Nestled Home

Shrouded in brush and tress on canal bank...

Winter Trees

Brush strokes of wind gleaming golden light...

Ebb Of Autumn

Dried brush catching shining midday sun...

Dead End Summer Sunrise

Last day of August in desert 99° Fahrenheit...

Hold The Wire

I've just been blown far out...

Gleaming Arid Grassland

Windmill tanque de agua entre rocas...

Windmill water tank among boulders
watchtower over gleaming grassland
arid plain lit by cast of sun...

Virtual Firestorm

Raging blaze fueled by sand and sun...

Thicket of Brush

Wrestling entangled full out wingspread...

Thicket of brush
is my head,
reeds of thought
intentions I embed...

Scarlet my notions
in the bedstead,
sheets saturating sweat
whispered words said...

Kismet is reciprocal
as in crossbred,
wrestling entangled
full out wingspread.

Desert Brush and Cattails

Soaking up sun above and taproot underground...

In the desert dry washes

when water flows and soaks

underground...

Grasses, brush and cattails

revive with unique splendor

above ground...

A Spire

Brushing skyward to a beautiful reward...

Reeds

Later to dry up and become tumbleweeds...

The Gate

From the alley to the pueblo...

Keep It Simple

Classical absence of complication...

There is a lot of discussion in the photography and visual art world around why monochrome, black and white and less complex images are becoming more popular. Some are mistaking common black and white street photography and minimalism or ministract as the thrust of the movement but although it is an element it does not encompass all of it. What I am referring to is what appears to be a reaction to photographs or visual art that has been highly post processed or overly emphasizes an overly complex style and high ornamentation. Specifically images that are so highly edited that for many the color is garish, the perspective stretched beyond belief and has gone way beyond fantasy into freakishness. I admit to not caring much for this work either but if someone else likes it that is their choice. Personally I do like a well processed photograph that is striking although that is not my skill or style, I much prefer processing pictures into visual art that appears more as art which is not a photograph, painting, drawing nor collage.

The current dialogue came to me serendipitously and not as a conscious decision and I am not completely in any camp of one style or technique and view it as interesting from afar. I find defining myself into a class or style too limiting, preferring to go wherever my moods, current skill level and personal progression as a person and artist leads me, both in writing and visual art. Recently with my photography I had to make a change in editing programs I was using due to limitations, lack of support for the 64 bit operating system I use and the programs were unstable. It brought me to the decision to learn more than simple Photoshop and also Adobe Lightroom. Simultaneously I started learning to use Android camera apps more vigorously which has brought me to a renewed sense of starting afresh. I view it as opportunity since now I am unable to produce artwork that has multiple layers upon layers of post processing. It has led to a more rudimentary way of producing pieces as I acquire new skills combining getting the knack of mobile photography apps with the ins and outs of a professional version of Photoshop. I haven't begun to touch Lightroom yet after some initial sense of being overwhelmed therefore decided one step at a time and that brings the topic back to simplicity.

While in the midst of my own progress of rendering my visual art while in mastering mode my output has naturally been less complex since I am still gaining skill with new tools as I am creating. As happenstance would have it as it usually does I've become a curator of a monochrome art page on Google Plus (Monochrome Arty Club) as well as in various places discussions regarding the popularity of certain types of images. Let me state that I am not a fan of minimalism or ministract finding them stark and difficult for me to do but to each his own. Also I often find that the idea what you leave out speaks without being present actually often leaves the viewer sensing something really was left out. Nonetheless as I am cracking new tools and processes I am also out of necessity relearning the value of simplicity, its elegance and charm while creating my own preference in visual art. In the evolution I believe I am acquiring skills that are beginning to produce a more refined and cultivated work that is categorized simply as my own.

Bridge Over Dry Wash

Fortified for overflowing downpour torrent...

Although simply supported

wooden bridge braced,

beams bolstered sturdy and

cantilevered with timber,

weathered but strong with age.

Spanning dry sandy wash

this day ready waiting,

traverse well assembled and

spanning each abutment,

acclimated to deluge of ages.

Postcard From The Edge

New frontier in the distance...

Brush Me Aside

Desert grass thick in a dry wash...

Wild Brush

Settling for nothing less...

A child of spring, perennial boy of summer
he grows like Jesus' mustard seed
sown in earth with tiny beginnings,
untended soil in open lands,
Nonetheless...

Unschooled and undisciplined
in the refined sense, growing still
a wildfire of wild brush,
creatively propagating by instinct,
Never the less...

Uncultivated representation of mankind
growth of ranchland range in the rough
tilled and fallowed only by nature,
bearing small flowers among abundant growth
Settling for nothing less...

He creates his own unconfined handsomeness
resplendently interesting of its own accord,
blooming and dying to bloom again
agelessly with each growing season,
Each time to display more than less...

In The Urban Desert Sandy Lot

Beneath the deadwood brush...

You Stumped Me

With a hollow ring...

Storm Chasing

Hightailing Fain Road...