Generation exhibition

About two weeks ago,  we went the National Gallery in Edinburgh to see the Generation exhibition. It was really good to see some real work as most of the time, we only see images on computer.

I like the On Form and Fiction room by Steven Campbell. When I first went in, I didn't know where to look, I just felt the whole room was very beautiful, especially with the music and the lights. I walked around, had a roughly look. Then I walked around again but slowly, trying to see each of his paintings and drawings. The individual work is beautiful, but I more liked the way how the whole room was installed.  It reduced the weight of each individual work but enhanced the installation as a whole.

Another work I liked was the six clay portraits by Christine Borland. She asked six different sculptors to create a portrait for the same person by giving them the same Information. The outcome was six completely different portraits. I liked her idea and I was sure the outcome was what she expected. This work reflects the fact that how we look at things affects what and how we understand. It is fascinating that artists always questioning and finding ways to identify the truth. And I think this is a very pure intention.

The work I like most was the Callum Innes' Exposed painting. The whole room felt very calm. The color was beautiful. The orange was so bight and felt cheerful. The paint remove method creates depths and lights inside the painting. I watched two short videos about his studio in Edinburgh after the exhibition. His studio was very big, very neat and clean like his paintings. He also does water colors. He demonstrated how he apply paint and constantly washed his bush.I guess to keep his bush clean is very important.

I am looking at Rothko at the moment. They both paint on large canvas, using rectangles, using layers of paint. But the feeling of their work are completely different. Rothko's work feels less controlled although I am sure everything was under his control too. His edges were rough, there were hidden lights in his painting. The depths and the way he mixed color make you feel a kind of uncertainty. While Innes' painting are very neat with hard edges. He uses bright  colors. His work make you feel calm and certain. He said his work are not abstract, they are figures to him which I cannot quite see it that way at this moment.

Eduardo Paolozzi

Eduardo Paolozzi (1924-2005), British sculptor, collagist, print maker, filmmaker and writer. I found a lot of his collages and sculptures are very interesting.

no title, screen print on paper, 1967

This work maybe is not the best to represent Paolozzi. I chose this one because I like the color and the way how he put them together. The color is very striking. Different colors together can create different effects. I think he must deeply understand the color theory. By using colors in different ways, he successfully create a lot of layers on a flat surface. We can clearly see there are 8 layers at the background and the rectangle is on top of them. There are two diagonals in the rectangle and two half diagonals. We can see black is at the bottom, then gold, then blue. I am not quite sure about the red though. By slightly change the direction of the lines, visually we can see some sections are lower than others. For example the two green section in the rectangle. One is lower than the other one. The purple triangle looks like  on top of the red. Then a gold line beside creates a balance on this section. At the right side, he created lots of small squares. I feel these squares calm the whole image down and also add balance to it. I like this work, looks simple, but the way to put the colour together is very complicated.  There must be a lot of thought behind it. 

Vollard suite

 Vollard Suite are 100 etchings produced by Picasso between 1930 and 1937. I did not know these work before. When I looked through them, the work are just astonishing. It felt  like that a lot of them were based on some kind of story. Without knowing the background story, it was quite difficult to understand to tell what these are about. But just too the work itself, I really like them. 

  

Young sculptor at work Etching, 23 March 1933

This is the first image I saw when I Google it. The title tells us what is happening. I can hardly believe this is etching. The lines are so simple apart from the flower vines. From practice I know anything looks simple, it won't be easy to produce. This requires very high drawing skills and very deep understanding of human body. It is just incredible that a few lines can form a human body. And if you look at the man's face, full of emotion. How can a few lines make his eyes looking so deep? The sculpture, eye closed, beautiful but motionless, again, very simple lines. She must make the young man thinking about the women he loves or he is actually making a sculpture of her, He is in pain, missing her. Again, simple lines, but you can feel the weight of his left hand holding the knife as if he is curving all his love and pain into this sculpture. The vine connects the two figures together. It is beautifully shaped, adds romantic feeling to the image and implies a beautiful future.  I like this work. 

