The Buzz on Basket Weaving

Shot this through my living room window yesterday morning.

Paper Wasp-Coincidentally, I learned while watching Antique Roadshow last night that in many cultures this wasp is a symbol of “new beginnings.” I was down with the flu all of last week, so I am ready for a new beginning!

The Audition

I’m sure all of you have looked at clouds from both sides by now and often seen in them fluffy animations of bears, poodles, Albert Einstein, etc, etc. When I put this cloud photo together with itself foursquare, all kinds of creatures emerged. It soon became obvious I was seeing two Sandhill Cranes auditioning for a Mother Goose rhyme. Yep.

I found a photo of my sister Virginia that projected the attitude I was looking for.

I persuaded Katie to costume up for for MG’s body.

For the little dog, I found a picture of my childhood pet, Tasha—a very silly, but beloved pooch.

I’m in there too, if you can find me.

I spent a lot of time on this one, but still somehow I really don’t know clouds at all.

Thanks, Joni.The Audition blog-3

Mother Goose detail

Mother Goose detail

Evolution Of An Image

I recently attended a Hit Ninjas weekend song writing workshop (boot camp, really) in Idyllwild California presented by my niece, Kasaan Steigen. It was awesome. Her knowledge and enthusiasm for the subject had all the attendees noticeably pumped and eager to get writing—including myself, but more on that later. I did not have much time for photography while I was there, but Sunday afternoon I got out for a hike. Idyllwild is an artsy community and hiker’s paradise at an elevation of 6000 ft  in the San Jacinto Mountains. Up on a hillside I came across a reclining Manzanita bush/tree that I thought might make an interesting photo. By no means did I recognize its potential at the time. When I saw the “final” (not) image, the big question was whether I liked it better in color or black and white.

I wasn’t sure I liked it all THAT much either way. I decided to see what it would look like mirrored and tiled x 4. WOW! Suddenly it was inhabited by hundreds of little creatures–faces everywhere!

Then I decided I wanted to add a real face to the mix, and since mine was the one readily available :-)…….

At this point, the number of modifications leading to interesting outcomes seems infinite.

Hit Ninja song writing workshops coming up April 5-7 and May 17-19.                                    –More info here Hit Ninjas

If you would like to see these Man Zanita images in some additional renderings, click Here.

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