Category: Essay

  • Roasting Cashews on the Corner of Third and Broadway

    Roasting Cashews on the Corner of Third and Broadway

    I love poking around in department stores.  Saturday mornings, with a dollar or so in my pocket, I ride the bus downtown to roam around in the department stores to buy my treasures for the coming week.   These stores are filled with many colors, textures, smells, sounds, and people bustling around.  So much to see…

  • Orange

    Orange

    The photography challenge of the week was “orange.” I was pretty sure I would not be able to find too many scenes or items containing the color orange to photograph. In this area at this time of year snow mostly covers the ground and there is not too much life around outside that might exhibit…

  • Circularity

    Circularity

    Curves, arcs, circles, spirals: these are the geometric forms that make up the architecture of nature. When we practice tai chi we try to simulate the forms in nature. This means that we move gracefully without locking out the joints. To do this we must first open the joints and we can do this by…

  • Tools of the Art

    Tools of the Art

    Every art form has its own special tools. A painter has special brushes, paints, canvases; a sculptor has their own collection of knives and material from which they carve a piece; a writer their own individual pens, paper, software; a musician their own favorite instrument; a photographer their personal brand of camera and multiple lenses…

  • A Face in the Crowd

    A Face in the Crowd

    Ever stop and watch people? It is especially fascinating if you are in a crowd. A Face in the Crowd was a photography assignment that turned out to be more enjoyable than I had anticipated. I love street photography but I find it intimidating so I have to work up my courage to get out…

  • Pivotal moments

    Pivotal moments

    In Tai Chi you learn to change direction by pivoting on one foot and then the other.  It makes for a smooth graceful transition to a different location in space.  If the pivot is irregular or unsteady the following movement will lack cohesiveness leading to a fragmented series of movements.  It is the direct opposite…