Category: Art

Another beautiful poem

Again by Bela Johnson

You don’t want me waffling on so I’m going straight over to Bela’s poem. It is called River Thoughts and was published on Bela’s website on the 24th May, 2021. With Bela’s permission, I should add!

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River Thoughts

The river thunders, to no applause
in particular; rolls along, rippling
and eddying without thought
or expectation of feedback,
though I can’t help but think
all of nature thrives under
an appreciative gaze;

We once watched endangered
river otters cavorting in plain sight
just under the bridge of a much
larger river, we told no one;
fishermen dislike that they are forced
to share with these sleek creatures
we thought dolphins, when first
they caught our eyes,
out of context, having come
from Hawaii only recently;

Our smaller Vallecitos river is
magnificent in its own right,
rushing lifeblood to this struggling
ranching community, altitude
too high to receive much precipitation
in liquid form, preferring the snows
of winter, and those have been
in shortfall for years now, water levels
everywhere having dropped
precipitously, and with the decline
comes the invariable unrest
in people dependent on the bounty
of the land;

And so this rainy day is particularly
welcomed while the dampness
is in marked contrast to the bone dry
of the region, and as a fire blazes
in the hearth, ranch dogs lie fidgety
like grammar school children forced
inside for recess in inclement weather.

Mr. Peanut awaits what’s next!

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Perfect!

Jeannie is painting again!

And it is thanks to all of you!

There was such a wonderful response to when I recently posted some of Jeannie’s paintings from previous days that she picked up her paint brushes again.

To say that I was delighted is an understatement.

So I present a painting of Louis, a dog belonging to Jim and Janet Goodbrod, when he was a puppy, that’s Louis not Jim!

Jim and Janet used to live just around the corner from us but moved some time ago up to Roseburg. We are going to visit them today and Jean is taking the painting with her as a gift to the Goodbrods.

But to close with another thank you. Because it really made such a difference.

A few of Jean’s paintings

That came via the sale of Jean’s bike.

Yesterday we drove down to Phoenix, Oregon to deliver the Sun Tricycle to the new owners. Daniel and Cherie were a delightful couple, albeit more my age than younger. But they had been through one heck of a disaster. Because last year they were both asked to flee the fires with very little notice and only recently had they found a new home and were still settling in.

Daniel rides his trike and wanted to get one for Cherie. We were delighted with the sale and we hope we all will see each other in the near future.

Anyway, Daniel is quite an artist and Jean mentioned she used to paint before the Parkinson’s tremor made it much more difficult. But Daniel insisted on photographs being taken of a few of Jean’s paintings and sent to them via email.

Here they are.

Sammy
Victor

Pharaoh
Ben fishing
Ben fishing
Mariachis

Just thought they made a nice change!

Picture Parade Three Hundred and Eighty

This was a real treat!

Jim Ingraham of our local Caveman Camera Club sent out an email last week.

Wednesday, March 17th will be our next education meeting. It will be a light painting field trip with Dale George as the teacher/instructor.

We will meet at Reinhart Volunteer Park (also known as All Sports Park) at 7 pm. When you go into the park take your first left. Just go to the end of the very long parking lot and you are there.

As much as I don’t want to say this, I gotta…Observe social distancing and wear your facial covering. I want all members to attend. I cannot and would not attempt to enforce this, do what you’re going to do, but please be respectful of others.

Bring camera, tripod, remote shutter (not absolutely necessary), fully charged battery, warm clothes, maybe a headlamp to see your camera dials.

Daylight savings time will be in effect so it won’t be getting dark until 7:30 or so.

Let’s get out of the house and have some fun.

Jim Ingraham
Education Coordinator

Now I didn’t have a clue as to what a “light painting field trip” was but Jeannie agreed to come with me so we both turned up on the 17th at 7pm.

This was the area of the park where we all assembled.

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In the main a single individual stood in front of us waving a light board in a synchronised manner. It was a flashing board. But there were times when he was joined by a woman and they both swung their own light boards.

