Shane Koyczan: there is so much to learn, if we'd only remain open.

I'm linking up today with Photo Art Friday, which has a monthly prompt. The theme this month was "open". I played around with my rose image, using Bonnie's "Heavenly" texture at Vivid Light/43%. I also added a texture with some handwriting for the background, and used the cutout effect.

Click on the button below to visit Bonnie's Pixel Dust Photo Art site - she has another prompt coming up in January. It's a lot of fun to play around with altering your images - I highly recommend it! It's a good exercise in being open, and letting go. :)

Peace

In the back’s low hollow sometimes

a weightless hand guides me, gentle pressure

so I tack soft as a sailboat. (Go there)
Soften the space between your eyes (smudge

of eucalyptus), the third eye

opens. There’s the wide vermillion sky
that cradled us before birth,

and the sun pours its golden sap

to preserve me like His precious insect. ~Mary Karr, "Meditatio"

Thank you again to everyone who responded to my recent posts about the loss of Ruby, our corgi. I was truly touched by your words of support, and it helped me so much. I mean that from the heart.

Today I'm happy to participate in Bonnie's monthly photo art prompt. This month's theme is "sky". I chose a photo from our Hilton Head trip this past summer because I got so many incredible sky photos during that week. This is an image of my daughter staring off at the sunset - I used Bonnie's "heavenly" texture at Multiply/63%. I also used the cutout effect in PSE to give it a more contemporary feel. There were multiple passes through Radlab, and then I added the text at the end. I think this image is a perfect representation of "peace", at least for me, anyway. As I've mentioned many times on this blog, I never feel more at peace than I do while walking beside the ocean.

Thank you for visiting, and you can click on the button below if you'd like to visit Bonnie's Pixel Dust Photo Art site. It's worth a visit!

Original photo:

Send Me A Postcard

Send me things in the mail. Wherever you go, I don’t care where you go, just send me something in the mail from where you are. —Wallace Berman

It's time for Bonnie's monthly prompt at Pixel Dust Photo Art...I always look forward to this so much! This month's theme is water. I took a photo of the ocean from my Hilton Head vacation in July, and tried to make it look like an old postcard. I used Bonnie's Backlight texture, as well as a couple of others to give it an aged look (a crackle texture and an old tintype frame texture, both of which I found by doing a Creative Commons search on Flickr). I used the cutout effect at some point to make it look more like a printed illustration. I also put it through RadLab several times to sharpen, change the tone, etc. I added the text, using two free fonts from 1001fonts.com: QuigleyWiggly and Pointedly Mad.

Click on the button below to visit Bonnie's blog and participate, and to see next month's prompt. Thank you for visiting!

Original Image:

This is Unreal

Our imagination flies — we are its shadow on the earth. ~Vladimir Nabokov

I'm so excited that Bonnie's Photo Art Friday is back...the prompt will only be once a month now, but I'm very happy to participate again. This month's theme is "flower photo art". I played with this photo I took in Hilton Head several weeks back. I used Bonnie's "Scratched Lens" texture at Color/100%. I also put it through RadLab to enhance the colors. There's a freedom in taking something real and making it look very un-real...if you've never participated in a photo art challenge, I encourage you to try! Let go of the rules in your head and turn your image into something from a fantasy world - there's a joy in it that can't be denied.

Next month's prompt is "water" and you can submit your link at Pixel Dust Photo Art on September 6th. Click on the button below for more details.

Digital Fun

When you work regularly, inspiration strikes regularly. ~Gretchen Rubin

It always frustrates me that when life gets busy and I feel stressed, creative time is the first thing to go. I need to work on that. I can't believe it's been almost two weeks since I last posted on my blog...my schedule has been hectic and today is the first free day I've had in awhile. I thought I'd check in with the blog world and wave hello!

Before things got crazy, I did have fun with some digital editing. I wanted to share a couple edits I worked on with a very quick drawing I did of two flowers on a book page. I put them in PSE and played around with layers, textures, etc. and came up with two very different looks. So much fun, and very therapeutic to just get lost in the process! I don't know what I'd do with these two images, but the end results were very satisfying.

I hope to start processing some photos I've taken in recent weeks very soon...I have a month's worth to look through and will post some favorites. I hope all my fellow blog friends are doing well...thank you for stopping by!

