Making Details Tell the Story

When I slow down and get up close and personal, the fog clears and I see more clearly. This happened today while walking with a friend. Our conversation stopped us and we faced one another and the words I heard made me uncomfortable. Be real and reveal a truth that's been hiding away.

So I asked myself, will my creative endeavors ever provide ongoing (instead of sporadic) income for my life as a fine artist? I do need to be inspired and expressive—and I've found that ongoing income provides me the peace of mind and motivation for enhanced creativity.

As the morning fog in Pacifica was clearing, I captured details of the calla lily. I noticed the tip of the leaves and the pointed edge of the flower were quite similar. The flowers were unrolling spirally as they opened. The leaves unrolled from one edge to the other. Both are weak, soft, and vulnerable until they are fully exposed and mature. All stages of development were visible on one plant.

And the story of the calla lily continues...

Budding Calla Lily

Notice the tip of the leaf and flower look similar!

What details caught your attention today? Did you slow down and take a closer look?

Being My Best

Being my best is honoring who I am while choosing to be open to learning something new.

Today I went to a Conservation Photography workshop at the California Academy of Sciences. Conservation Photography is creating images that tell a story for a specific purpose. The purpose can be anything from an environmental concern, to aspects in nature, a social issue, or capturing images that need to be recorded for scientific or historical reasons. This is accomplished  by collaborating with a writer, a nonprofit, for-profit corporation, an historian, or a scientist.

I also learned why I must stop using the auto-mode on my camera and use the manual settings. To honor my creativity I must select what to capture, how to create the most memorable image, and how to frame it to communicate my message to the targeted audience who partners with me to facilitate change or positive action.

My image of the day is a painting of the sky. It sums up my experience at Lands End near the Cliff House in San Francisco where I stepped into the drama in the sky. See more sunset paintings.

Sunset Flavors

Did you learn something new today? How did it help you in the moment or later in the day?

Making Time Daily to be Creative

Today started with a perfectly bright, clear morning. The Pacific Ocean shimmered, just a few shades darker than the blue sky above. No wind. An optimal day for painting outside, but I was already committed to helping my mom with her taxes. Resolved to work efficiently, it became a satisfying task because I completed all the paperwork, with daylight to spare.

With camera in hand, I scouted locations for my new series of paintings of the Pacifica Pier. North to Mussel Rock is where I found these views of Pacifica. I'm thinking this view is most inspiring and just enough of a challenge to paint. More images photographed today.

Pacifica, California

Then on my way home, I stopped by the pier where fishermen and people of all ages walked and talked  with their eyes on the purple sea and warm, colored clouds. The Chit Chat Cafe on the Pacifica Pier is where you can purchase postcards, magnets, and notecards of Janet's painted Pacifica seascapes.

Sunset at the Pacifica Pier

What creative act or endeavor did you do today?

Living in the Moment

My interpretation of "In the Brushstroke" is living in the moment. A brushstroke takes seconds, but is powered by the circumstances of that moment, while revealing something within me. The media I use to express Amazing Representations of Truth™ are ink on rice paper, photography, pen and ink, and paintings with oils and acrylics.

Poppies and Grasses

Share a time when you experienced living in the moment.

It's spring in California and the yellow-orange poppies are blooming in the hills. A few brushstrokes show the invisible force of the wind that shapes the composition of poppies and grasses.










A desert wedding captures the wind in the veil as the vows are spoken and carried in that same wind to the hearts of lovers, family and friends.

Janet's Stock Photography

Sumatra Tiger

This logo design is carefully crafted strokes that create a unique mark. The Sumatra tiger is depicted in simplified strokes. Alone they look like grass, but together they form the tiger. More logos.

Wind in the Waves

A painting of wind in the waves catches the warm glow of the setting sun in a brisk stroke of orange. Original plein air paintings and studio paintings are available for sale at www.JanetArlineBarker.com

When did you experience feeling the invisible force of the wind? What happened in that moment?