Gourds

I'm back at home from my travels. I got a 'ginormous' number of photos to process as well as a multitude of other minor choirs to accomplish before returning to work.

I'll write a post (or a number of posts) summarizing the travels.

In the meantime, here's a photo of a gourd that my mother made. She made a number of gourds to be used as center pieces at Nicole and David's wedding. At the wedding, the gourds had beautiful orchids placed in them.

While I was visiting my parents, I help them make a simple DIY lightbox. Then I photographed a lot of my mom's gourds and my dad's carvings. I'm really happy with the photos of the gourds, but didn't like the photos of the carvings. I think the the carvings should be captured with a black background and directional light.

Click on the image to view a slide show of the centerpiece gourds. 

Click here to see a slide show of all the photos I've taken of family art.

You mean that I could buy one?

The historic Delaware Hotel in Leadville, CO has a number of these ladies scattered around the lobby.  This would make a rather interesting side table that would start a few conversations...

Be sure to visit Sepia Scenes!

A Standard Handbook of the Mines

Click for more Wordless Wednesday

Zebulon

Sorry for the lack of posts the last few days. I've been a bit ill. I took Friday off to go camping up near Aspen, Co. However, I ended up staying in bed most of that day.

This is a statue of Zebulon Pike standing outside the El Paso County Courthouse in Colorado Springs. Behind him, you can catch a glimpse of the mountain that bears his name. Originally, he was facing towards the peak. He was moved when the county expanded the court house. I'm sure he is now wondering where that mountain went...

Many people believe that Zebulon stated that no one could ever climb the Peak. People from the Pikes Peak region find this immensely humorous, after all, many of them get to the summit by way of the Barr Trail, the Cog Railroad, or the Pike's Peak highway. In fact, 1000's of people run up the peak during the yearly Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathons (I've done the Ascent twice).

Actually, many historians believe that he said they could not climb it in the winter conditions found at the time he visited. According to the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum, the expedition was in summer uniforms and ill-equipped for the climb. Even though it is now June, the Peak is still covered with snow and would be a dangerous climb for anyone in summer clothing.

That's a part of my world - go to My World Tuesday to see others'.

The Eagle

My mom is not the only artist in my family. My dad is a wood carver. This picture is a close up of a eagle bust that he carved and painted. I keep bugging him to carve me a life size ostrich, and he keeps refusing.

To see glimpses of the world from other eyes, click on My World Tuesday.

Dragonfly

This week's Thursday Challenge is "DELICATE" (Glass, Lace, Jewelry, Plants, Breakable Things,...).

For this entry, I choose to show my mom's bead work and workstation as seen through her magnifying glass. I've watched her create designs like these. To me, it looks exceedingly tedious. I I'm don't believe that I'd have the patience to deal with those tiny beads. What's worse, if she's not happy with how the project is going, she'll strip off all the beads and start over again. That is dedication, and it pays off with the end result.

Good job mom!

Prospect Lake

Memorial Park in Colorado Springs includes a fitness center, an ice skating ring, velodrome, skateboard park, various football/baseball/softball/soccer fields, and Prospect lake.

For awhile, Prospect Lake was drained, it was a big muddy hole. Here’s an interesting article about Saving Prospect Lake.

Here’s a shot of some art at Prospect Lake in Memorial Park with Pikes Peak looming in the background.

Crusty Old Cowboy

When we were growing up, my brothers and I spent a lot of time with my grandparents. My grandfather, Bill Chick was a wood carver. He would spend hours out in the garage carving stuff, and I would spend hours watching him.

This picture is of one of his little carvings that I have. In the background, is a windmill that either my grandfather, or my Uncle Gary made. If you know, please let me know.

One of my projects is to photograph the arts and crafts created by my family. At least as long as I can do it justice. Some of these items will be a challenge. My uncle Tom writes stories - how do you photograph one of those?

The shot was taken in my little DYI studio. The main lights are a couple of diffused fluorescent lights. The background is white poster paper lit by a halogen lamp (to give it sunset feel). In post-process, I opened up some shadows and sharpened the image some.

West Side Tattoo

Apparently the mural painted on the building that houses West Side Tattoo was controversial when it was first painted. Some people considered it graffiti. Personally, I like it. What do you thing?

The Skier

Downtown Colorado Springs has lots of art including this statue of a skier at the Pioneer Museum.

Early Saturday morning, I walked around downtown taking photos. There are a number of other shots that would work better in late afternoon light. I look forward to taking them.

Click on this picture to see other pictures from downtown Colorado Springs.

Art

My parents both spend a lot of time doing arts and crafts of various types. During my recent visit I tried to capture some of this art in photos. This picture is a Kestral falcon carved and painted by my father.