A very, very long time ago I posted a shot entitled Emergence (flic.kr/p/2hWPoqh). In it I gave a brief overview of the South Chicago and Indiana Harbor Railway. I haven't paid hardly any attention to the Short Line since then, inflicted with yet another case of "don't pay attention to what's in my backyard" syndrome. But recently I've been realizing how much I've missed out on by not paying much attention to the railroad.

 

Flash forward to about a month ago, I heard the strangest claim that these guys had stored all their power with little chance of taking them out, which led me to investigate them around the same time I started looking for B09, another recent way-late-to-the-party instance.

 

Thankfully, it didn't take very long to realize that my assumption was correct in this certainly NOT being the case.

 

These guys are the absolute last thing I'd expect to see moving around on a Saturday morning, but to prove me wrong, here is the railroad's own #31 dropping down to street level with three coil cars for eventual forwarding to the BRC right across the NS from here. It goes without saying that the lead pictured here, which heads west into the railroad's dinky yard and shops in the East Side neighborhood of South Chicago, has become quite jungly as of late.

 

With all of that being said, I've began looking for these guys as much as I humanly can with daylight rapidly dwindling day to day. Expect much much more of them, along with some very long descriptions of the history and operations of this fascinating railroad.

This is a bronze artwork entitled "Ikaro fallen" (...or loosely translated as Fallen Angel) created by the Polish contemporary artist Igor Mitoraj. It is displayed at the foot of the even more famous Leaning Tower of Pisa, as part of the exhibition ANGELS, among the events celebrating the 950th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone of the Cathedral of Pisa. It's the first time a contemporary artist is hosted in the Square of Miracles.

 

The exhibition "ANGELS" (May 17, 2014 - April 12, 2015) includes about a hundred pieces of work: monumental works, bronzes, iron casts and marble sculptures, as well as fifty plaster casts and some paintings, a lesser known side of the artist’s production, created in recent years.

 

This angel sculpture was facing the Leaning Tower, and it was somewhat challenging for me to get both the angel and the Leaning Tower into one single image, without sacrificing some of the important details. Eventually I decided to skip the Tower and instead took this photo of the front of this angel, which shows the exquisite details of Igor's artwork.

 

Taken next to the Leaning Tower at The Square of Miracles, Pisa, Tuscany, Italy, as part of a series of shore excursions during my Mediterranean cruise in 2014

 

From my set entitled “Steve and Marg’s Farm”

www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/sets/72157608031549391/

In my collection entitled

www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/collections/7215760074...

In my photostream

www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/

 

My brother, Stephen Pallett, has farmed near the south shore of Lake Simcoe for close to fifty years: poultry, pigs, beef and an assortment of field crops. Over the years he has served as an area councillor and was on the board of the conservation authority. Currently, he is vice president of the Red Barn Theatre in Jackson's Point, and also serves as chair for the committee of adjustment for the Town of Georgina. Another of his activities has been the annual bird count.

 

Reproduced from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrow_(tool)

In agriculture, a set of harrows is an implement for cultivating the surface of the soil. In this way it is distinct in its effect from the plough, which is used for deeper cultivation. They are commonly called harrows (plural) as they are used as a set. There are nominally three types of harrows; disc (disk), tine and chain.

 

Harrows were originally horse-drawn. In modern practice they are almost always tractor-mounted implements, drawn after the tractor, either trailed or mounted on the three-point linkage.

 

Harrowing is often carried out on fields to follow the rough finish left by ploughing operations. The purpose of this harrowing is generally to break up clods and lumps of soil and to provide a finer finish, a good tilth or soil structure that is suitable for seeding and planting operations. Such coarser harrowing may also be used to remove weeds and to cover seed after sowing.

 

In cooler climates the most common types are the disc harrow, the chain harrow, the tine harrow or spike harrow and the spring tine harrow. Chain harrows are often used for lighter work such as levelling the tilth or covering seed, while disc harrows are typically used for heavy work, such as following ploughing to break up the sod. In addition, there are various types of power harrow, in which the cultivators are power-driven from the tractor rather than depending on its forward motion.

 

Tine harrows are used to refine seed-bed condition before planting, to remove small weeds in growing crops and to loosen the inter-row soils to allow for water to soak into the subsoil.