Original Drawing:

Art Is a Veil, Not a Mirror

Art finds her own perfection within, and not outside of, herself. She is not to be judged by any external standard of resemblance. She is a veil, rather than a mirror. She has flowers that no forests know of, birds that no woodland possesses. She makes and unmakes many worlds, and can draw the moon from heaven with a scarlet thread. ~Oscar Wilde

I had some fun digitally enhancing my own hand-painted art work this past week...I was feeling hesitant about starting, so finally I just sat down and painted without THINKING. I did both of these paintings very quickly, not worrying about any mistakes. As soon as an idea about what to do next popped into my head, I did it without second guessing or worrying what it would look like.

Once I was done, I scanned them into Photoshop Elements, which is my favorite part of the process. As someone who still feels self-conscious about my beginner art skills, I like that I can load my paintings into PSE and make them look a little more polished. They still have that simple, primitive look to them, but the digital effects give them a slicker, more contemporary feel (in my mind, anyway). It covers up the rough spots and flaws and makes everything look a little more cohesive. I can also add text to the artwork in PSE if I want to.

I enjoy using the "cutout" effect in PSE with my paintings - it's what gives them that more modern look. I reduce the opacity down slightly but I love what this effect does. Before applying the cutout effect, I also added multiple textures (using reverse layer masks) to add interest to the backgrounds and details...I love finding my textures and patterns from old books (copyright free) at archives.org. I look for pretty flyleaf patterns and/or stained pages from these books...it's like a treasure hunt to search for them and I could spend hours doing it!

If you're someone who is hesitant to try painting, don't let your fear of imperfect art work stop you...do it anyway! Any time you express yourself creatively, a good thing has happened...whether other people like it or not, it shouldn't matter (easier said than done, I know - these words are as much for myself as for anyone else who reads them). It's the act itself that should be celebrated...it's a victory that you took some time from your stressful, external life to turn inward and create a piece of art that you can physically hold in your hands. Art is about intuition and spirit, two things which are easily snuffed out by the grinding demands of everyday life. These two pieces I did are very small, by the way, which seems to be less intimidating for me - each piece is about 3X4 inches. That way there isn't so much blank white space to cover!

Thank you for stopping by! Have a wonderful Sunday.

Original artwork:

Abstract Flower

A little photo art to share today...sometimes it's fun to just sit and play...to turn realistic things into things that look a bit more like fantasy. I'm linking up to Nature Footstep's Wednesday meme of "Abstract", which I just learned about this past week. Click HERE to visit and/or participate!

For this image I started with a tulip photo from my front yard...I added quite a few textures and/or patterns throughout the process, and also put it through Radlab several times. Thank you for stopping by - have a wonderful Wednesday!

Light and Shadows

The secret to life is to put yourself in the right lighting. For some it’s a Broadway spotlight; for others, a lamplit desk. Use your natural powers—of persistence, concentration, insight, and sensitivity—to do work you love and work that matters. Solve problems, make art, think deeply. ~Susan Cain

I love this quote by Susan Cain, author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. (In fact, as I type this, it's dawning on me that I've used this quote before on my blog...lol. But I'm on a roll, so I'll continue!) Putting ourselves in the "right lighting" is so key to our happiness. If each of our lives could be conveyed in a single photo, wouldn't it be important that we be in the proper light, out of the shadows, and properly focused? Not only that, but the lighting should be properly exposed to bring out our best features...it's a delicate dance that's more difficult than it appears.

We've all seen (and taken) those photos with horrible lighting...the main focal point is obscured, caught in the shadows, and other objects that shouldn't be important are glaringly caught in the overexposed light when they shouldn't even be noticed. What a perfect way of describing our lives which can so easily get out of balance when facing every day stressors. Light and shadows, joy and strife: this is life. I try to place myself amidst the joyful things as much as I can, and not get lost in the strife. It's a daily balancing act, and I don't always succeed...but making art and being creative, even with my computer, is one way I bring light/joy to my own life.

For Photo Art Friday this week, Bonnie's theme was "shadows and light". I chose this image I took of two cacti (cactuses??) and started playing. I added multiple textures, one with pattern, and also ran it through Radlab many times. I lost track of all my steps - there were many. But for awhile this morning, as I sat sipping my coffee on a Thursday morning, I was very content...if an observer had taken my photo, the lighting would have been perfect (even if I am still in my PJs!). I hope your day is filled with perfect lighting, too - thank you for stopping by!

