I received a masterclass lesson through the post today.

I bought a some Richard Avedon postcards on Ebay recently which arrived today.  I really hoped that I might get them, and clearly fate had it that I did as I was in fact the only person who bid for them, much to my surprise.

When I saw the images on line, I thought they looked lovely, they are of course Richard Avedon images :)  In some ways I was almost expecting that if I got them, holding them in my hands would feel the same way as looking at photographs in a book, but no, they are not.

These (old) postcards are different. They are produced to an very high standard, and looking at them,  they almost look as though they were produced with the same attention to detail as his original first edition books were, yet them being postcards, they feel like I am holding prints. I really didn't expect that and I have never felt that with any other postcards of photographs before.

Holding these postcards has much more depth and feeling and I can therefore only imagine what it must be like to actually view the images themselves. It is therefore no wonder that his work is spoken of so highly.

There are two images particularly which I love more than the rest, and I think it is because I think two of the images capture something very special, they reveal something about Richard Avedon himself. I of course do not know if this is the case, but that is how they feel to me, they are very profound and powerful because of that and I never thought this would happen, and I don't think it would have had I not held these images in my hand.

So my lesson, I didn't just buy a set of postcards, I bought a lesson in producing art, I bought a masterclass lesson within that.

Snow, or not to snow...

Well despite the predictions for heavy snow, it has not appeared on my doorstep yet!  There was a little flurry about a week ago, but the blizzard that has hit a wide part of Scotland, has bypassed where I live, so no all white snowy pictures have been taken.

I will need to travel in the car to capture some, and that is what I have planned for the weekend!

Star Quality

If I'm a star, then the people made me a star.

Marilyn Monroe

I always knew I was a star, and now, the rest of the world seems to agree with me.

Freddy Mercury

Above the cloud with its shadow is the star with its light. Above all things reverence thyself.

Pythagoras

Dirty Snowmen

The weather here is very cold and it's been snowing, enough to make Dirty Snowmen!!!

Documenting a secret!

I was watching a documentary on David Hockney and what he was saying in it has been swooshing about in my head!  

He talked about photography and how it is a documentation of what the camera is looking at, which is of course true and of course only true of the photographers depiction of what and how they want the camera to see something.

I watched him talk about his art and his rationale for making images and how he puts them together and then from the back of my head a voice in my head started to whisper "a photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you, the less you know" which is a quote from Diane Arbus, and yes I watched a film about her recently too called Fur so that's probably why her voice was in my head!

Both Diane and David are right in the same way they are different artists. 

What was however most exciting about having these thoughts in my head was understanding they were both talking about the language of art and what they as artists are trying to communicate through their work and that is a wonderful thought to have swirling around my head.

A lot can happen in a year, and it should all provide food for the soul

I was just thinking, a lot can happen in a year but it is often easy to forget when that something is something that is not a major thing.  Say for example seeing a great movie.  Last year in January we went to see The Artist, fantastic film as was Hugo Cabret, and whilst I remember loving both of these films, I hadn't realised it was a year ago!

Roll on a year, and we have again seen some fantastic movies this month. Life of Pie and Les Miserable, both just wonderful and both deserving of Oscars. We also went to see The Impossible, which was about the Tsunami that caused so much devastation in Thailand on the 26th December a few years back, which really stuck with us for so many reasons and reiterates the importance of making sure you live every day, never give up on hope, life and your loved ones. 

Whilst going to the movies might not seem like a big deal, I think they should be, in the same way eating a wonderful piece of food, reading something, be that a book, a note or a verse that sticks with you should, after all you are investing your time in this, so it should provide food for the soul in some way. 

So with this entry, I am reminding myself that each day is one of 365 in a year that should be remembered in some way, even if that is just watching a great movie, reading a great book, or seeing a beautiful crescent moon :)

Stewie Griffin

The weather forecast said we were in for lots and lots of snow across Scotland and many parts of the UK, particularly across the east coast where I live.  That said, we have only seen a smattering of sleet and no snow so there will be no snowing down the Mound (my anonymous commenter from yesterday :) asked if that were the case)! :)

I am still nursing this horrible cold which must be getting better (or maybe worse because I am hallucinating cartoon characters) as the pot of tea on the tray made me smile as it looked up at me like Stewie Griffin from Family Guy.  Wonder what he was saying!