 

Chain harrowing may be used on pasture land to spread out dung, and to break up dead material (thatch) in the sward, and similarly in sports-ground maintenance a light chain harrowing is often used to level off the ground after heavy use, to remove and smooth out boot marks and indentations. When used on tilled land in combination with the other two types, chain harrowing rolls the remaining larger clumps of soil to the surface where the weather will break them down and prevent interference with seed germination.

 

All three harrow types can be used in one pass to prepare the soil for seeding. It is also common to used any combination of two harrows for a variety of tilling processes. Where harrowing provides a very fine tilth, or the soil is very light so that it might easily be wind-blown, a roller is often added as the last of the set.

 

Harrows may be of several types and weights, depending on the intended purpose. They almost always consist of a rigid frame to which are attached discs, teeth, linked chains or other means of cultivation, but tine and chain harrows are often only supported by a rigid towing-bar at the front of the set.

 

In the southern hemisphere the so-called giant discs are a specialised kind of disc harrows that can stand in for a plough in very rough country where a mouldboard plough will not handle the tree-stumps and rocks, and a disc-plough is too slow (because of its limited number of discs). Giant discs are scalloped-edged discs operated in a set, or frame, that is often weighted with concrete or steel blocks to improve penetration of the cutting edges. This sort of cultivation is normally immediately followed by broadcast fertilisation and seeding, rather than drilled or row seeding.

 

A drag is a heavy harrow.

 

In Europe, harrows were first used in the early Middle Ages.

The following text is taken from the Household Cyclopedia of 1881:

"When employed to reduce a strong obdurate soil, not more than two harrows should be yoked together, because they are apt to ride and tumble upon each other, and thus impede the work, and execute it imperfectly. On rough soils, harrows ought to be driven as fast as the horses can walk; because their effect is in the direct proportion to the degree of velocity with which they are driven. In ordinary cases, and in every case where harrowing is meant for covering the seed, three harrows are the best yoke, because they fill up the ground more effectually and leave fewer vacancies, than when a smaller number is employed. The harrowman's attention, at the seed process, should be constantly directed to prevent these implements from riding upon each other, and to keep them clear of every impediment from stones, lumps of earth, or clods, and quickens or grass roots; for any of these prevents the implement from working with perfection, and causes a mark or trail upon the surface, always unpleasing to the eye, and generally detrimental to the vegetation of the seed. Harrowing is usually given in different directions, first in length, then across, and finally in length as at first. Careful husbandmen study, in the finishing part of the process, to have the harrows drawn in a straight line, without suffering the horses to go in a zigzag manner, and are also attentive that the horses enter fairly upon the ridge, without making a curve at the outset. In some instances, an excess of harrowing has been found very prejudicial to the succeeding crop; but it is always necessary to give so much as to break the furrow, and level the surface, otherwise the operation is imperfectly performed."

 

Post processing:

Topaz: detail (HDR)

PhotoShop Elements 5: straighten, light balance, multiply, posterization, ink outlines

 

#Explored 24

 

ushering the new year, 335 metres above sea level at Menara Kuala Lumpur @ KL Tower

 

Panorama 2 HDR images | 9 exposures each, plus separate exposure(s) for the fireworks

 

request for our private HDRi workshop any time before April 2013 and you will be entitled to a special discount to our Guided Photo Tour : Sabah 2013. more info here:

 

HDR/DRI lesson is available upon request. PM me for details :)

 

Visit my flickr | 500px | Getty Images | facebook | pinterest

Or I could entitle this image making an HDR image from a single RAW image. As my comment for the image title indicates, there were really two things on my mind with this image. The first was just composing this image, using some of the ridges and valley to kind of funnel the view to that one mountain peak of the Eldorado Massif off in the distance. I felt funneling the view best highlighted the setting with the clouds seemingly surrounding and hugging the mountainside. The second part was the large dynamic range when capturing this image and metering it properly with the highlighted areas in the clouds caught in the morning sunlight and the more shadowed in midtone areas across the mountainside off in the distance as well as the valley below. As initially processed the image the RAW image, I was kind of disappointed in trying to bring out the dynamic range captured. It was then I remembered how Aurora HDR Pro could use one single RAW image and bring out an HDR one that I could then export as a TIFF image. I then finished the final processing in Capture NX2

Mural entitled "The Ascension" by Candy Kuo aka @itscandykuo for Paint Memphis 2021, seen at 660 South B.B. King Boulevard in Memphis, Tennessee.

 

Drone photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.