A few photographs from holiday

Every time, on holiday, so many photos were taken. Most of them were just snaps. You don't have much time to arrange things or simply don't have much time to think for photographs. But I am so appreciated the photograph unit we took last year. At least, when I took photos, I have those knowledge (although not much, but still helpful) I learned on my mind. After edited, a quick snap may turned out a quite good photograph!

My daughter, I like to take photos for her when she didn't know. You can get the most natural pose, the purest motion, it doesn't matter happy or sad, you are recording the most truthful life itself when people don't know they are aimed by a camera. But If she knows knows she always give me a big smile if she is in a good mood.

I like this one and like it in color. I like the brother is at the background and also the far away yacht. I did see it when I took the photo. I didn't change anything apart from cropping a little a bit.

This one was a really quick snap, the man was pushing the little train we were sitting on. I felt so sorry for him, but managed to get my camera and took a photo in a second.

I started to feel really interesting to photo people. Did not do much this time. I was not confident enough and felt maybe quite rude without asking.

My shadow on the beach. I was holding my camera and suddenly noticed my own shadow, thought it was maybe interesting, so took a few photos, quite like this one, with the footprints going forward.

These two were taken in the summer. I remembered the work from Phil Borges, the photographer I looked at last year and I liked his photographs using sky as background. Here we go, I got the chance, the kids were high up on the top step on an old ruin. 

I quite like the viewpoint of these last two. 

Thomas Bewick

Thomas Bewick (1753-1828), English engraver. He is best known for his A History of British Bird which contains a lot of wood engravings. A lot of his works used for illustrations for books.

Back to two and half centuries ago, I think engraving is very efficient way to produce multiple works, especially for commercial purposes. It requires high drawing skills. In Bewick's case, he used wood rather than metal. A lot of his work are about animals. Some of them showed very detailed aspect. Before camera invented, this was a good way to keep record of life .

To be honest, his work doesn't inspired me very much although they are really good work and has high skills involved which I couldn't possibly do it myself. Probably I think it is the subject matter which I am not  quite 
interested in. 

Chris Orr

Chris Orr Born 1943 London

Chris Orr is a narrative artist whose work ranges across variety of subjects and ideas. Drawing and painting are a key part of his output, he also produces a lot of original prints in traditional mediums.

When I opened his website, the first image popped out. I really got a surprise. The work is so busy but in a great order and details are everywhere. It must be so amazing if you can see the work instead of see it on computer. When I looked through, some familiar  pictures came into my eyes which are his Shanghai work.

His website is great which allows you to magnify the picture so that you can see every detail. Just look at this, how many buildings are there and how many people! I was so amazed that how this can be done by printing. If you just magnify any part of it, the work is so beautiful and highly detailed. From the top, we can see buildings, rivers, boats in the river, writings on the building, viaduct bridge with full of traffics, advertising board, traditional buildings, some of them even with air-conditioners on, street with shops and crowded of people who are walking or on their bikes,  even utility poles with tangled wires. Oh, all of these make me feel miss China!

Looked at the video which tells you how he produce the prints. This type of print called lithography, he draws on a large piece of stone which with very smooth surface. He designed the whole picture on paper first, cut them out and positioned them on the stone and then work his way through on drawing on the stone. No correction can be made! For such a complicated drawing, you need to be right at every step. It just seems impossible! He printed black and white first, then work out the colors. I did not quite understand how he put the color in. It looks like through screen printing.

I noticed the price. This one is on sale for £1000. It had 30 editions which means one drawing can make £30000 if it all sold. 

I think his work is very interesting. Need to find sometime to have a good look. Also found some of his talks on Tate. They are quite long. Need to find time to listen. 

Edward Hooper

Edward Hooper (1882-1967)

I finally finished reading Edward Hooper. I have to say the language in this book is quite a challenge for me to fully understand even if I used dictionary a lot of times. I think each field has some particular words. For example medical language or law language are both having a lot of particular vocabularies. Now in art, it must contain art language.

By reading this book, it does improve my knowledge about art. I think I understand a little bit about Edward Hooper’s work which I knew nothing about before. And most of all, I like his work.

Some quoting by Edward Hooper in this book I really like:

“Great art is the outward expression of an inner life in the artist, and this inner life will result in his personal vision of the world.