Original photo:

Spring Fever

It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so! ~Mark Twain

Spring is so close I can taste it...everywhere I look, the buds are ripe and ready to burst. Any day now, there will be an explosion of color. In the meantime, for Bonnie's Photo Art Friday, our theme this week was "collage". I came up with the idea of trying to create a flower collage using some of my original photos. I chose a few spring photos from last year and used them to create the individual flower center and petals. I added each flower element as a separate layer and, one at a time, used a mask and hard brush to create my desired shapes. I then used the dry brush artistic effect on just the flower with a reverse layer mask. I also used the pencil tool for the very first time because I wanted to add lines around the shapes of the petals. My background is one I created myself awhile back with paints/mixed media - lastly, I added the text and put the whole image through Radlab for a final tweeking.

This was a fun exercise - thanks so much for stopping by. If you're also impatiently waiting for spring where you are, I hope it shows up soon!

My Beautiful Verb: Soulful Thoughts

"What a liberation to realize that the “voice in my head” is not who I am. Who am I then? The one who sees that.” ~Eckhart Tolle

Eckhart Tolle's books The Power of Now and A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose were life changing books for me. I had never once had the idea that my brain (whom Eckhart calls "the thinker") was a separate entity from who I actually am. To realize this concept was an epiphany, and offered me great relief and peace from the torment of my worrying brain thoughts. In Eckhart's words, "The brain does not create consciousness, but conciousness created the brain, the most complex physical form on earth, for its expression." The idea of the brain as purely an expressive tool of the real source of who we are, our consciousness, was a very freeing thought. It completely resonated with me.

To me, my consciousness is my inner spirit, and I like the idea that my soul is the true leader. She's fully present inside this body I've been given, and tries her best to make her way through life with me amidst all my brain's hang-ups, fears, and self-judgments. She's the quiet voice at the bottom of my lungs, whispering words of comfort when I'm confused, sad, or afraid. She helps me to remember I'm worthy, even when my brain is convincing me I'm not (have you ever thought about how many of your self-imposed thoughts simply aren't true?). As Eckhart Tolle describes, "The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly. Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive." My soulful self cheers me on in those destructive moments. I am now aware of her (me?) every day, and she is good company.

These poor souls of ours, trapped inside our worldly minds! How do they keep their faith through all of our earthly trials and tribulations? How do they stay positive within us, surrounded by our constant, internal brain battles? As a lifelong worrier, my brain controls me more than I'd like to admit. But, the more I acknowledge my inner soul, the greater her strength becomes. She loyally defends me against my brain's attempts to define me, which is no easy task. Her gentle presence is as certain as my next breath. She is my breath. And she is action...she is strong, resilient, and empowering. She advances, she deftly outmaneuvers my brain thoughts...as I've grown older, she has gained strength and is always one step ahead. She is my beautiful verb. She is me.

“You don't have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body.” ~ C.S. Lewis

I'm linking up to Bonnie's Photo Art Friday - her theme this week was "graffiti". I started with an image of a wall I took in Lorton, VA. I added the text with two fonts, one called "Misdemeanor" and the other called "TWO a.m." (both were free at dafont.com). I also used Bonnie's "Ma Belle" texture at Hue/70%. The quote is from David Mitchell's book The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet. It really caught my eye the first time I read it.

Rebirth, and Hopeful Things

We are pressed flowers in heavy books, too close to the story to see it is only a story. ~Andrea Gibson

This week's prompt for Photo Art Friday was to create an abstract image using only Bonnie's textures and an original photo. I took a photo of an old pressed rose from my high school scrapbook...this rose is 34 years old, from a bouquet I got when I graduated! I thought it would be perfect to go with a poem I also wrote this past week.

Every year when March arrives, I am SO tired of winter. My spirit is limp. But it's also that time when I begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel - getting through the month means that April will be here. And once April arrives, spring begins to reveal herself...it's as if mother nature has been holding her breath until she's blue in the face, and when April arrives she suddenly exhales an enormous cleansing breath that rejuvenates everything. The color returns to her face, and to mine, too...growth begins again, both outside in nature and inside of me. My energy returns and I'm filled with happiness - it's always a joyous feeling!

I used two of Bonnie's textures, Abstract Elements (Lighter Color/65%) and Lover's Lament (Pin Light/100%). I just kept playing and blending until I had an abstract silhouette of a flower that I liked. The original photo is awful...the plastic of the scrapbook page has begun to disintegrate, and the rose is looking worse for wear! It's amazing how you can take an image with very poor quality and make it beautiful with artistic effects in Photoshop Elements. Thanks for stopping by, and if you'd like to see more photo art please click on the button below.