 

Edit by Teee

 

Mural entitled "Gilded Lady" by Tristan Eaton aka @tristaneaton seen at 27th and Fifth Avenue in New York, New York.

 

Flickr member Trish Mayo has an interesting insight into the subject of this mural. See www.flickr.com/photos/obsessivephotography/52778363320

 

Drone photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.

 

Edit by Teee.

rules don't apply to us.

Seen in the Roger Raveel Museum in Machelen (close to Ghent, - BE). Not so many painters in Belgium have their own museum. The work is entitled ‘Thuis’, which is ‘at home’ (the usual place where you can take off your shoes). It is made in 1973 of oil paint and ‘mixed media’. This mix is true because the shoes –most likely from Raveel himself, are for real. They are integrated in the painting by some added blue in exactly the right tint. So the shoes are also a little bit painted. The black line, overstepped by the right shoe, is a typical Roger Raveel line; if you see a rather rudimentary painted work in Belgium with not too many details and with somewhere a clear solid line in it, it is probably a Raveel. This overstepping shoe is another reason why I like this painting; it somehow depicts the desire to enter into a new space, which could be ‘home’. As you can see, there is an excess of daylight pouring into the museum, but the light in the room of this painting is more tempered. This provides momentum to the optimistic blue paint, which somehow seems to flow from the painting into the museum’s interior; this is no coincidence, this painter wants his painting to do just that. The environment was always very important for his work. He even used his artworks to make people aware of local environmental issues like pollution or the replacement of rivers by canals (‘Club of Rome’-issues which became more prominent in the nineteen seventies and –eighties). His art was sometimes the tool of an activist with a different kind of looking at things. Thus, even an artwork called ‘at home’ has this interaction between home and the surrounding space.

Mural entitled "Walkin' This Road by Myself" by Ryan Stalsby aka @ryan_stalsby_art for 42 murals, seen at 2642 Main Street in the Deep Ellum area of Dallas Texas.

 

Photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.

 

Edit by Teee.

A haiku entitled "Rendezvous" (after Shiki), by Philip Appleman:

 

Once more as I wait

for you, night and icy wind

melt into cold rain.

 

The person he waits for must have warmth—she can transform night and icy wind into cold rain. You may be thinking cold rain isn't exactly a warm transformation, and you'd be right. But a rendezvous is a rendezvous, and the expectation warms him. Not a bad way to think of it.

 

(for Poetography, Theme 151—Cold; Literary Reference in Pictures)

Excerpt from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Stephen%27s_Church,_Nijmegen:

 

The Great Church or St. Stephen's Church colloquially called Steven's Church, is the oldest and largest church in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. The church is built on a small hill, the Hundisburg.

 

The history of St. Stephen's dates back to the seventh century. The foundation of the church may be connected with the Christianization campaign of bishop Kunibert of Cologne in the seventh century. In 1247 Nijmegen came under the control of Count Otto II of Gelredome. For strategic reasons, St. Stephen's was moved from the Kelfkensbos to its current location on the Hundisburg. The present church was consecrated in 1273 by Albertus Magnus. Administratively, St. Stephen's fell under the authority of the chapter of the Basilica of the Holy Apostles, Cologne. The church has long been the only parish in the city. The building was expanded several times in the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries, including an impressive ambulatory. Pope Pius IV authorized the establishment of its own chapter, in 1475, making St. Stephen's independent of Cologne. In 1591 Saint Stephen's was converted to a Protestant church after the city was captured from the Spanish (during which the steeple was severely damaged), which it has remained since except for a Catholic interlude around 1670.

 

Catherine of Bourbon was buried in the St. Stephen's Church, in 1469. Her son, Charles of Gelre, paid to have a monument to her placed in the church, which remains to this day.

 

In 1810 is by royal decree the church property was transferred to the Reformed Church; the civil community retained the ownership of the tower, as part of the city defenses.

 

The church was severely damaged by the bombing of the city in 1944, including loss of the main spire, but was rebuilt after the war with the restored spire being completed in 1969.

 

In 2001 the church received two stained-glass windows of Marc Mulders entitled Pelican and Stigmata.

Mural entitled "Electric Paradise" by Nate Dee aka @miaminate, seen at 2200 NW 1st Avenue in the Wynwood Arts District of Miami, Florida.

 

Photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.

 

Edit by Teee

Dave: Eva, are you on the couch that you're not allowed on?