The inner life of a human being is a vast and varied realm.”

 “My aim in painting has always been the most exact transcription possible of my most intimate impressions of nature…I have tried to present my sensations in what is the most congenial and impressive form possible to me. “

I think as great artists, they are not only artists, but also philosophers, thinkers. It is not their hands or mind makes the art, it is their spirit, something deep in their heart makes the work. They are talking and expressing themselves by using another form of language. This language is silent but powerful, simple but beautiful.  Only thing I think in this world, only a small group of people understand this language while the majorities could not understand and be connected. The great artists, they are far beyond their period.

He also said “If you could say it in words, there’d be no reason to paint. “ A simple sentence, tell us exactly why art exist. There is something, in any culture, in any language you can’t express by using words. No words can describe it, you can only feel it. And I believe it must be a wonderful thing once you can feel it. To feel the beauty and purity which somebody using their life time to tell you.  I am getting a bit anxious now. I didn't understand anything about art before and it didn't border me. But now I think I push the door open, I see light but no more. I know I need to be patient.

Come back to Edward Hooper’s work. I used quite a lot of time to read this book, I wrote down something which I interested and can also understand.

First of all is his subject matter which are people, place and architecture. When I first saw his work in the book, I did feel the still, I noticed the light, bright and cheerful. But I wondered why his figures are all not happy, even feels lonely, every one of them. I understand better now. Here are some explanations from the book.

“Most of Hooper’s characters are so immersed in thought that they seem completely unaware of their surroundings. They are posed in dramatic scenes of distraction, absorbed in private thought and sober musing, where Hoppe’s graphic drama creates a thrall of spectatorship that makes potent the compelling mystery of their mental state.”

“Hooper’s major painting do not refer to specific places, but are ‘types’ of places-the projections of his imagination, his ‘interior vision’ . Like his contemporaries, he was committed to finding a way to picture modern life that could best express the contemporary issues in which he was interested. He was intent on achieving his ambition, expressed so succinctly by Geothe, to reproduce ‘the world that surrounds me by means of the world that is in me.’”

It is a bit scary to find that Hooper has a kind of depression which called Melancholic.  After reading the book, I do agree that his characters maybe feel tense, but it is not depression.  In such a world, sometimes, you do need that little moment, forget the surroundings and find yourself.  

There is also something about death. I feel shivered even when I write down this word. It said in the book that “Many commentators have noted that the theme of death in Hopper’s work is connected to the empty space or void. Two Comedians, the long awaited performance finally materialises. Edward Hooper and his wife Jo take their last bows beside artificial foliage and darkness.”  After reading this, look back his work, the empty room even with cheerful sunshine make me feel sad and cold. The Two Comedians makes me feel want to cry, last performance, last bow, last applause, curtain down, what mood was he in when he was facing death? 

Albert Durer

Albert Durer (1471-1528) was a German painter, print maker. His high-quality woodcuts established his reputation and influence across Europe when he was still in his 20th, and he has been regarded as the greatest artist on the Northern Renaissance ever since.

Had a look through his work. There are so many. Drawings, paintings, watercolors, woodcuts and engraving. He must be a very intelligent man.

This was his self portrait when he was 13. A 13 years old could produce such a great work!

He has lots of wood cuts work and engraving. Engraving is something like lino but using a hard plate, such as cooper plate. I can imagine how difficult it would be to make marks on the cooper plate and how high skill it would require.

 Melencolia I Engraving 1514

This is one of his master prints. I first saw this work in Edward Hooper's book I borrowed. I could not quite understand it when I read the book. But I knew I liked the work. Especially when I saw it was a print. It is such a high detailed work. Dark and light worked so well. So many objects in the picture, all well positioned and well depicted. The more I look at it, the more I feel it is very still. I also notice the size of this work. It is only 24cm*18.8cm. It is so small. How difficult it would be to put so many details on such a small cooper plate! 

