Lens-Artists #246: Still Life

Traditional still life tends to feature tableware, fruit, and dead chickens, at least in my mind. Patti, though, offers us the chance to go beyond the trite with either composed or natural still life shots.

Although it looks composed, except for the framing, this shot is entirely as I found it in a house in France. I think it’s one of my favorite photos, at least of this type.

This simple shot is from Southern California. The white background allows the plants to shine while the cracks give the wall character.

My photo of my morning tea at TeaLula in Park Ridge, Illinois was slightly composed, as I arranged the teapot and cup and saucer so that I could get them in the shot with the flowers. If you’re ever in or near Park Ridge, definitely make this delightful shop one of your stops!

I’ve driven past this abandoned gas station so many times to and from Southern California and this trip I finally stopped. So glad I did! It might not be on Route 66, but it definitely has that feel.

This outdoor scene advertised the store behind it, an attractive and unusual thing to see in the city.

The desert has its own beautiful still life, a combination of soft and sharp.

Thanks for giving life to contemporary still life, Patti. I’m still looking for a dead chicken for the next time. 🙂

Neither wordless nor Wednesday

While not a bad day (today, Monday, as I write) it was a busy day where I got a lot done and had a couple of setbacks/irritations. I also had a wonderful moment when, on the way to Costco, the driver in the Jeep that blew by me going about 55 or 60 miles per house in a 45 mph speed limit, was pulled over by a motorcycle policeman. Made my morning! 🙂 Anyway, I don’t have a lot left to put into a long post so here’s a photo from my visit to Illinois in early November. Now I’m back to some rugby-watching, a glass of Burgundy, and soon a three-hour NCIS special. Then “to sleep, perchance to dream.” Cheers!

Colour/color

One Word Sunday: colour/color

Random nature walking squares

Just some photos I took while out walking. Anything with drops always gets my attention, even though drops aren’t as rare in Illinois as in Arizona.

I like the shape of these berries and the contrast between the dried leaf on the left and the berries.

Milkweed. What’s not to like? They contrast prickly and soft as well as attracting monarch butterflies. But they do reproduce rather quickly so if you have some, you’ll have to keep pulling up the new ones.

Walking Squares 11.29.22

Walking in Illinois with Jo and Becky

Our friends in Illinois are having a house built in Northern Illinois so one day the two of them and I went there. It’s a beautiful spot. We left at 5 am so when the sun came up, we we were there to enjoy a lovely autumn sunrise.

It was cold, creating some lovely mist over a nearby lake.

It had warmed up by the time we got to this man-made waterfall. We didn’t stay too long as there were several groups of people having a good time and making lots of noise.

One of us spent the day manhandling a machine that chopped up everything in its path while two of us did a bit of sight-seeing. But we were all ready for lunch and a beer, the latter enjoyed at this former church now brewery. Unfortunately, they didn’t have their dark beer ready but I made do with an in-between brew. 🙂 All in all, it was a grand day. As you can imagine, none of us were up very late that night!

Jo’s Monday Walk 11.28.22

Walking Squares 11.28.22

Nothing half so much worth doing…

To paraphrase a famous quote from The Wind and the Willows:

Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply taking a road trip. 

Even though the weather was abysmal, as you can see from this one-handed phone photo, my spirits were high as I took to the road towards my first night’s stop in South Dakota.  Illinois had its usual wonderful combination of lots of traffic and toll roads with the rain and construction thrown in just for spice.  I whiled the miles away listening to a book on CD and wishing I could use cruise control.

I make two stops during the ten hour drive.  The first is always a combination cheese and fuel (and bathroom) stop in Mauston, Wisconsin where I stock up on cheese and a bag of fresh, squeaky cheese curds.  It amuses me each year that I buy cheese in a town whose first part of its name, Maus, means “mouse” in German, although the city’s website gives this as the origin of the name:

Mauston’s unique name originally was “Maughs Town,” named after its founder Milton Maugh.