Photojojo #76 - Go For a Walk in 2010

Tonight is New Year's Eve. Tomorrow will be a new decade - full of new hope for better times. One of the best things I did while off from working this year was walk more. Scamperin' Nancy was helping me get in shape by walking every nearly every morning. And these were not easy walks. Some of them were up steep hills and by the time I got back to work in October, I was starting to be able to go up the hills without feeling like I was going to pass out.

Today's photojojo is a picture of the fogged in hills in Hayfork (Nancy) paired with some colorful walking shoes taken at Sea-Tac airport during my layover between Seattle and Bellingham.

On a personal note, I did 311 blog posts this year, which falls short of my goal of one per day. However, it is far better than my 2008 tally of 147 posts.

Happy New Year everyone. Here's to a prosperous new year for us all, spiritually, emotionally and financially.

Photojojo#75 - Corn Flakes for World Peace

Today's photojojo is seemingly one photo, but it didn't start that way. Nancy's peace sign with some melting snow was collaged with my corn flakes bowl and because of the dark background in the cereal bowl photo, it looks like the peace sign was right there above it all along.

Ironically, I was kicking mysel for having cropped my shot very short on top - right at the top of the bowl. When I put the image with Nancy's, it extended that black area, and automatically created a better, more balanced image.

What a perfect merge!

Photojojo#74

Too tired to write captions/explanations about this. Nancy's nozzles and Laura's Bloomie mannequins.

Photojojo #73

Photojojo#72 - Countdown to 500 Posts

Today's posting for the 72nd Photojojo is also No. 10 in the countdown to my 500th post on this art blog. Nancy is surrounded by lots of cold weather; I snapped this photo by accident in my car steering wheel the other day.

I'm just taking mine in order, matching up with Nancy's as I get them from her. I should hit 500 this week. Maybe by New Year's Eve.

Photojojo #71 - Birds on Ice

Anyone who knows me knows that I am not fond of birds in art. I feel like it is an overused theme, and yet, that means I also know I need to confront it. So, I'm taking the opportunity to get photos of birds (real or not), buy books of birds and just explore them in general. Claire and I "visited" with them outside Starbucks the other day and I told her about how much I am afraid of Hitchcock's The Birds.

My birds are pairs with Nancy's photography of the ice up in Hayfork. It must really be cold up there.

Merry Christmas Photojojo #70

Today is Boxing Day. Yesterday, I had the photos for the 'jojo (#70!), but was too busy and then too tired to get it posted on it's rightful day of 12/25/09. So, here it is a day late and a dollar short. I call it icy joy.

Photojojo #69 - Merry Christmas Eve

Tonight's Photojojo #69 is presented on the eve of Christmas 2009. This tree is out the window of Nancy's place in Hayfork. My photo of lamps and figurines was taken in Pier 1 Imports today while doing some last minute Christmas shopping.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I'm ready for 2010!

Photojojo #68

Today's Photojojo #68 is a frosty leaf by Nancy up in Hayfork and a lone boot in the bushes near work by Laura.

Christmas Eve

It was a beautiful day today driving between warm and sunny Half Moon Bay and the East Bay, where I went to visit with family near Mt. Diablo.

I took my camera and put on the dreamy Diana lens and got these photos of the hills around Mt. Diablo.

I like the effects I get with this lens.

Not a Photojojo

It's a couple of days before Christmas and I went to a restaurant to meet a friend to deliver the xmas boxes I made for her. I looked over my shoulder and saw this geocaching box on the counter. Do you know about geocaching? It's a cool activity I was introduced to several years ago.

I think it may have been invented by the companies that make GPS units. You use a GPS and the Geocaching.com website to locate these geocache boxes. When you find them, kind of an adult treasure hunt, you open the box to find all sorts of goodies. You can leave a goodie and take one.

Here's a little guy that I could have taken if I'd had something to leave.


Now with the advent of really good GPS features on the iPhone, you can of course find a geocaching app. I'm going to download one soon and start geocaching with my friends. I will be on a quest for little plastic animals that I'm starting to collect in the bowl in my front hallway.

Sometimes (usually) there are little notebooks in the box that you can use to leave a little note about your experience. I like this one: I think Monty is tiring of dating Lillie, or the restaurant, or both.

Photojojo #67

Today's Photojojo is No. 67. I'm not sure where Nancy took the candy counter photo; it is paired with my picture of leaves on the stairs of the parking structure.

Bah Humbug - Ho Ho Ho! Photojojo #66

It always happens right around this time of year - I am reminded of how much I hate Christmas.

To be fair, I don't really hate Christmas. I actually love the day of - seeing all my kids, going later to see the rest of my family. But the run up - in the few days preceding it - I find exhausting to the point of squelching all the fun out of it. I always manage to get through Christmas, and then on Boxing Day there is an inevitable relief/let down, wondering if my kids are happy with everything or disappointed like I always seemed to be growing up. I know - I project this onto them. I'm a work in progress on this.

