(Photographing) The Family Table

My very pregnant sister is nesting like crazy, and we recently had a polite, if somewhat emotional, email exchange regarding the possible painting of a sideboard she owns that once belonged to our dad's parents on the family farm.  She and I share similar beliefs about heirloom furniture, but we part ways when it comes to the issue of painting.  (She likes to paint, a lot.  I prefer the natural look of aged wood.)

I begged her not to paint her sideboard, and I lost that argument.  But, in the middle of it all, I did win this beloved table, made by our mom's father in his high school woodworking class.  My sister rescued it when our youngest sister moved, and it was taking up too much space in her guest room.  When she offered it to me, I jumped at the chance to own a little piece of our family's history. 

The table is very old and rickety, and has definitely seen better days.  It's been a sideboard in my grandparents' house, a dining table when my sisters shared their first apartment, a hall table, a guest room table, and now, for me, it will become a place to display the memories of my own little family.

I love owning something that my grandfather built, and it is an amazing link to my family's past.  He died when I was a little girl, and while I was working toward my teacher certification in college, I spent a semester with students at the high school my grandfather attended.  The high school where this table was crafted.  So for me, it has special significance and I will treasure it while it is in my care.

Ryan graciously ventured out in the rainy weather to transport the table home from my sister's house, and I spent part of a Sunday afternoon attempting to capture some of the table's natural beauty.  A good friend of Ryan's, who shares his love of homebrew and happens to be an avid photographer, was kind enough to let us borrow his really awesome camera, so I had fun playing around with it.  Since it was so dark from the storm, I had to leave the flash on.  But I'm learning as I go, and hopefully you will begin to notice better photos here soon.  Here are a few details of my new (to me) table.

A dusty detail of the table's front.

The carved support beam on the bottom.

The ornate legs.

Precious family memories.

Playing with Photo Grid

Recently I tried playing around with Photo Grid, the photo collage application for Android phones.  I took some pictures while the boys played outside, and also used some photographs already stored in my phone.

I don't have any experience with making photo collages, and this app is really easy to use.  It took only a few minutes to create several collages and adjust them to get the best fit.  Since these are phone photos, they aren't perfect, and the app is fairly simple and limited, but still fun to manipulate.

Once you select the pictures that you want to include, Photo Grid will create a random collage arrangement, which you can then change by shaking your phone.  That's a fun little trick, but you can also manually select which collage style you prefer to use, as well as the background.  There are options to crop and rearrange pictures, and I'm still learning how to use all the features.

Photo Grid is free, so it's definitely worth a try if you just want to have some fun with your phone camera pictures.  You can then save the collage and post, text, or email it as one photo attachment.

Have you tried Photo Grid?  Are there any apps or sites you can recommend for creating photo collages? 

My first attempt at using Photo Grid (notice James got cut in half on the right side).

My revised collage with the same pictures.

A collage of Rhys photographs.  I had to re-size some to make them fit properly, and I'm not satisfied with the final version.  I'll definitely keep trying!

Photographing Fairies

Just a few more shots from my practice photography session this week.  Can you tell how much I'm in love with my new vase?  According to Wik & Walsøe, "the elfin symbolizes dreams, hope and the belief in making the impossible come true."  Words to inspire me as I begin a new pursuit.

I like that the shadows of the leaves mimic the dark images upon the vase.

Here, I was trying to capture the different textures of the wood table, the fabric runner, the curtains, and the plant behind the vase.

I took this one while lying on the floor, and you can see my reflection a bit in the vase.  Is that a good thing or not?

I also took this photo from the floor, and I like the tree in the background and the symmetry of the window lines, but the picture itself is too dark.

This is the view from my back door, and it is so lovely this time of year with everything in bloom. 

I was able to share my previous blog post with the designers, thanks to Lise at Nordic Galleri.  She contacted me to check on the status of my order, and I sent her a link to my blog, which she kindly passed along to Wik & Walsøe, who were happy to hear that Americans love their work. And all of this stems directly from my online class, which features Jeanette Lunde as a teacher.  We truly live in an amazingly small world!

I wish you a magical weekend!

A Joy Forever (With apologies to Keats)

John Keats' poem, "A Thing of Beauty is a Joy Forever," begins with these lines:

                 
                    A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
                    Its loveliness increases; it will never
                    Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
                    A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
                    Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.

I am reminded of his words now while our house is wide awake, and not sleeping.  James, our eccentric three-year-old, recently found new freedom in his big boy bed, and though he has never needed much sleep to function well, he is currently testing the limits by waking at ungodly hours, turning on all the lights in the house, harassing his baby brother, throwing epic tantrums, and disrupting our early-morning routine.  I am running on empty lately, and we are working to set new patterns for him to follow.  

In the few quiet moments that I muster, I am thoroughly enjoying my online blogging class and learning new things daily.  One of our teachers, Jeanette Lund of FRYD + DESIGN, is a Norwegian graphic artist recently named Interior Talent of the Year by Elle Decoration Norway.  Jeanette's work is truly inspiring, and she is well-known for her lovely online magazine, currently in its third edition.  Her creativity is evident in the pages of her work; and to me, the fact that she has cultivated and self-published a series of beautiful journals, available to everyone, for free, adds her to the ranks of greats like Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson, both writers who also self-published their works during their lifetimes.  To do so shows great strength and dedication to their art, in my opinion, and I admire all three artists immensely. 

While perusing Lund's piece, I fell in love with the work of another Norwegian pair, Wik & Walsøe, creators of gorgeous porcelain tableware collections.  I was drawn to the beauty and simplicity of their ALV series, and I hope to own the entire set someday.  I'm typically not the type to swoon over dishes, but these pieces are truly stunning in their art and design.  Only one retailer in the United States carries their work, Nordic Galleri in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, and I decided to purchase a piece immediately, as an early birthday present to myself, using the money I've been saving to buy my much-coveted rose ottoman.  Some things are simply worth having immediately.

The vase arrived today, just as naptime began, and, in absolute quiet and heavenly peace, I was able to open and admire the beauty of my own little "Grecian Urn."  I also spent a while tinkering with my camera, attempting to capture its beauty myself. 

The Alv vase by Wik & Walsøe.

As I take this class, I am truly beginning to understand the need for some basic photography skills, which I do not currently possess, and I'm excited at the prospect of learning something new that will challenge and, hopefully, inspire my creativity.  As my boys grow older, I find myself searching for new ways to expand my horizons, away from them a little, as they are growing up and away from me.

It's definitely a complicated path, this time of self-discovery, but I feel so inspired by the work of others, and their creations are fueling my desire to keep moving forward in search of "truth [and] beauty."