WINTER FLOWER

I keep a scrapbook in winter
A collection of moons
That make me remember
Moments like those in
The cold of December
When the sun is drowning
And the moon saves it
Catching it in its mouth
And melancholy is the name
Of my winter flower, pressed
Gently between the pages
Flush against the shadows
Of my soul

I flip through the pages, to
That one moon I witnessed
On a January evening
Wrapped snugly around
The shivering pines
Its silver shawl aglow
Or that February Sunday
When the moon's tender light
Trembled atop those oak trees
Their melodies stripped down
To leafless acoustics
Amidst an audience
Of cold, gray stones

Moon-filled moments
Fragile winter keepsakes
Where I conspire with my heart
Writing her out as
The snow falls, cradling
My sad, pressed flower
And the earth takes note
Serene about tomorrow, wiser
Than me and far ahead of
My fickle winter's sorrow
She knows her hands will
Soon turn to green leaves
Motioning me to spring, to
Rebirth and hopeful things.

© Sherri Brannon

Original image:

Dance With Joy So Sincere

Break the chains that tie me here
Solace in my lucid self,
I dance with joy so sincere,
Heavens sigh as if to cheer. ~Roberta Murray

For this week's Photo Art Friday, the theme is "vintage". I used a photo I took of my daughter in her pointe shoes and tried to make it look very old. I started with Bonnie's "Scratched Lens" texture (Color Burn/67%), which is so pretty and a new favorite of mine. I also selectively added a crackle texture with a reverse layer mask. Radlab was very helpful for this one - it has several filters that make your image look wonderfully aged (especially Grandma's Tap Shoes and Maple).

Dance has such a special place in my heart - it has been my daughter's passion since she was a little girl. I have so many memories of recitals, competitions, and endless hours spent at her dance studio...it was our second home for ten years. Her dance classmates were like sisters, and her teachers were like a second family. She still performs with a college dance group...I'm glad she continues to make this thing she loves a part of her life!

Original image:

Every Poem is a Word-Soaked Petal

This week's Photo Art Friday theme is "connect/connection". I chose a photo I took last fall of some flowers in my neighbor's yard. I used Bonnie's new free texture "Scratched Lens", which is absolutely gorgeous! The colors are beautiful and I will use this one often. I blended it twice - once at Saturation/100% and again at Darken/100%. I then used Poster Edges/47% on just the flowers to make them stand out a little better (using a reverse layer mask). Several swipes through Radlab, and I was happy with how it looked. The original flowers are beautiful, but I like the end results of my playing, and the lovely white and soft colors that I ended up with.

My connection to both poetry and mother nature is a powerful thing in my life...nature is present in every poem I write. Poetry is soulful...it truly is filled with soul. It's the key ingredient, like sunshine is to a flower. And like a flower, it grows from a rooted and deep place...the emotions of it are like delicate and fragile petals. It needs tending to thrive...harsh elements like brain and ego will cause it to shrivel and die.

PETALS

You find me here
One single flower
Under towering trees
Memories tossing me
Like the wind

I bow to the earth
That gives me life
From seed, to sprout,
To rooted thoughts
Unfolding safely
Within

And every poem is a
Word-soaked petal
Blooming silky soft
A scented soul thought
Flowing smoothly
From the stem.

© Sherri Brannon

Original photo:

Dreaming of Spring

I'm dreaming of spring...for this week's Photo Art Friday, I used one of my Instagram photos I took during our last snow. I added in a snowflake shape (three times) and then used the watercolor effect in PSE (at 20%) to unify the image and bring everything together. I layered a blue ombre texture over the image twice, once at Overlay/100% and once at Hue/100%. I then finished it up in Radlab to brighten and/or sharpen areas.

I'm feeling encouraged by the lengthening days...there's still some lingering light left at 6pm here in Virginia. And our daffodils are bursting through the ground, too - I hope they'll be OK. Happy Valentine's Day to you!