Then, by the 27th or so, it's time to think about birthdays and getting ready for all that, then I'm really ready for a little vacation. This year, I'm going to Bellingham WA to chill. It will probably be cold there. I'll be ready for a nice little plane ride and some time away from my own environment. Then, after a few days there, I'll be ready to come home and start the new year.

This year was a bitch in many ways - mainly with the global economic implosion. I hope next year is better, but there is really no guarantee it will be.

Here's Photojojo #66 - some holiday lights on the left (Laura) and packages all wrapped and ready to go (Nancy).

Is There Life Beyond Photojojo?

Yes - I'm still doing art besides Photojojo. I've been quite busy, actually, with all kinds of other non-photographic art and art related activities.

For example, this weekend, I moved all my art related supplies (painting inventory, new canvases and frames) plus some household stuff that was cluttering up my garage, er studio, into a new and wonderful little fence hugger shed I just bought. I was installed in my back yard on Thursday, and by today, Sunday, I had it fully in use. See all about it here.

Here's a picture of the little darlin' in the yard. It's 6x12' and I was able to get lots of boxes of various papers and mementos into it, plus a lot of other stuff. So, now everything is here onsite and I'm happier than a clam.

I also did a commissioned art project over the weekend. A friend of mine is giving jewelry to her family as gifts for Christmas. She wanted an art box to enclose each gift, so I did these boxes which have her mother's photo on them. There are eight in all - seven smaller and one larger for the client. I hope she likes them!


I've also been planning my next print effort. I'm thinking about see saws, my childhood and quilts. I did a pro-form of the piece I want to start with. The photos of the man, collaged on as would be the case in the final piece, are just placeholders. What is significant about them is that there are two different photos of the same person. The placeholder images I used were from carte de visites, a predecessor to our modern day business card in the mid-1800s. These carte de visites were signficant in that the photographers of the day, using what were then recent technological developments (ha ha, no pun intended) were able to get eight exposures of the sitting client onto one piece of photo paper. There was something about the camera that took two exposures at one time and a way to move the negative over so that they got another two slightly different posed shots.

Anyway, I am working with these ideas and hope to have more time over the holiday break to explore more.

My studio was transformed today by getting a lot of important clutter out to the Shed. Now there is room to walk around my press. It was functionally okay in its prior location, with one side up against the back of a shelving unit. But it seems important to be able to walk around it and interact with it when printing. So, now it can breathe and so can I. Honestly, if I had my way, I would have a 2,000 square foot studio co-located with my house with all matching and covered storage so that I could label and then stow away all my art-making supplies.

This is the next best arrangement. Nearly all of the garage is dedicated to art, except for the ironing board, and some cleaning supplies stored near the door from the house out.

Photojojos #63, 64 and 65

We're all busy getting ready for the holiday - shopping, cleaning, cooking. Taking photos hasn't been at the top of the list, at least not getting them into Photojojo format. That's taken a bit of a back seat to the other demands on our time.

Nancy and I are starting to put out feelers for a venue where we can have a Photojojo Challenge show. Stay tuned for more on that soon. Here are a slug of three, today.

Photojojo#63 is Friday fishwrap - the paper (Nancy) and tuna cans (Laura).

Photojojo#64 is the holiday colors by Nancy with some cookies for Marisa (Laura).


Photojojo#65 catches us up with sidewalk scribbles (Nancy) and dangerous morning mushrooms after the rain (Laura).

Photojojo#62

I have never seen 109 santas all at one time - have you? They were out in force at work today, caroling through the buildings and spreading holiday cheer. Nancy's photo of the day's news is a good fit.

Up Over Photojojo #60 With These Three

We're catching up. Nancy has a new little Lumix camera that I hope she used to take these three photos that allow us to publish Photojojos #59, 60 and 61.

Photojojo#59 is some beautiful tomatoes by Nancy, even though it is mid-December. These go with the kids walking to school in the tule fog by me.

Photojojo#60 is Riley at the vet (Nancy) and a mailbox at the post office (me). I dreaded going there to send a package because I might experience the package mailing crush, but I was the only one in the place at 6 pm on a Monday night. Yay!

Photojojo#61 catches us up. Nancy's photo of the dog bone diagram goes with my Tow Away zone markings on the curb.

Now, back to holiday shopping on-line.

Photojojo #58 - Wood & Leaves

Today's Photojojo is #58. It is a tree ornament from Nancy and some fall leaves on the sidewalk near the bus stop from me. We'll get to #60 this week for sure.

The Opening

Last night we had our artist's reception and opening of the Diaphanous Symbols show at Aurobora Gallery & Studio. The event was well attended, despite horrific rain and competing holiday parties.

There was a moving lighting of the menorah, led by fellow artist Igael Gurin-Malous, and wonderful champagne and chocolates. The place was just buzzing with good energy and I think a good time was had by all.

Here are the three of us, Lillie Barrows, me (middle) and Iggy, toasting to the opening right before guests arrived.


