In Hiding © 2010 Bo Mackison

Abstract macro photograph of pink tulip. Olbrich Gardens in Madison, Wisconsin.

Barn in Lafayette County © 2010 Bo Mackison

I used one of the art filters, black and white grainy, that are on the Olympus E-P1 (PEN) but much of the time the filters are a bit over the top for my preferences. So I modified the black and white tones in Lightroom.

I went to the Apple store last week for an in depth discussion on Aperture 3. After waiting for 6 months, Aperture 3 is out and finally there is support for the Olympus PEN cameras (and all the other micro four-thirds). I liked using the Aperture program before I purchased the PEN (and then no longer had access to it) and I’m considering getting the upgrade. It means another learning curve while learning to a new program. Sigh!  And comes at a busy time for me, so I’m vacillating a bit.

I’ve got an appointment at Apple for next week…I’m thinking.

I Love Garden Centers! © 2010 Bo Mackison

There are so many bright, colorful things to photograph in garden centers in spring in Wisconsin. Not only the flowers, but the containers. These pink beauties are called Common Thrift. Not the prettiest of names, but they sure add a bright spot of color.

Nothing Square about this Window

April 1. New month, new season.

Windows. I love how there is nothing quite square about this window. Back in the 1800s I suppose they didn’t have to use rulers and squares when they were building their stone buildings. Eying it might have been good enough. I like that. I like its odd bit of crookedness.

Botanical Garden in Tucson Arizona

The mission of Tohono Chul Park is to enrich peoples’ lives by providing them the opportunity to find peace and inspiration in a place of beauty, to experience the wonders of the Sonoran Desert and to gain knowledge of the natural and cultural heritage of the region.

~~ Mission Statement of Tohono Chul Park

Another Memoir Container (in Metaphor)

Here is another photograph of pottery to announce another article on collecting memories and assembling them into a multimedia memoir.

The second article is on Memoir Space at the Calm Space website, and it tells you how to find your personal writing muse using your favorite search engine. Really! It works. Grab on to those memories and fill up the nearest container.

This cactus pottery was seen on an adobe window in the town of Tubac, a few miles south of Tucson. I love how it appears to have a palo verde tree growing out of the container.

Rather metaphorical, like memoirs that can grow from writing just a few words every day.

Mild, Medium, or HOT!

Pick your pepper.

We were near a local hangout that offers a Tex-Mex weekend brunch, so we headed to Texx Tubb’s Taco Palace on Atwood Avenue after an early morning photo shoot. The food was fine, a Mexican omelette filled with cheese and peppers, but I was more interested in photographing the place. After the manager gave me the OK to shoot whatever I wanted, I wandered around. Tabasco bottles, vintage metal water pitchers, hub caps on the wall rimmed with Christmas lights, a neon yellow refrigerated case for beverages, and an entrance decorated with photo strips, vintage 1960s Kresge’s. Pretty fun!

Through the Window

Office window, downtown Tucson. Lots of plants in a sunny window, and a turquoise watering can.

Taliesin West - Garden Room

I would like to be relaxing in this room – right this very moment! Maybe with a book in hand, or a notebook filled with words that flowed easily from mind to paper, and so now my writing project is neatly done.

Maybe I’m drinking an iced tea, or even better, indulging in a fudge brownie and a glass of cold milk. And while I’m daydreaming, I’ll go all out – the sunlight is streaming through the windows, and warming my face. Warming my soul.

A Nice Place to Relax

Say, this is a daydream, right? Maybe Mr. Wright will walk through the door, in an amiable and expansive mood, and share a few of his theories on architecture, or better yet, tell stories of the happenings of his boyhood, about the land he lived on and loved, and where he built the other Taliesin, the home and studio where he spent his summers, Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin.

Blue Seating in the Garden Room

This is in the Garden Room at Taliesin West, Mr. Wright’s winter home and studio on Scottsdale, Arizona. It’s a sprawling complex, now the winter home for the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture. The school moves east to summer in Wisconsin from May through October, just as Wright and his family did when they were alive.

Amusingly enough, on a recent tour through Taliesin West, our guide was an architect and an instructor at the architecture school. He had made the acquaintance of Wright several times. He mentioned that one of Wright’s express wishes was “Don’t ever attach my name to anything having to do with a school.” Though Wright appeared to get his way much of the time, seems no one paid attention to that request (or demand) once he was no longer around to speak up.

Taliesin West is a wonderful space to visit, the tour guide was knowledgeable and witty, and had a rather genius way of passing on Wright’s heritage and philosophy.

Blue Pottery

I am excited to announce that I’ve just launched a new monthly feature called Memoir Space. It is published at The Calm Space, an online magazine which, according to founder and editor Karen Wallace, “is an online magazine published weekly with a monthly theme – written by a team of amazing, real-life women who are living their passion with a purpose and a focus…we write in our own unique voices, and tell it like it is.”

Memoir Space will present a monthly multimedia project that will inspire you to create/write/photograph your memoir in fun, easy, and interesting bits. I so hope you’ll be inspired to not only try this month’s project, but join me each month. We will be writing unique exercises to flesh out your memories, shoot a few photography projects (any experience with any camera – cell phone camera, point and shoot, digital SLR is fine) and explore other multimedia ideas in the quest to “collect your memoir”.

Please check out the first installment, The Memories of Your Life, An Introduction to Writing Your Memoirs. And hey, why not say hi while you are visiting.

(As for the above photograph, these blue containers were spread out on the ground in front of a shop in Tubac, Arizona. I loved the deep blue color, and the tumbled arrangement, and  so I had to take a few photos.)