5.7 - Dandelion

5.7.12 Dandelion • © Margaret Helthaler

In America today, almost all of us spend almost all of our time inside, breathing recycled air and absorbing artificial light. And as our internal systems begin to react – badly, more often than not – to this new environment, we become aware of their existence. 

- Tony Hiss, The Experience of Place

Another cloudy, questionable day... This image was captured with my iPhone 4 using the Hipstamatic app. 

5.6 - Watering Can

5.6.12 Watering Can • © Margaret Helthaler

The creative process, then, is the ongoing oscillation between the mind’s ability to form a hazy big picture and then to sequence the details to clarify and ‘hold’ it, then to redesign, and to clarify further.

- Gabriele Rico, Writing the Natural Way

Another busy weekend – with little time for meandering… But as I rushed from the car to our front door my eye caught sight of this old watering can my husband had left under the Japanese Maple tree in our yard. This image was captured with my iPhone using the Hipstamatic app.

5.5 - Japanese Maple

5.5.12 Japanese Maple • 8x8 • limited edition of 31 • © Margaret Helthaler

The search for homeplace is the mythical search for the axis mundi, for a center, for some place to stand, for something to hang on to.

- Lucy Lippard, The Lure of the Local

I haven’t ventured past my yard this morning… With Mother’s Day approaching I wanted to capture the glory of this Japanese maple on our front lawn. My husband planted this tree as a Mother’s Day gift when we purchased our house in 1999. The tree was barely knee high when it was put in the ground. Like our children, it has grown sturdy and tall on this piece of land we call home.

5.4 - Spring Growth

5.4.12 Spring Growth • © Margaret Helthaler

Much of life becomes background, but it is the province of art to throw buckets of light into the shadows and make life new again.

- Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of the Senses

The recent rains are making the leaves and spring grasses “pop” here in the Catskills, creating an ever-changing palette of colors. We had thundershowers last night and more in the forecast for today. The air was damp and the sky was filled with low-lying clouds during my walk along the Rondout Reservoir. This image was captured with my iPhone 4 using the Hipstamatic app.

 

5.3 - Forgotten Wishes

5.3.12 Forgotten Wishes • 8x8 • Limited Edition of 31 • © Margaret Helthaler

We cannot separate the function of the miniature from a nostalgia for preindustrial labor, a nostalgia for craft. 

- Susan Stewart, On Longing: Narratives of the Minature, the Gigantic, the Souvenir, the Collection

We took a long walk along Terwilliger Road this morning and while I captured images of a decaying old barn and beautiful panoramas, this little well house is what really caught my eye… This image was captured with my iPhone 4 using the Hipstamatic app. Additional adjustments were made in Photoshop.

5.2 - Trees Amongst Fog

5.2.12 Trees Amongst Fog • 8x8 • limited edition of 31 • © Margaret Helthaler

In order to store long-term memories, nerve cells might grow more branches and thereby form new or stronger connections. As a memory fades, the nerve cells might lose these branches… 

- Larry R. Squire and Eric R. Kandel, Memory from Mind to Molecules

I went for a nice walk on this foggy morning with misting rain. This image was captured with my iPhone 4 using the Hipstamatic app. Additional adjustments were made in Photoshop.

5.1 - Rondout on a Gray Day

5.1.12 Rondout on a Gray Day • 8x8 • limited edition of 31 • © Margaret Helthaler

Can the beautiful be sad?

- Julia Kristeva, Black Sun

It was raining this morning and I had errands to run – so no walk today. Instead I drove to an overlook on the southern side of the reservoir where I don’t usually walk. I braved the increasingly heavy rain for a few minutes to capture this melancholy shot of the mist-shrouded landscape. This image was captured with my iPhone 4 using the Hipstamatic app. The Hipstamatic lens and film combinations offer a great starting point for further digital darkroom “developing” in Photoshop…