The show will be up for two weeks, so if you missed the artist reception and still want to see some of the student work or the main gallery with some amazing monotypes represented, please swing by Aurobora Gallery at 370 Brannan Street, SF anytime M-Sat 10 am to 5 pm.

Photojojo#57 - Rain or Shine

Today was a really rainy day, but in spurts and then when it DID come down, the rain came down really hard. Nancy caught the rainy part; I caught some sunshine.

Photojojo #56 - Dreamy Street Markings

Today's Photojojo is a serious countdown to 60 already! Nancy and I have been so disciplined about doing this every day for the past two months.

Today she took a photo of her latte. I paired it up with some surveyor markings on the street that pave the way for some construction.

Photojojo#55 - Call Me

Yesterday's Photojojo (Thurs 12/10) was a public pay phone by Nancy (kids - do you know what that is?) and some beautiful pears in the fruit bowl at the Grab 'N Go at work by me.

Photojojo#54 - Just Say No

Tonight's Photojojo is one part Edvard Munch's The Scream, in balloon form, taken by Nancy, and one part "Just Say No" to more volunteering (mine).

I was at a holiday gift exchange last night, and I got this fabulous and perfectly appropriate bag with admonitions about any more volunteering. It was one of those things where people can steal the gift from someone else. Thankfully, no one came after the cool bag, or the goodies inside.

Photojojo#53 - Brrrrrr....It's Cold Outside

Today's temperatures broke some records. Frosty windows when you live near the beach are always a cognitive dissonance for me.

Nancy provided this photo of a painting of people enjoying a snow scene, and I took a picture through my car window this morning of a pile of ice shaved off the window when I put it down so I could see better.

And Finally, Caught Up With Photojojo #52

This is about food - going down the drain (Nancy's orange peel) and some misplaced mustard at the grocery store tonight.

What causes a person to be considering Goody hair ties, then decide they no longer need the mustard?

I wonder about the silliest things.

Photojojo#51

This photojojo is my niece's French textbook and an abstract architectural shot by Nancy.

Peut-être quelle se moque de lui parce qu'il a une hélice d'un bras.

PHOTOJOJO #50!

We did it! Today's post is Photojojo#50 - which I should have posted days ago - Friday 12/5 - but I was so busy with a variety of activities.

I stopped briefly and took this photo of festive holiday lights on D Street in Hayward. I'm not sure where Nancy snapped her photo of a folio of color correcting cards.

Photojojo #49 - Crabby

We are almost at Photojojo #50 - with today being #49. Here is Nancy's crab trap on the beach with stunning detail and a wonderful muted color palette, and my Diana lens used to capture a building through the glass enclosure at the bus stop.

These photos are some of the most different of all that we have taken since starting this project, but we just go with whatever the image is for the day.

Remember that you can always click on the image to see it in more detail. The yellow lines on the crab pot are worth the click and whir in this case.

Tomorrow - on to #50!

Photojojo#48 - Swimming Up the Stairs

A fish ladder, also known as a fishway, fish pass or fish steps, is a structure on or around artificial barriers (such as dams and locks) to facilitate diadromous fishes' natural migration. Most fishways enable fish to pass around the barriers by swimming and leaping up a series of relatively low steps (hence the term ladder) into the waters on the other side. The velocity of water falling over the steps has to be great enough to attract the fish to the ladder, but it cannot be so great that it washes fish back downstream or exhausts them to the point of inability to continue their journey upriver.

Laura's fish photo from Buck's in Woodside is on the left. Nancy's photo of the stairs at the mall is on the right.

More Diana Lens Photo Fun

Photojojo #47 - PCBs and Fruit Roll Ups

Today's Photojojo is a simple combination of fruit and electronics. Nancy's photo of Simply Fruit from Costco pairs nicely with mine of circuit boards taken from a sculpture at Ft. Mason over the weekend.

Photojojo#46 - Heigh Ho Heigh Ho, It's Off to Work We Go

It's Monday after a long, long weekend and back to work it is. On my way out this morning, I snapped another photo of Snow White and her seven little friends, this time with the Diana lens. This is paired with Nancy's Thanksgiving dinner hostess, who appears ready to carve up the Butterball.

Daylight Diana Photos

I went on a nice hike today at Wunderlich Park. We went about 3.5 miles round trip and up to 1,200 feet. It felt so good to be out in the crisp Fall air and exercising again. I took my camera, with the new Diana lens, on the walk. I had taken some photos last night with it that were not very good. I was anxious to see how it performed in the daytime.

The Diana lens is designed for getting dreamy retro shots. It was a bit ironic that I have this very expensive Canon 40D camera that I've now attached a $60 lens to so that I can get crappy quality photos. But I do like the look of these photos - with smeared and funny colors - and they are the opposite of what this camera can do which is crisp, extremely high res photos with colors that are to die for.

This is just another option, and one that I am loving. Here are some of today's shots take at the park while on the hike.