Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.

~ Albert Einstein

I use this Einstein quote frequently simply because I have found it to be true over and over again in my life.

Over the last nine months I have experienced a few life situations that have called upon me to dig deep to find peace with some of the larger questions regarding life. Most of the situations have to do with loss and acceptance. All of them have called upon me to deepen my sense of gratitude and heighten my sense of awareness.  The largest event, of course, was the death of my mother. I was given the gift of time over these months to spend with her. And for those of you that follow me, you may have noticed that it has influenced and informed my creative work.

I’m beginning to understand and to see a silver thread, lining if you will, that follows me through thick and thin and manifests itself through my photography.

It’s essence is sacred and deeply connected to nauture.

I have not had a lot of photography time during this period but when I have gone out it was into nature. Each experience was a new season and that is reflected in my images. It has been mostly, autumn and winter with a sliver of spring toward the end.

I have combined several photographs into layered composites that aptly reflect a complex array of emotions, all of which I experienced during these last nine months. The layers include a confluence of reactions from both my personal life and from the larger events presently occurring in our world such as the war in Ukraine and the effects that climate change, in particular drought, has on our earth.

In this quartet of expressive composites you will find layers of leaves discovered and uncovered in both mud and ice at our local Fern Hill Wetlands near Portland. You will also find images of birds, dry grasses and trees from the Klamath Basin Wildlife Refuge taken during our winter trip. Some are recognizable and some discreetly tucked and converged for depth of texture, color, contour and story.

I find creating stories with my images from nature like this immensely rewarding and even healing.  

Each day is a gift. 🙂

Thank you for spending some time on my blog!