I found some information about this work. After reading it, I understand why it appeared in Edward Hopper's book. But I feel a bit scared. I don't like seeing dark and death in a picture. Artists suffer from different kind of mental illness is also a very scary thing.

it says that this work is  an allegorical  composition which has been subject into many different interpretations . The following is from Wikipedia:

One interpretation suggests the image references the depressive  or melancholy state and accordingly explains various elements of the picture. Among the most conspicuous are:

• The tools of geometry and architecture surround the figure, unused
• The 4 × 4 magic square, with the two middle cells of the bottom row giving the date of the engraving: 1514. The square features the traditional magic square rules based on the number 34, and in addition, the square's four quadrants, corners and center also equal this number.
• The truncated rhododendron with a human skull on it. 
• The hourglass showing time running out
• The empty scale (balance)
• The despondent winged figure of genius
• The purse and keys
• The beacon and rainbow in the sky
• Mathematical knowledge is referenced by the use of the symbols: compass, geometrical solid, magic square, scale, hourglass.

An autobiographical interpretation of Melencolia I has been suggested by several historians. Iván Fenyő considered the print a representation of the artist beset by a loss of confidence, saying: "shortly before [Dürer] drew Melancholy, he wrote: 'what is beautiful I do not know' ... Melancholy is a lyric confession, the self-conscious introspection of the Renaissance artist, unprecedented in northern art. Erwin Panofsky is right in considering this admirable plate the spiritual self-portrait of Dürer

Two phases of Cubism

Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement. It is sometimes regarded as having two phases - the Analytic phase and the Synthetic phase.

Analytic Phase (1907-1912)

Analytic phase attempted to show objects as the mind, not the eye, perceives them. It is termed as analytic because the structure of the subject has been separated into sections, view point by view point, resulting in a fragmentary image of multiple view points and over lapping planes. Other distinguishing features of analytical cubism were a simplified palette of colors, so that the views would not by distracted by its fragmentary forms.

Analytic Cubism was developed by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque.  Picasso's 1907 painting Les Demoiselles d'Avignon has often been considered to be a major step towards the founding of the Cubist movement.  In this period, Picasso’s painting were mainly using monochrome brownish and neutral colors.

 

                                       

                                                                      

Braque's paintings of 1908–1913 reflected his new interest in geometry and simultaneous perspective. He frequently reduced an architectural structure to a geometric form approximating a cube, yet rendered its shading so that it looked both flat and three-dimensional by fragmenting the image.

At this time, Pablo Picasso was influenced by Gauguin, Cézanne, African masks and Iberian sculpture while Braque was interested mainly in developing Cézanne's ideas of multiple perspectives. Braque’s essential subject is the ordinary objects he has known practically forever.

Synthetic phase (1912-1919)

The Synthetic phase featured works that were composed of fewer and simpler forms, in brighter colors.

Picasso and Braque discovered that through the repetition of "analytic" signs their work became more generalized, more geometrically simplified and flatter. Overlapping planes sometimes shared one color.  Real pieces of paper replaced painted flat depictions of paper. Fragments of newspaper, playing cards, cigarette packs, and advertisements that were either real or painted interacted on the flat plane of the canvas as the artists tried to achieve a total interpenetration of life and art.The invention of collage, which integrated signs and fragments of real things, is one aspect of "Synthetic Cubism.

              

Cubism has been considered the most influential art movement of the 20th century. It revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture.

Tom Davison

Tom Davidson is a local artist based in Earlston. He uses lino cuts as his preferred media. I was quite excited knowing an artist stays so close by. Had a look through his work on his website, first reaction was I could not believe they were done by lino cuts. There are so many colors and they are so detailed. All the images can not be copied from his website, so can not show any image here. I really like the Bridge one. I think they are the two bridges in Edinburgh. This one probably is the simplest one in color. I looked at it for quite a while, still could not figure out how he did it. 

On his website, it says that all his lino-cuts are produced from one single linoleum, using a reduction process, printing each color on top of the previous color, working from light to dark. It sounds very clear, but I am sure the whole process is very complicated. I tried to imagine step by step, but I could not even find out where is the first step! 

Maybe because I did not see the real prints, from only a small image on computer, we could not really tell much the difference of his prints from paintings. I am sure there must be something that painting would not do, otherwise, why not just paint rather than using such a complicated method. 