Eva: Nope.

Dave: Actually, you are. We have a strict no dogs on this new couch policy.

Eva: My answer to your question stands.

Dave: How is that?

Eva: I'm on the couch that you say I'm not allowed on. There is no such thing as a couch that I'm not allowed on.

Dave: I hate to break it to you, but you're not a lawyer.

Eva: You should have thought of that before you let me stream all of those episodes of Ally McBeal. Calista Flockheart is a national treasure.

Dave: I don't recall hooking you up with a streaming service to watch Ally McBeal.

Eva: You totally did. When you went kayaking the other day you left the remote on this couch with Disney Plus on.

Dave: On this couch?

Eva: Yup. Where did you expect me to watch Ally? On the floor with Bruno and Aggie? Ally would say that's a breach of our contract.

Dave: We don't have a contract.

Eva: It's an implied contract. With a remarkable amount of bias towards my specific unique needs.

Dave: Wow. Will you at least get off now?

Eva: As a show of good will, yes. But on an unrelated note - when are you going kayaking next?

 

-----------

 

I turned around this morning and found Eva on the forbidden couch at the lake. She had even moved the cushions so she had a better chin rest. Love this dog, possibly partly because she has a loose respect for the rules.

 

(Continuation of story which begins with the first upload entitled Portugal)

 

We took the ferry across the Straits of Gibraltar and when we entered the city of Tangiers, a whole new exotic world opened before our eyes. I had first seen Moorish architecture in the Algarve. In the beginning, this landscape can appear foreboding and menacing. Later it becomes mysterious and welcoming.

 

The street signs were all in French and Arabic. Not really a surprise, but I was once again reminded of my poor language skills. Helping Marvin navigate would be difficult for me, but I conjured up some bold confidence that worked for a short while.

 

It was still early in the afternoon so we decided to press on to Fez and spend the night there. Soon we were in the middle of an open road with no towns in sight. That was a rather welcome sight. Navigation was easier I thought but then remembered that we had no local currency. I mentioned this to Marvin and he brushed off the fact saying that surely a town would appear soon where we could exchange money.

 

The day went along and no towns appeared on the horizon. The sun was quickly going down in the sky. The arrow of the fuel gauge had also dipped dangerously low. In the age of no international credit cards this was a very serious problem as we had read that the Moroccans would only do business in dirhams.

 

Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a man on a motorcycle pull up along side our car. He was smiling and waving. He began to speak and when he did his first question was, “Are the two of you Americans?” I was dumbfounded. We were in a Volkswagen with Portuguese license plates. We had been away from America so long we had almost forgotten that we were Americans. How did he know?

 

He continued to yell and screamed that he loved Americans because his brother had gone to school in America and we were very kind to him. He asked where we were staying and we shook our heads. I then blurted out that we had failed to get dirhams and that we were low on gas.

 

He screamed back to follow him and he would help us. Soon we were pulling into a gas station and we could talk in a normal tone. His brother owned the gas station but our new friend would pay for our tank to be filled up. We could repay him the following morning after we exchanged currency. We then followed him to a lovely hotel and said good-bye until the morning. It was our first of many warm experiences with Muslim hospitality.

 

The image is of the oldest medina in the world at Fez. It was named a United Nations World Heritage site just before we visited there.

 

50/365 -- Crowns at Whim

 

I wanted to improve on the photo I did back on Day 35 entitled Rainbow Symphony.

 

Well, I think I tried too hard today. I dropped the milk too hard I caused the light to bokeh. haha...

 

Which one do you like better? Day 35 or this one??

 

Strobist info: 1x SB-600 8 inches subject right. 1x SB-600 8 inches subject left. 1x SB-800 with yellow gel behind subject.

Scala dei turchi - Sicilia

Explore 19.09.2013 #498

Thank you everyone!!!

 

www.facebook.com/pages/Beadele-Photography-and-Imaging/11...

 

Questa foto fa parte di un progetto fotografico dal titolo " siamo minuscoli"

Se ti intessa seguirlo guarda il set e questo bel sito in cui mi hanno dedicato una stupenda recensione

 

This photo is included in a photographic project entitled "We are minuscule"

Look at the set and this beautiful page where is a wonderful review

 

www.bestselected.it/elisabetta_dalolio_gallery.html

 

www.flickr.com/photos/47015106@N05/sets/72157635852661244/

 

www.facebook.com/pages/Beadele-Photography-and-Imaging/11...

