The Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Fragments

Garden drainage sump with pipes and tiles
Garden drainage feature

Brian has kindly been hosting this week’s Lens-Artists’ challenge from his home in the Australian bush and I’ve enjoyed seeing the submissions. His topic is inspired by, in his words, the ‘fragmentation around the world, a disconnect. But we have always been made of pieces’.

I’m (largely) sharing fragments put back together in different forms, starting with a detail from a decorative drainage sump in last year’s ingenious Wilde Weelde exhibit at Floriade ’22. Continue reading “The Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Fragments”

Pebbles Along The Path

Pebble decorated with a flower and Be Kind

Walking on your own is an acquired skill for many of us. I can’t claim to enjoy walking for exercise, though I do it. I’m more motivated by the things I might see. A kestrel is way up on my hoped-for list. Right now, in our damp climate, it’s fun to look for miniature forests of mushrooms that spring up seemingly out of nothing and have vanished without trace next time you pass. Continue reading “Pebbles Along The Path”

Finding Distressed Textures at an Agriculture Museum

When wallpaper was the stuff people pasted and hung on walls, rather than the screen saver of a mobile phone or computer, I worked for a wallpaper company. We used the term ‘distressed textures’ to classify designs that did the role of a plain paper, but were more broken up and patchy. Some mimicked flaking plaster, rusted metal or grungy wood, others were abstract.

Designers took inspiration from all walks of life, and mood boards of patterned objects decorated the studio: inspiration for themed collections with titles such as Cairo and Great Plains.

I was reminded of those mood boards last month at the Ag Museum in Jackson, MS, where visual treats were everywhere, hidden in plain sight. Inspiration for Agricola, I imagined: a contemporary homage to farm implements.  Continue reading “Finding Distressed Textures at an Agriculture Museum”