Looking forward to see the real prints!

Kusama and Jack Vittrian

Looked at some information and short videos about Jack Vettriano and the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama.

When looking at the pictures of  Kusama's work, I remembered I had seen the window display of Louis Vuitton store in Edinburgh.

Of course I knew nothing about Yayoi Kusama at that time. I felt it was very appealing and interesting. But of course because it is a Louis Vuitton window display, you automatically know it is highly fashionable even if you know nothing about fashion. It is the name, the label, the already established reputation.' At the same year of  2012 that Louis Vuitton cooperated with Kusams, Kusama had her exhibition in Tate Modern and Whitney Museum of American Art. Those polka dots became even more popular. This could not been done by herself. At 1973, she checked herself into a mental hospital and stayed there since then. At the age of 83 with illness, she would not have the ability to do any of these.

So who was behind it? I don't know. Noting is isolated in this word, everything is connected. No exception for art too. How can you make yourself popular? It does not matter in which field, they all the same. You have the talent is essential,  but this is not equal you can success. When Kusama was in New York, she knew how to "sell" herself. 18 months after she arrived New York, as a foreigner, she gained vast popularity. She was neighbors and friends with many well known artists. Her work was compared with Jackson Pollock, Mart Rothko and Barnett Newman. Wikipedia says that in the 1960s, Beatrice Perry's Gres Gallery played an important role in establishing Kusama's career in the United States. So there we go, the gallery, the marketing, the big investors, they are all behind her. But even so, nobody will come to knock your door if you don't open your door first and promote yourself first. So I guess, in art world, upon your talent, you also need a business man's brain.!

At this moment of life, what attract me by art is its purity. But the world out there is full of reality. Everybody needs money, at least for living. Jack Vettiano, the most popular Scottish artist. His easel painting cost between £48,000 and £195000 new, he earns £500,000 a year in print royalties, his original The Singing Butler sold at auction in 2004 for £744,500 which had been rejected by Royal Academy summer exhibition in 1992. There are a lot of criticism about him. The director of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art said:" I'd be more than happy to say that we think him an indifferent painter and that he is very low down our list of priorities(whether or not we can afford his work, which at the moment we obviously can't). his "popularity" rests on cheap commercial reproductions of his paintings."

Again, somebody are behind him, the market is there. From the video, I can feel that he is very nuch care about the recognition from the art establishment. But obviously, he chose his way and this way brings him big money and success. I tried his so called "color in" style, it is not easy for me, but I am sure lots of artists can easily do it. He is not just copy from a photograph, the photographs obviously come from his ideas, how to pose, what color, what kind of surroundings, the composition. But is it enough for an artist?

I am reading a book about Edward Hooper. If you do not know any of them and their work, by just looking, you may think their work are quite similar.

They are completely different. And it is this difference makes Edward Hopper such an important figure in American art history which Jack Vettiano's work could not  be in Tate. There is deep philosophy in Edward Hooper's work, the use of light, the composition, the silence, the study and influence from other famous artists, you can see none of these in Jack Vettiano's work. What they see the world is different, what they see themselves is different and this makes the difference of the outcome of their work. 

Anyway, you can gain a success in either way depends on how you define success in your heart. You get something, you loose some other things at the same time, only you yourself know which way you want to go and what is more important to you!

Richard Hamilton

Richard Hamilton (1912-2011), one of the most influential British artist of the 20th century, is widely regarded as a founding figure of  pop art. He has had a long career as a print maker. He used different method of print making, such as etching, aquatint, dry point, mezzotint. I only know etching, had a look through his work of different method of print making. I found it is very interesting. Some of them just used very simply lines to define a picture. Some of them use marks and has soft edges.

This is his self portrait, created in 1951, used etching and aquatint together. It is so simple, just a few lines and a few marks, created a great image. We did self portrait last week using etching. I did 4 plates and fairly happy with the final result. Last year, I could not really understand how it work and could not get a good image. Now I think I understand it a bit better and started to like it. 