Apart from cropping the images a little these photographs are as they were shot!

Talk about incredible!

(The shots were taken with a Nikon D750 with a Nikon 24-120 mm lens attached.

The settings were approximately 30 seconds Bulb f7.1 ISO 320.)

Learning with Lisa!

It is amazing what can be shared these days!

But to get you in the mood, I am going to start with this video about small dog breeds for young persons.

Right, now to the essence of today’s post.

My son, Alex, recently sent me details of a new teaching programme introduced by his partner, Lisa. It is called Learning with Lisa.

It consists of 32 videos each one being published at 0700 British time (presently GMT). In other words one new video each working day; i.e. Monday to Friday.

Here is the background to this new service.

Learning with Lisa.

I am a qualified primary school teacher of 26 years now teaching a series of early phase phonics lessons designed for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage (pre-school and reception).

The first series – “Preparing for reading and writing in the Early Years” aims to give children, aged 3 to 4, the best possible start with early literacy skills by providing fun yet challenging activities 5 days a week. Some of the later sections are also suitable for children aged 4 to 5.

These videos are suitable for parents, carers and their children, trainee teachers and other early-years practitioners.

Here is the link to the YouTube channel that you will need if you want to subscribe to each new video:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGlsoYGeT6YOZAvbsOWe9YQ/featured

Preparing for reading and writing in the Early years.

The video gives an outline of the lessons included in the series and discusses the teacher’s philosophy. The video is aimed at parents, carers and early-years practitioners and gives an understanding of the processes involved in early phonics, reading and writing.

It will help viewers to navigate their way through the series so their child can participate in a fun and challenging experience. The series aims to give pre-school children the best possible start to early literacy.

Below, this is the first teaching video in the series.

If there are any readers willing to share and subscribe to Lisa’s channel please do.

Especially those that have 3-4 year old children and/or grandchildren, that would be great.

Have a think as to your friends who have young children and send them this link: Please!

Sound UK is 20!

A fabulous achievement.

This is the company that my daughter helps to run. She is Maija and together with Polly and Chloe they run Sound UK. This is what Maija said in her recent email:

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20 years of extraordinary music

We hope the New Year finds you and your family well.

2021 is special for Sound UK as we celebrate 20 years of bringing you extraordinary music. We’re marking this milestone throughout the year. This includes 20 Artists for 20 Years, which shines a spotlight on key artists in Sound UK’s life. First up is the incredible Elaine Mitchener later this month…

To kick off our 20th birthday celebrations, we hope you enjoy this 60 second film about our work. You can watch it on the link below.

Keep well,
Polly, Maija and Chloe

 

20 years of extraordinary music. sounduk.net

Music credit: Landing – Collectress

Film edit by: Lee Matthews, iconic image

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I find it a brilliant short video and I hope some of you out there will also watch it.

Apologies for a purely personal post.

The power of community

Despite the gloom and real stress for many people it’s not wall-to-wall pessimism.

The reason I was prompted to write about this was a couple of connections made in the last few days and the power they have to keep this elderly chap still bouncing along.

Recently on the forum Ugly Hedgehog there was a gentleman who posted some photographs of some dogs that he had seen at the dog park. It was in a post called Today at the dog park.

They were lovely and I thought what a good idea it would be if I was able to republish them for next week’s Picture Parade. So I asked!

Well I was not disappointed and indeed said gentleman emailed me with a short bio and a photograph of him and his dog by way of an introduction. This is what he wrote:

I was born on Long Island and spent the first 60 years of my life there except for my Naval service for four years during the Vietnam war. I was a Naval Aviator, and after my active duty was over I returned to Long Island and got into a career in law enforcement that lasted 31 years. I made thousands of arrests during my career and many of those who were incarcerated threatened to “get me” some day, so I would prefer that you don’t use my real name.

When I retired at age 60 I moved to Tampa, FL because my daughter lived there and I have two granddaughters and now my son lives here too. It’s great for photographing flora and fauna all year round. My love for dogs has worn off on my kids as my daughter has two of them and my son three! Photography has been a hobby of mine for over 60 years. Here is a casual photo of me and my buddy Ollie (a three year old golden doodle).

