Virginia A. Spiegel

Mom’s Colander

I love this old enamel colander that my Mom was going to throw away. It’s an evocative photo for me as I can smell the musky odor of the heirloom tomatoes and feel the rough boards of the deck under my bare feet.

I have stored a summer’s worth of photos under such useful titles as 2008Aug5.  It’s slow going sorting them into categories such as art, nature, and garbage.  But I’m finding photos that would otherwise languish in obscurity and marking those that would make good screens for screenprinting.  And, as you can tell by this photo, I’m also taking time to experiment with Photoshop. 

Last haiku report:  

I reached my first goal of 500 haikus.  Did the “Making More Pots” method work?  

Yes, in that I have formed good habits (show up and work) that extend into my studio and I can pretty much determine 17 syllables without writing down a word.  

No, in that speed replaced thoughtfulness and polish.  

I won’t be reporting on the haiku count on a weekly basis anymore, but I am going to continue writing haikus.  I will be focusing on maybe one or two haikus per day (instead of the current five) and require that they be in the traditional 5-7-5 form.  I’m hoping for more polish and more beauty.

Any reports on your “Making More Pots” adventure?

Harvest

I thought I wouldn’t have any hedgeapples this year as I could only see a couple in the tree.  But the wind blew and down they came. They do seem to be like apples, bearing bigger crops in alternate years.

Karen Stiehl Osborn put her hedgeapples to good use in painting. She also cut a hedgeapple in half and made a print:

Great ideas, Karen!  I mainly collect them for my Dad who believes they keep the spiders out of his shop.

Jim Mason of the Great Plains Nature Center has a web page with information about hedgeapples, a.k.a. osage orange.

Haiku count since July 14:  475 (down with the flu last week).

I wrapped up the two-year run of The Garbage Day Project last week, but all the photos (both beautiful and crazy) will remain up for your inspiration. I will be posting garbage day photos here on Inspiration Tuesday periodically.

Russet

The prairie is just stunning this time of year.  The paths are mown very wide to accommodate the wagons used for the “Halloween on the Prairie” event.  Below are two of the participants of that event:

Haiku count since July 14: 460

Big announcement over at The Garbage Day Project today.

I voted; have you?

Survivor

I love a lot of the old-fashioned flowers - bachelor buttons, peonies and, yes, zinnas.  I probably wouldn’t have given this flower a second look in the great blossoming glut of summer.  But this flower withstood our first, albeit brief, snow showers of the season and is still going strong.

Haiku count since July 14: 435

Of course, there’s a new post in The Garbage Day Project.

If you want news as it happens, follow me at Twitter page here.

Imperfect

It’s so easy this time of year to focus on all the heart-stopping beauty of the trees changing colors, but I like this imperfect look of these hickory leaves.  From a distance my big hickory trees are a waterfall of gold, but up close the effects of the wear-and-tear of the summer are clearly seen. 

Haiku count since July 14: 415

Of course, there’s a new post in The Garbage Day Project.

And, lastly, I’m a Twitter-er.  If you want news as it happens, visit my Twitter (just writing it makes me laugh) page  here.