When I was in my twenties, I took a class based on a book titled 'Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.'  I can't tell you that my drawing was ever very good, because it wasn't.  I don't have any natural artistic talent.  But the course was not a disappointment, because it taught me something more important than how to draw:  it taught me how to see.

 

I recall very clearly the moment when I realized that my vision had changed.  I was riding the city bus home from work, surrounded by people.  The full spectrum of the city's population was represented on the bus in terms of race, ethnicity, age, economic and social classes.  What I remember clearly is a sudden realization that every single face I looked at was breathtakingly beautiful.  EVERYTHING I saw was beautiful.  My vision had been transformed.

 

A couple of years ago, my husband got me a camera for Christmas.  I had never suspected that I would love photography.  As usual, my husband knew me better than I knew myself.  After a timid start, I became passionate about photography.  That was a couple of years ago.  I have not tired of photography.  I am still passionate about it.

 

What is the source of my passion?  It is that photography, like drawing on the right side of the brain,  transforms my vision.  When I look at the world around me from the perspective of a photographer, even the most mundane things become beautiful. 

 

Today, while I was walking, I decided to take photographs not of flowers and trees at the height of their summer glory, but rather, as the inevitable decay of late summer sets in.  I purposely sought to discover and capture the beauty of life as it inevitably grows tired, withers and decays.  In East Tennessee, late summer is ebbing into early fall.    

 

Magnolia Cone

 

Withered Peony

 

Lilies Gone to Seed

 

Dying Grape Holly Leaves

 

Leaf Burning Brightly

 

I saw so many spider webs this morning and they always remind me of my favorite story when I was a little girl, Charlotte's Web.   One day, I expect to look up and see a web that spells out "Some Pig."  

 

Be Well and Good Luck,

Martha Maria