SUNNY DAYS

With footsteps
Quiet as snow
I look down
At winter's white lace
A cloying coverlet
Laying its silence
Like a frigid shroud
Over spring's flowers
Smothering pale roots
In place

I search inside
For some memories
Dipping my cupped hands
Into glimpses of sunny days
And my soul flies
With dreamy eyes
Along soft trails
Of white-cupped daisies
Smoldering in the heat
Of August's rays

If only for a moment
Winter's chill
Falls from my heart
Like bitter glass
Pointy snowflakes
Blue from the moon
Melting tenderly
Spilling away and
Shimmering against
Sunlight on my face.

© Sherri Brannon

Original photo:

Stealers of Sunlight

"The world’s materiality at dawn – and the soul’s frailty." ~Adam Zagajewski

For this week's Photo Art Friday, Bonnie challenged us to create an abstract piece of digital art by using two of her textures (one of them being her Dropped Petals texture), and also adding one or two additional elements into our image. This was a fun challenge and required some thinking...once again I enjoyed trying to create an image based on a poem I wrote last week. I started with a photo I took of a dandelion weed. I used Bonnie's "Dropped Petals" (Multiply/100%) and "Golden Bokeh" (Screen/68%) textures, and then I found an image of a flying crow in the Creative Commons area of Flickr. I incorporated the crow into my image, and also used the "cutout" artistic effect in PSE (Normal/68%) to make the image look much more abstract. I also brought out the detail of the dandelion by using a reverse layer mask and the poster edges effect (Normal/100%). I used a soft brush and a reverse layer mask to turn some of the "light shapes" a yellow color.

The crows in my poem, for me, are symbolic of the fears and anxieties we all feel as human beings...both of these things drain us. They're ruthless in their desire to steal away our joy, just like those shrewd crows. I try my hardest not to let them rob me of my sunlight!

CROWS

Daylight arrives
With its magic scissors
Cutting light shapes
That fall lackadaisical
Onto trees, souls,
And a lonely field
Strips of sunlight
Exposing wrenched roots
Illuminating the brown grass
Where every wild dandelion
Once grew

Join me here by my river
Come sit with me a spell
Where I daydream of summer
While the crows
Keenly whistle
Perhaps they're night's
soldiers? Stealers of sunlight
And hoarders of colors
Thank God they can't spy
My soulful confessions
My memory's holy cells.

© Sherri Brannon

Original photo:

It's a Fragical World

"The moment we begin to fear the opinions of others and hesitate to tell the truth that is in us, and from motives of policy are silent when we should speak, the divine floods of light and life no longer flow into our souls." ~Elizabeth Cady Stanton

FEATHERS

How unfortunate that
My place in this world
Had me dulling
The points of my stars

So careful, I was
To cover my words
To wrap them in gauze
So they wouldn't come undone

An undying concern
To unfurl only feathers
Downy and soft
From my tongue

Yet, they're only my breath
My lulling, white winds
Soul-flowing thoughts
From within

Unstung and fragile
Like delicate moth wings
Pinned as a brooch
Against lace over skin.

© Sherri Brannon

The pressure to edit ourselves, to hide our flaws, to not reveal our vulnerabilities...this is the world we live in. We exist in a world of walls, both real and self-imposed, that conceal and separate...when all we really want is to be understood, to be validated...to be connected.

The computer is the most tech savvy wall I've ever seen...it provides a means of exposing ourselves and connecting, while still hiding behind the safety of a screen. It's a virtual security blanket. It allows us to temporarily peek from behind our curtain, to remove our public masks for just a moment and reveal our true selves...while the wall remains intact. Why such fear of exposure? And believe me, I'm as guilty as anyone else. This blog gives me courage I don't have in real-life, face-to-face situations.

Contrary to our culture's popular opinion, I feel that flaws are beautiful...they make us real and approachable. Exposing our fragilities can have a magical effect because others relate and no longer feel alone. I'm able to do this best with my poetry. While thinking about this idea, that exposing our fragility can have a magical effect in connecting with others, I accidentally said the word "fragical" out loud. I created a new word! Being real with others about our flaws truly is fragical because it bonds us together.

Just my contemplative thoughts on a Thursday...and yep, I talk out loud to myself...often. lol

My feather image is my submission for Photo Art Friday...the theme is "minimalist". I don't know if this is minimalist enough, but it's what I came up with. Minimalist is challenging for me! I tend to go the other way and want to add lots of "stuff". I used Bonnie's "Mother Love" texture at Soft Light/37%. I also used Gradient Map (black to white) at Normal/57%, and the cutout effect at Normal/48%. As always, there were a few tweaks in Radlab.