Leake Street Halloween Graffiti

Yet another entry in my imaginary album entitled "why we have no nice things". Model Jill proposed this pond session several months ago at a point when the water was still freezing cold. Nothing we could do at the time, but the creative seed was firmly planted. Months later and the end of summer is at hand. The days are hot and the pond water warm. Our moment had finally arrived. Jill donned an old dress from a thrift store and gamely waded into the water. Rural ponds seem idyllic in theory, but are actually quite unsettling when one contemplates actually entering one. The water is a slimy shade of opaque yellow-green. It immediately discolors anything it touches with little chance of said thing every coming clean again. And then there's the ooze of muck at the bottom. Jill said her feet sank ankle deep into this morass before finding something of a stable base layer. Insects buzzed about and there was the constant fear of snapping turtles, leaches and water snakes. The concept was a fashion shoot of sorts, trending more toward dark glamour. Jill somehow maintained her composure as we worked, looking outwardly serene as if standing in a pond was an everyday occurrence. We achieved some wonderful shots in the process. But I kept thinking about the darker aspects of ponds, and became intrigued watching the change in Jill's demeanor between takes. She would take a few cautious steps in one direction or another so we could change the background or lighting. In these moments I could see her anxiety rising as each step resulted in a near fall. For me these unguarded (and quite unanticipated) moments seemed far more compelling than what we had set out to do. I played up on the backlighting that caused the water to appear black. The effect put me in mind of the La Brea tar pits. Or that weird transformative effect when food coloring is added to a bowl of water.

A mural entitled "The Collector" painted by artist Josh Keyes in 2015 for the "Forest For The Trees" project.

www.joshkeyes.net

www.forestforthetreesnw.com

 

Fluidr: www.fluidr.com/photos/31246066@N04

Mural entitled "Ascending" by INSANE 51 aka @insance51 for Bright Walls 2022, seen at 175 West Pearl Street in Jackson, Michigan,

 

Photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.

 

Edit by Teee.

This the best rendition of the painting I have at this time even with hours of photoshopping. If I get a better image, I'll update this. Here are the Emails we exchanged:

  

I received this Email 051609

 

Dear Mr. Strain,

 

My name is Elizabeth R. My mother had one of your paintings entitled "There Is A Boy Who Loves Me". When she passed away in 1996, the painting was given to her sister who lives in Dallas, Texas. She has the painting hanging in her den and I told her I would do some research regarding the artist. And I looked you up on the internet.

 

The painting was done in 1968. You have signed it on the front and there is a letter attached to the back of the painting. I think my mother may have purchased this piece of art while she was living in Corpus. She had it on an easel for as long as I can remember. She lived in Victoria, Texas and that is where I was born. She loved the painting and I can just see it right now.

 

I thought maybe you could tell me something about the painting. My aunt is 85 years old and is not able to remove it from the wall unless she has help.

 

I would like to know if the painting is an original or a print? there is not a number in the right hand corner of the painting; just your signature.

 

I will do more research on the painting but if you could email me any more information regarding this piece of art, I would surely appreciate it.

 

Thank you so very much. I surely did enjoy enjoy reading your biography. I am presently living near LG, Texas.

 

Elizabeth R.

 

The same day, I got another Email from Elizabeth:

 

Dear Strain,

 

I just spoke with my aunt and she did tell me the contents of the letter that came with the watercolor and ink painting.

 

It says that you came upon a young lady in the road and all she said was that there is a boy who loves me. She is wearing a white dress and she is barefoot and she has long hair and there is a house in the background.. I am sure you will remember this painting and maybe give me more information.

 

Thank you again.

 

Elizabeth R.

 

The same day, I sent this response to Elizabeth:

  

Hi Elizabeth ... I just don't remember the picture. I do remember the title. I traveled a lot into Mexico when I was working in the Rio Grande Valley and I was much intrigued with the responses of the more primitive poverty stricken people of La Frontera. I do remember a little girl saying that to me in Spanish. I smiled and thought she didn't know what to say to a stranger, so she just said the most important thing in her life that day. I did a number of versions as I recall. The actual incident took place as I was driving south from Mier toward Reynosa on the Mexican side. The little girl (grade school, perhaps third grade) was standing on the school ground of a most unusually shaped school building. I stopped to sketch and she came up to watch. That was the only thing she said, although I tried to talk to her. Later I used her as a person standing in front of an unusual home I sketched in Falfurrias, Tx.