Ollie and Nimbushopper

You will have to wait until Sunday to view his photographs!

At the end of November Jean and I wanted to join the local camera club. It was clear that I had a camera, a Nikon D750, that was way more advanced than I thought and, frankly, I didn’t know my way around it.

So we joined the Caveman Camera Club in Grants Pass, Oregon. Although at the moment the pandemic puts a halt on physical meetings, twice a month ‘zoom’ meetings are held. Also mentors were available. I took advantage of the opportunity to work under a mentor and last week I went the short distance of nine miles to meet with Gene. Gene had so much knowledge and had regularly taught photography for a number of years. I came away very inspired and very motivated to become better in my photographic and composure skills. Gene’s area of interest is landscapes.

What was clear was that for my whole life, and I have been taking photographs for a very long time, I had been taking pictures and not composing photographs.

It’s going to be a long journey but one that fills me with delight

Here are some of my very first attempts, taken yesterday along the Rogue River in the rain and mist.

The Rogue River looking downstream.

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The Rogue River looking upstream from the same point.

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Looking towards the top of the opposite bank.

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Trees in the mist.

Well it’s a start!

But I just wanted to reiterate that staying local both literally and virtually is very rewarding.

A bit of a mess!

From a dog’s mess to an art project!

This is an amazing story. Yes, of course, it is about a dog. But somehow this is one special dog.

It was seen on The Dodo back on the 6th June but it is as current an item as an item can be. See what you think; here is that article:

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Dog Is So Excited To Show Mom The ‘Art Project’ He Did While She Was Gone

“He’s always proud of his messes” 💪

By Caitlin Jill Anders
Published on 11/6/2020

On her first day volunteering at the Norfolk SPCA in Virginia, Casey Lewis knew she wanted to adopt a dog, but was planning to wait until the moment was right. Then the volunteer coordinator introduced her to J.J. — and the adoption was official by the end of the day.

“It was love at first sight, and he came home with me that day … the SPCA still tells our story,” Lewis told The Dodo.

CASEY LEWIS

J.J. has been with his mom for over three years now, and in that time, he’s definitely caused a lot of trouble. He has very strong opinions about everything, and loves to get into things he shouldn’t.

“Last year he destroyed six boxes of tissues, tore down the baby gate for the first time, and got into the steel, pedal-operated trash can … cleanup took over an hour … But I love him, and I wouldn’t trade him for anything,” Lewis said.

CASEY LEWIS

Recently, Lewis had to go into work but couldn’t bring J.J. to doggy day care that day. She decided he’d be fine at home alone, and secured anything she thought he might be able to get into. She went off to work with her fingers crossed — and came home again to find that her hopes had been in vain.

“What I found when I got home was a MESS,” Lewis said. “He’d torn six boxes into shreds of various sizes, from recognizable to fingernail-sized. He’d also pulled down the wooden baby gate in the kitchen and managed to move the storage tower that held it in place, and a large chunk had broken off an already-broken corner of the gate. I was lucky he didn’t decide to go for the trash.”

CASEY LEWIS

As Lewis observed the mess she now had to clean up, J.J. stood there proudly with the biggest smile on his face. He was clearly so excited to show his mom the art project he’d completed while she was gone, and couldn’t have been more pleased with himself.

“He’s always proud of his messes — ‘guilty beagle’ is an oxymoron,” Lewis said.

Much to J.J.’s dismay, Lewis cleaned up the mess he made that day, knowing there are bound to be many more in the future. J.J. just loves to explore and express himself, and even though it’s messy sometimes, his mom wouldn’t have him any other way.

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Well Casey is a real hero and clearly loves dogs beyond measure.

But, as I said at the start, J.J. is an exceptional dog. And one has to regard J.J. in his own terms. It’s no good applying human behavioural values to what J.J. is doing.

J.J. loves to express himself!