I really like this one, done is 1983, media is etching, engraving and aquatint on paper.The tone worked really well, not very much, left the image very clean and tidy. From the simple line and tone, we can see the light, we can the quality of his suit, we can see the small details such as the chain which go through his waistcoat, the ring on his left hand, the small buttons and even the handkerchief in his pocket.  It is just so perfect. Only thing I don't quite understand is his left leg, everywhere is so perfect,, makes the left let feels quite funny. 

Samuel Palmer

Samuel Palmer (1805-1881), British landscape painter, etcher and print maker. Had a quick look of his paintings. I think I quick like his style.

His etching work is quite different from Rembrandt's I looked last week. Both of their works have landscape and figures, I think Samuel Palmer's work feels more exciting. Maybe because he was in the Romanticism period, much later than Rembrandt was.

Here is his The Sleeping Shepherd- Early Morning

A very pleasant image to me, a boy sitting on the ground, half leaning on something like hay in a shelter with vines around, falling asleep in the sunshine in the early morning( according to the title). A walking stick maybe using for rounding the sheep, a book maybe a Bible lying in front of him. A blanket hanging on a wall. Sheep are gathering near him. Not very far away, up the hill, a man with two cows working in the field. Birds are flying in the sky. The warm sunshine shine through the field, shine into the shelter. 

I like the details of the vines and leaves. I like the light effect, make the whole image very warm. Etching is black and white, the bright light can make the whole image very exciting. 

Here is a very detailed image of the boy.

I really like the way how Samuel used white dots through out to form the person, even the sheep and trees. The size of the etching is 500cm*602cm, I am guessing , when you standing in front of the real work, all these white dots must make the whole image brighter. They are also defined the sunlight fall onto the boy and the ground through the top of the shelter.

  

Rembrandt The Three Trees

Rembrandt (1606-1669) is a Dutch painter and etcher. The print I am looking at today is his famous The Three Trees. It is a landscape etching.

When I first saw this image I knew I liked it. Because the image is quite small, it was hard to see all the details. Before I read any information about this work. I actually felt quite calm when I saw it. I felt that it is so amazing the the etching can create such an image.

I search around the internet, and found some images which part of the whole work showing more details.

First of all, the trees. They are the title, the main character of this work. By composition they are in the eye catching place in the whole work. They are really stand out from the light background.They are the first thing you see when you just look at the image. When you focus to see the trees,you see all the little tiny scratches which made out the tree trunks and all the leaves. You see lights and you see shadows. It is black and white but it feels like the trees are alive. I do not know much about the techniques of etching. I just feel it is really amazing that print can do. 

Now behind the trees, there is horse wagon with quite a few people on going up hill. There is also a person with something in his hand. On the hill, a man wearing a hat sitting there. The information about this work said that this is an artist sitting on the hill sketching. 

Surprisingly, there is a cottage behind the tree, down the hill which maybe the artist's house! 

Move to the left of trees, we see field. There are horses, people working in the field. There is also something there looks like a windmill. 

This is the left corner.  A man is fishing beside the river.You can clearly see his fishing pole, his hands, his face and even his eyes. A woman might be his wife sitting on the river bank. 

Here is the weather.  when I first looked at it, I felt it was a bad weather, but somehow I still felt calm..I guess that is maybe the power of nature. I did not understand the straight lines.By reading the information, they are maybe rain.  Look back the whole image, I can see the cloud moving fast, see light come through! 

There are also some birds flying in the sky!

Such great details. I am speechless with what etching can do. 

My world my view

I like this title. At the very beginning I did not know what to do with it. By and by I started to have quite a lot of ideas. But when i actually started to take the photos, it was not very easy. I took hundreds of photos from which i chose out these 8 and edited them. Overall I like them, I am quite pleased. But meanwhile, I know they could be better. But I think at this stage I am reaching my limit of ability. I am looking forward to do more.

Here is my world:

 First photo, yes, shoes. For a long time, I always feel shoes are really look like their owners. Especially for people I know. This was the first idea about this 8 photos. I know I want 4 pairs of shoes as a family portrait. I took about 60 photos in different arrangement, different color shoes, different background, different view point, inside and outside. It was hard work. When viewing the photos on computer, most of them did not work. I chose this one as a final, I like the neat arrangement, I think it more like a family. I chose this color rather than black and white because it feels warmer to me. I am planning to take one this kind of photo each year. It will be very interesting to see the photos after years, see the kids' shoe size growing! It is another way to record life I guess. And this is the good thing about this course. You see more, you then think more. You do not have to become an artist, but you surely are getting something interesting for you life.