 

I think if I could see even a poor grade photograph of the watercolor, I'd be able to tell you all about it. What your aunt has is an original, because I never went into the print business. If it's the watercolor I did of the little girl in front of the original school where I met her, I think it's one of my better watercolors and your mother paid a whopping price for those years probably as much as $60 to $75 ... LOL ... If I could get a good resolution photograph of it, I'd love to put it on my sebsite.

 

I'm doing almost entirely computer art now and having a ball. As you probably know, my website is www.billstrain.com and my main thing going now is the first selection on that site with the word Flickr in it. That's where I do a daily blog of art, humor and narrative. I have as many of my old originals on the Flickrsite as anywhere under the set name of "Blasts from the Past."

 

I look forward to hearing from you. You might want to change my Email to bill.strain@yahoo.com. That's where I get most of my mail. This address is the old original one that we set up with the old website. Thanks for you inquiry and ..

 

Best wishes from Sherry and Bill in Kerrville

 

Still on the 16th, this Email from Elizabeth:

 

Hi Bill,

 

Thank you so much for your reply. I read your email to my aunt, who does not own a computer and never will, and she gave me a more detailed description of the painting. there is a one story house in the background and to the left of the house appears some black crosses maybe 5; look like crosses. then the little girl is standing on some stones and there appears to be more stones that could have been from a stone wall. She says the colors are magnificent!!! she just loves the painting.

 

She has a friend who will be returning to town around the 25th and he will come over and take a picture of it digitally and he can email you a picture. Then perhaps you will remember the painting. She is thrilled that I heard from you and will be glad to have her friend take a picture. I am thrilled that it is an original.

 

My aunt had it put into a different frame and she sees it every day all day when she is in her den. She acquired the painting about 11 years ago.

 

Thank you so much for the information and you will be hearing from me when her friend can send you the photo.

 

Have a great weekend.

 

Elizabeth R.

  

Then this Email came from Paul, actually 3 Emails each with a different JPEG of the watercolor. It was from these three JPEGs I got the image posted. I'll keep this updated until we get the best results we're going to. So another magic "BLAST FROM THE PAST" ... lol

  

From Paul: Sorry for the reflection. I couldn't see it until I got home and downloaded them onto my computer.

 

I'm sending the three best. Will try again, but am traveling till next week.... Have Jean remind me when I get back.

 

Sending them separately.

  

Paul

 

Here's my Email to Elizabeth after I saw the painting and was able to remember it:

 

Hi Elizabeth,

 

I got three photographs from Paul and he will try for more quality when he returns from a business trip. I worked a couple of hours trying to restore the color and detail, but the reflections were too strong.

 

That IS the primary painting I remember. I conisder it one of the top twenty paintings I've ever done. And that's the school I told you about and a caricature of the young gangly girl I talked to that day. I felt pretty special that she had shared with me something she probably didn't even share with her parents ... LOL ... for fear they'd cut off the possibility of a friendship with the boy.

 

I have an 13 x 18 inch scanner and could scan that watercolor without taking it out of the frame, if anyone is ever in the Kerrville area. I can't remember the size of the actualy painting, but I could do it in two or three scans and then patch it together and provide you with a CD and the potential for having prints made for the family or anyone you wanted to give them to.

 

If Paul is able to get a better quality photograph, I'll put it on my Flickrsite and add it to the "Blasts from the past" set and that one really is a blast from the past. On my website with my conventional art I have a publication "Nueces District Clerk's Journal" or something to that effect and a similar composition is in black and white on the cover. Also from the same era is one I called "Coronado's Child" of a little boy sitting on the edge of where a sidewalk ends in front of an abaondoned old church in Mier, Mexico. During those years I did a lot of sketching up and down the Rio Grande, Camargo, Mier, Rio Grande City, Roma, San Ignacio and even up to Laredo.

 

Well, it's been a hoot and I thank you for making it possible...grin. I'll wait for Paul's next effort and we'll talk some more.

 

Best wishes and ...

Love from Sherry and Bill

The corner of a lovely book entitled 'The Secret Lives of Colour' by Kassia St Clair which tells fascinating stories about various shades, dyes and hues

Hats off to the special and entitled for whom collective benefits are a concept unknown.

