What? Friday night? No way!

It is said time accelerates the older one becomes, but this is ridiculous! Not much I can do about it other than note it and shake my head in disbelief.

Over lasagna and a glass of wine tonight, my sibling Mel and I "grilled" Rev. John Hinsvark, a distant cousin, about our shared family history. He has been painstakingly gathering and putting together this family tree for some 20 years or longer. I marvel that he has taken on this monumental task.  Bless him!

Tonight is the first time I've actually met him, after years of sporadic e-mail correspondence and Christmas letters. Our dad, Eugene Melvin Hinsvark, died at 42 years of age, and I wondered tonight how much like Cuz John our dad would have looked at the same age, 70 years old. There were some shared physical characteristics; fun to see!

Although this has little, if anything, to do with photography--oh damn! I didn't take a photograph of us together--I have it on my mind and simply had to make note.

John spoke of members of my family he had researched and met with personally, like my Grandma Abigail Claire Sanderson Hinsvark, who had a green thumb that just wouldn't quit! Every time I see dahlias, it triggers memories of Grandma and her delightful garden.

This does have to do with today's photography upload: dahlias! There was a wonderful garden of dahlias in front of one of the veteran's clinics here in Spokane. Thank you, Steve, for the heads up!



Watercolor Effect




Cutout Effect




Poster Outline Effect




Watercolor Effect

I regret not being able to photography Grandma's dahlias, and not having had the opportunity to share my photographs with her, but I will be forever grateful to her for inspiring me to show flowers to their best as I can make them advantage. I know that love of flowers and gardens is in our shared DNA. I get a double dose from both the Hinsvark and Lyon sides of my family!

Color My World Vibrant ...

The landscapes I've been uploading are lovely and ... okay ... rather dull and lacklustre. We all need a little color in our lives. Today I craved color! AND something a little silly or out-of-my-ordinary ...

Day 240 of Project 365



Damsel Flies
Film Grain Effect




Window Garden




Orchids and Oriental Paper Lanterns




White Wicker Bouquet




The Purple People Eater
(Garland Day Vintage Car Show)



Simplicity is in the eye ...

... or I've something in my eye, if it isn't simplicity! I took a simple photograph of daisies today. OK, well, there was also a watering can right next to the daisies. I was intrigued by the circles in the centers of the flowers, and then the holes in the watering can seemed connected somehow. It was just a fun exercise, between making and photographing jewelry and my back was killing me. I simply had to get out of "the dungeon" and stretch. Beautiful day out; sunshine daisies kind of day, it was.

Being one to not let well enough alone, I got me to the effect filters, again with the glowing edges effect! It reminded me of days as a youngster when you scribbled on a paper with lots of different color crayolas, and then you covered it all with black tempera paint or black crayon and then you etched through the black, revealing the marvelous colors underneath. Wow!

My editing tools are very rudimentary. I know there's a big wide world of effects out there that I could be playing with, but I'm content for the time being with what I have.

Today's photograph ... Daisies with Watering Can ... or maybe, Watering Can with Daisies. You decide.

August 3, 2011




(Glowing Edges effect)




Unedited Photograph


Oh, and two of my photographs were included in Etsy treasuries:

"Yellow in Distress" ... really cool featured items, including my photo of a deteriorating yellow road construction plow on which someone had painted a smiley face. Gauche of me to not remember the name of the Curator who assembled the treasury. Check it out and the Curator will be listed. They put together a whizbang treasury.

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTQ1Mzg3NjN8NTE2MjQ2Mzcx/yellow-in-distress

"A Clean Slate" featuring my photograph White on White

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTA1MjQxNDB8NTI4MjE5ODA5/a-clean-slate  treasury put together by http://www.littlechampart.etsy.com/  Thanks, Ash!