Category Archives: photography

Holiday Gifts and Entertainment

By | Art, Movie review, photography | No Comments

Holiday Gift Show

If you’re looking for unique gifts, check out the Holiday Gift Show at the Art Center in Victoria, Minnesota.  The ACCC Arts Center (recently opened in 2018) features visual art, jewelry, sculpture, pottery, photography, CDs and books by local authors.

I’m featuring books and photo cards at this show.  Forty percent of the profits goes to support the Art Center, so when you’re shopping for holiday gifts be sure to stop in.  The event runs from November 15 to December 24.  The Art Center is open Wednesday and Thursday from noon to 5:00 pm and Saturday from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm.   It’s located at 7924 Victoria Drive (studio level), Victoria, MN.

If you’re looking for a good movie at the theaters this holiday season, check out Instant Family.  It’s a fun movie about a couple Pete (Mark Wahlberg) and Ellie (Rose Byrne) who decide to check into the world of foster care adoption.

They take a six-week class with other potential foster parents with the intent of adopting a younger child.  Instead they decide to take in a 15-year-old girl (Isabela Moner), but when they find out she has two younger siblings they become an instant “family” with three children. 

The movie is full of humor and multiple challenges, including the possibility of losing their fledgling family when the children’s biological mother decides she’s ready to take them back.  Underneath all the hilarious situations are Pete and Ellie’s joy when the younger children call them Daddy and Mommy. It’s a great testament to the great need for loving homes for so many children in the world.  The movie is rated PG-13.

Click here to see the trailer

If you have younger kids or grandkids, try The Grinch based on Dr. Seuss’ beloved holiday classic.  The story is about the Grinch, who wants to steal Christmas from the town of Whoville and a little girl, Cindy Lou, who opens his heart.  It’s currently playing at the Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis and at local theaters.

Click here to see the tailer

Have a wonderful holiday season.

 

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Creation calls– beautiful song and photography

By | Music, photography | One Comment

In this post I want to share with you a wonderful video that shows amazing photos of our planet accompanied by an uplifting song.  Earth is a spectacular place.

This presentation was made by Branch Church to use in their services.  The Song is “Creature Calls” by Brian Doerken and the video is from BBC’s Planet Earth.

Here is the link.

http://www.andiesisle.com/creation/magnificent.html

I hope you are all enjoying your world.  It’s summer here in Minnesota.

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Summer in Minnesota

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Blessings and Gratitude

By | photography | 12 Comments

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Thanksgiving here in the United States is a good day to reflect on all the blessings in our life and what we have to be grateful for. Sometimes we overlook the smaller blessings like being able to breathe and move and think. The gift of life itself is the greatest blessing. Other blessings include family, friends, our pets, uplifting music and the beauty of the world around us.

Often we aren’t aware of our blessings until hardship comes. We take the ability to breath for granted until we are sick and have difficulty breathing. When we open up our consciousness we have a greater awareness of these everyday blessings and then want to give back to the world around us.

One evening as I was driving down a dark highway I realized that I was going a little under the speed limit. I started to speed up when I saw a deer. I slowed as it darted right in front of my car and bound across the road. Then I noticed another deer on the shoulder of the road to my right. It was about to cross. I felt a split second of fear that it would leap in front of my car and then I passed it.

I thought little more about the incident, but later on I read a story about a bus driver. He was on his route when he saw someone on a bike who was about to fall into the street right in front of his bus. By some miracle the bike righted itself and the bus driver didn’t hit the biker. The bus drive was aware that this was a blessing in his life. The bike rider and he had both been protected. When I read the story I realized that I’d also been blessed and protected. I could have been in a serious accident if I’d hit the deer and the deer could have been injured. How often are we protected and we don’t even realize it?

I wanted to share a few things I’ve been blessed to see.

The photo at the top of the page I took recently at the conservatory at the Minnesota Zoo. It was one of those rare moments where I was able to capture a shot without any people in the room.

One of the things I enjoy about being up at my Mother’s cabin on the North Shore of Lake Superior is that you can see the sunrise across the water. Here is a photo I took this fall.

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One spring day I saw a fawn that was hidden in my backyard. I was sitting at a table eating with my husband and a good friend when I spotted it bedded down in the hosta plants.

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Last spring my husband and I went to Switzerland and visited a friend. I took this shot when we were hiking in the Swiss Alps.

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This shot I took on the same trip. We went for a walk on Lake Geneva and came across these swans.

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Thank you for reading my posts and being a part of my life. Do you have any stories of blessings you have received that you’d like to share? I always love to hear your stories.

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The Dance of Life: Sculptures by George K

By | photography | 4 Comments
Paris

Paris

While my husband and I were in Paris we went with friends to the art district that had narrow, winding streets and small art galleries. Most of the galleries display a single artist’s works for a limited period of time. One of the exhibits stood out for me. It was a series of sculptures of larger-than-life figures beautifully lit in blue. The exhibit was called The Dance of Life. What struck me was the serene expressions on the statue’s faces and their graceful poses.

Garden in Paris

Garden in Paris

After looking at the artwork, talked to the clerk and she told me the story behind the figures. The artist was a successful businessman in India. When an earthquake causing a tsunami in the Indian Ocean, it swept him and his twenty-one companions out to sea. He miraculously lived while his friends all died. In all 250,000 people died in the tsunami. The man was profoundly changed by this event. Instead of feeling guilty that he’d lived when so many others had died, he decided to live a life that had more meaning. He changed his name keeping only the letter “k” and gave away all his possessions, as was a custom among his people at certain times in their life. His new name was George K. George K became a photographer, poet and artist. To make the figures he took photos of a famous Indian dancer, Mavin Khoo who danced traditional Indian dances. The ancient dances were forbidden in India during the time of British rule and were almost lost, but fortunately the area under French control allowed the dance so the tradition wasn’t lost. The dance of life has a rhythm to it whether we are aware of it or not. If we can learn to dance with the flow even when hardships hit, we begin to learn to live life gracefully and to find happiness. George K took a terrible tragedy and used it as a spiritual awakening to transform his life into one with more meaning. DSC_0721                   Have you had any challenging experiences in your life that profoundly changed you into a more aware, spiritual person?   Here is a link to an article about George K and a series of  fiberglass figurine schuptures of Kathakali dancers. http://www.mybangalore.com/article/0809/george-k-at-apparao-art-galleryub-city-.html

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Fall at Lake Superior

By | photography | 58 Comments
Sunrise on Lake Superior

Sunrise on Lake Superior

This fall I went up to Lake Superior to enjoy the fall color.  The beauty of fall is really remarkable in Minnesota so I wanted to share it with you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our house on Lake Superior

Our house on Lake Superior

 

Waves crashing into the shoreline

Waves crashing into the shoreline

A walk in the woods

A walk in the woods

 

 

Sunrise on Lake Superior

Sunrise on Lake Superior

 

Birch log

Birch log

 

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