The Brilliance of Clouds

Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky. ~Rabindranath Tagore

Oh, the clouds. Here in Florida, I gasp every day when I look up at the sky. Never have I seen such a variety of clouds and sunsets...the colors and light are brilliant. In Virginia, my view was always blocked by the massive trees that were everywhere in our community. I do miss those trees, but man-oh-man, how I love this new, wide open view. I feel like I can breath...my lungs open up as I just stand there and stare.

I'm sharing my photo today over at the Nature Footstep blog - please click HERE to visit and add your "catching light" photo to the prompt. I took all of these cloud photos with my iPhone. My poor Lumix has been sadly neglected these past few months.

When in Doubt, Just Jump Back In

The day is ending. It’s time for something that was beautiful to turn into something else that is beautiful. Now, let go. ~Elizabeth Gilbert

Hello, Blog World...it's been months since I've posted. I guess the only solution is to just jump right back in.

Living in Florida is fantastic. The weather is truly amazing. We left a gray winter landscape in Virginia, and exchanged them for vast blue skies and vibrant flowers everywhere. It's still surreal for me. Now I just need to get my creative groove back. Life has been so busy with the move since last October. I feel like this is an opportunity for me to begin anew with all things creative. I don't quite know yet which direction I'll go in, but I will let go and enjoy the process.

For now, I'm sharing a photo I took of a sunset last week. The sunsets here are as varied as the trees were in Virginia...every night there's a new surprise in the sky to awe me. The colors and clouds are magnificent. For this image, I used Kim's "Cora" texture at Multiply/25%. I also put the photo into Radlab to tweak it. I was very rusty with my Photoshop skills - it's been months since I've edited photos on my big computer. It felt good!

Thank you for stopping by. I hope to get back on track with my blog. Happy Tuesday to you!

App Happy Wednesday: Fog Serenade

Life is still super hectic - our moving truck comes in four days. But this morning I was sitting with my coffee and saw Barb's blog post for App Happy Wednesday. I couldn't resist! Editing my iPhone photos has been the one creative thing I've still tried to do through the craziness of this move.

Here is a photo I took recently when we made a quick trip to Florida. I absolutely love how I captured the sweet little bird perched at the top of the tree. It was purely a coincidence - we were driving down the highway and I took this through the passenger window. I used my new, favorite app to edit this photo: Stackables. It has the most amazing textures that add such beauty to an otherwise plain photo.

See you soon, blog world - I can't wait to be back on a more normal basis. Until then, have a wonderful day, OK?

Big Changes in 2015

Hello, Everyone - it's been awhile. The good news is that our house here in Virginia sold in one week. We are shocked and suddenly scrambling to get moved in less than a month. I can't believe I'll be in Florida permanently in such a short time. I'm feeling every emotion possible right now as I get ready to say goodbye to this beautiful home I've lived in for almost 20 years. There are so many memories here...it'll be very sad to walk away, but I'm also happy for the new adventures and memories awaiting me down south.

Thank goodness for my iPhone and camera apps - my creative time has come to a dead halt these last weeks. But I do try to play with an iPhone photo each night while I sit and watch a little TV. Here are two photos I edited, featuring a great new app I've discovered: Modern Grunge (or Grunge HD). I just love it.

This will be my last post until I'm down in Florida and settled - it could be six weeks or so. It'll be strange to have all my 'Virginia woods and country roads' photos replaced with Florida palm trees and open skies. Until then - Happy New Year and I hope to be back soon!

Poem: Life Drawing

LIFE DRAWING

Shape of a treasured memory
Hue of a hidden fear
Shade of an unfilled destiny
Tone of a tender tear

Contour of a fragile thought
Erase of a word that stings
Portrait of a soul that's lost
Sketch of a hope that clings

Value of a loving touch
Texture of a smile that's kind
Circle of a permanent scar
Oval of a light-filled eye.

©Sherri Brannon

I follow the wonderful dVerse blog, a 'poets pub' that encourages blog poets like me to post poetry on a weekly basis. They provide themes and/or prompts. I've never participated before but today's prompt caught my eye immediately because it's a subject so close to my heart.

I hope it's OK that I share a poem I wrote awhile back while immersed in an art class I was taking. I love painting so much but find that it's the first creative outlet to go when my life is busy. I haven't painted in a long while but am hoping to start up again after our move. It's the art form I'm most drawn to but also the most afraid of.

The poem came to me while learning all about lines, colors, and shapes...our lives are filled with these things in the form of joys, challenges, triumphs, and heartbreaks. The art piece is a collage I did using cutouts from books and magazines - it also has a piece of my personal poetry journal in it.

If poetry is your thing, please visit the dVerse blog and participate! Thanks so much for stopping by.

Last Night's Birds (A Poem)

LAST NIGHT'S BIRDS

I'm in a new space,
a childless house, its
pulse slowing, then silent.
There's a kinship with
the fading flowers, clustered
yet alone, muted in tone.
A feeling lingers, enveloping my heart,
like a flittering moth yearning for
the vast night's jar stars, and I,
the lonely watcher. Or, like the
maple tree in my back yard aching
for yesterday's birds and
those birds, in turn, searching
in vain for the air.

The November air hangs sharply
on the edges of burning leaves.
I rake up their withered flames, my
mother heart cracked lengthwise,
my memories wisping skywards, my
love mingling with the wood smoke.
I seek comfort from non-human things:
fungi blooming shyly on the forest floor,
glass ponds beckoning as mirrors.
I stoop to gather my words in the woods,
uprooted in tufts of pungent earth.
Hope's gentle hands hook gently
around my waist, holding me up as I
harvest my sorrow in gutted fields,
among pine needles and tree shadows.

Sherri Brannon ©2014

It's been quite awhile since I felt the urge to write, but this poem has been percolating for weeks...it felt good to write about my empty nest feelings. My daughter is doing well and adjusting to her new life in New York City, and that makes me feel good. It really is true what they say: all a parent wants is for their kid to be happy! It's that simple.

Life is a whirlwind right now - it's a time of letting go while embracing new and exciting things. Isn't that the pattern of life? Oh yes, indeed.

Big changes are ahead and I will be incredibly busy for the next several months. We have decided to move to Florida earlier than planned and are now prepping our Virginia house for sale. We've lived in this house for 18 years so there's a whole lot of de-cluttering and home improvements going on! We are downsizing in a huge way. I will post occasionally if I can, but I'll mostly be taking a blog break at least through the holiday season. Life sure keeps you on your toes, doesn't it?

My photo was taken with my iPhone...another lovely landscape capture while on a country drive. I will miss the back roads of Virginia so much when we leave! I used both the Distressed FX and Stackable apps to get the painterly texture (and birds) in the image.

Thank you for stopping by.

App Happy Wednesday: Fall Landscapes

I've gotten so many lovely fall captures with my iPhone in recent weeks...here are some of my favorites which I'm sharing with App Happy Wednesday. Click on the icon below to visit and join in! Fall landscape photos are my absolute favorite, especially the ones I come across while out on the back country roads of Virginia.

For all of these photos, I mainly used DistressedFX and/or Stackables to create the beautiful textured feel. I love the bird options in DistressedFX - they add so much to a country landscape.

Thank you for stopping by!