My parents. They are surely in my world. I don't see them very often. Every time I see them, I see age marks on them. They had been together for over 30 years. It is a long way and would not be easy I guess. I thought I wanted a photo with them holding hands, walking together. The back ground is my drive way and it was a cherry blossom season. The cherry blossom never can last long, this is my favorite scene of the drive way, covered with cherry blossom petals. I did not take a lot of photos for this one, not like the shoes. just a few. I like this one, can see smiles from mum's face and they were like talking something. I am going to print this photo and give it to them. I hope they can hold each others hand, walking their way together in the rest of their life. 

I tried to crop just the hands. I like it too. But today, as I am typing, I decide to use this one. I think this is more what I want. I can feel more from this photo than from the hands. 

Here is the hands:

My son, really like this photo. I can really see him from it. It was in the evening, I can feel calm and peaceful although it is football. It is funny with children, in a nice summer evening, when I sit outside in the garden, kids were playing, running, laughing , they can make a lot of noise. But What I felt from is was the quiet and peaceful part of life. This photo give me this feeling. Tried quite a lot different shots, with him running, kicking, with his bike and his teddy. Got a few good ones. This is the best I think. Like the view point best.

My daughter, from the start, I knew I would have her in my 8 photos. I thought she would be the easiest one. Always taking photos for her. Took some, nothing really worked. cropped this from a whole body one and it works a lot better. I like it. Children are always nature and innocent. I like there is some sunshine shining on her face. I know I could do more with her if I have time.

These are two rings.  After some thoughts, think this should be the way I want to show me and my husband together at this stage of life. I just want two simple circles and shadows. To me,simple is the best for relationship. And I am hoping my marriage can draw a circle at the end of the day. I had to wait for the sun to take this photo. Took quite a lot with different arrangement and I decide I like this one the best. I use the blue tap to make them stand. When I see the photo on computer, the blue tap showed. I was so annoyed. Tried to use Photo Shop to get rid of the blue tap. But what I can do with Photo Shop is very limit. I think it looks fine on computer. I am not sure for printing. It might show the fixing marks! 

My book, tried a lot for this one and decided to put the book on the grass. I like the view point, like the grass right in front my camera. I had to wait for a little wind so that one or two pages can flip by itself. i had to wait for the sun too, so I can get some light on the page. It took me a long time for this photo. I think no matter how fast the world goes and how much technology can change you life. Sometimes, something need to be kept. Books is one of those things to me. In a nice day, doing nothing, just hold a book, get lost in the story is something I want in life. 

I took too many photos for this one and it was very hard to choose one from that many.

 

These are cherry blossom  petals on the drive way. I was going to take a photo for whole drive way, I like the way the ground covered by the petals. I tried from different view point and finally I put the camera on the ground. Think I like it this way. I edited, the color was pink, quite pale pink. after I enhanced the color, it came rather red than pink. I think I like this color better. I like to have fresh flowers in the house. Grew some seeds last year in the garden and they came beautifully this year. And that is something I learned too in the past years. It is about time and patient. And also I think for anything, as long as you put effort in, even if you might see the result, but you it will benefit you at some point of your life!

This is the sun. It can make me cry, even now. This is for her. She is a very special friend, she was like my mother in the early years of my life in this country. She passed away last Thursday. I took this photo on day before. Thursday morning when I saw these photos on computer, I felt tears. 

She was very ill, after I visited her in hospital two weeks ago, I knew I needed a photo for her. I want light, I want it to be very bright. When I was taking other photos, just about finished, I notice the sun. I suddenly remember another day, my daughter asked me if I knew what the lightest thing in the world. So the sun, the sun light is what i want. I had no idea what it will look like. I was really surprised when I saw the photos. 

I think, heaven is somewhere there , it is unknown, but it must be bright,beautiful and peaceful.