Mural entitled “Love Note” by Matt Moore aka @puckmcgruff, seen at 141 East Fourth Street in Charlotte, North Carolina.

 

Photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.

 

Edit by Teee

From my set entitled “Boats and Ships”

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Rhine-Westphalia

In my collection entitled “Transportation”

www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/collections/7215761271...

In my photostream

www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/

Reproduced from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amsterdam

 

Amsterdam is the capital and largest city of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland in the west of the country. The city, which had a population of 747,290 on 1 January 2008, comprises the northern part of the Randstad, the 6th-largest metropolitan area in Europe, with a population of around 6.7 million.

 

Its name is derived from Amstel dam, indicative of the city's origin: a dam in the river Amstel where the Dam Square is today. Settled as a small fishing village in the late 12th century, Amsterdam became one of the most important ports in the world during the Dutch Golden Age, a result of its innovative developments in trade. During this time, the city was the leading centre for finance and diamonds. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the city expanded and many new neighbourhoods and suburbs were formed.

 

The city is the financial and cultural capital of the Netherlands. Many large Dutch institutions have their headquarters there, and 7 of the world's top 500 companies, including Philips and ING, are based in the city. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange, part of Euronext, is located in the city centre. Amsterdam's main attractions, including its historic canals, the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum, Anne Frank House, its red-light district and its many cannabis coffee shops, draw 4.2 million tourists annually.

   

Painting entitled "My Lebanon" at an exhibition in Cambridge earlier this year. The note by the artist said, "The woman is crying 'Lebanon, my beloved country'. Her hair is the colour of the national flag -- green, white and red. And her tear is the word word Lebanon in Arabic". Very smart work, I thought.

Mural entitled "'Til Death Do Us Part" by DFace aka @dface_official, seen at 26 Crowndale Road, St Pancras, Camden, London, England.

 

Photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.

 

Edit by Teee

Mural entitled "Esa Luz" by @hokzyn and @himed_stencil for Mural Fest 2021, seen on the wall of Ta'Contento Restaurant at 2280 South West Temple in Salt Lake City, Utah.

 

Drone photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.

 

Edit by Teee.

Mural entitled "Here or There" by Erick Dominguez aka @tutodartist, seen at the RC Cola Bottling Plant at 2308 NW 5th Avenue in the Wynwood Arts District of Miami, Florida.

 

Photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.

 

Edit by Teee

Mural entitled "Winter in Utah" by D A A S aka @daas, seen in the mid-concourse tunnel at Salt Lake City International Airport in Salt Lake City, Utah.

 

Photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.

 

Edit by Teee.

AIM IM with Chris .

11:28 PM

(ty) hey bra' got a sec

 

(chris) sure, homestyle

 

what do you think of this idear ok - im thinkin of a group. small, invite only,

 

ok

 

where each week the moderator posts an image file and the members each photoshop it their own style

and then folks can discuss how they get certain effects and such

 

yeah, I remember us talking about that

I think it sounds great

 

see how many interpretations of the same image you can get

 

i want to call it

the Chris Owens Experience

you mind?

 

lol not at all

 

thanks i know your name is trademarked

 

hell yeah it is

I have pending lawsuits against many people

www.chrisowensclub.com

www.votechrisowens.com

 

lol

 

www.chrisowens.com

 

lol

 

do you own chrisowens.com?

 

votechrisowens is gone

that was a guy running for senate

that was priceless

no, I don't own chrisowens.com

some photographer does

 

i do want to make a group dedicated to spamming spammers

on flickr

 

ahh sweet

 

everytime you get the same invite from the same ass, you send him an invite to this group

 

HAHA

 

you only get invited if youre a spam bloated ass

that could be its motto

 

nice

 

mebbe call it Spamaholics Anonymous

 

LOL

 

and then when they join

kick them out

so i can resend them invites

 

right

 

mebbe i could use my secret account

 

cool

 

and have people nominate the spammer of the week. sidebar, you use 1001 for flickring?

 

nah

 

really?

 

I would if my main machine were a Mac

 

dang

 

I have it loaded

 

its the shit

 

but I don't do photos on my powerbook

 

i should make a set called 'everyone hates you' and just put dark evil shit in there

 

sweet

 

I love your dark stuff

 

i want to be happy

i really do

 

too bad

 

but ive seen too much

attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion, for example

 

... I miss childhood sometimes

 

Mural entitled "A Life of Gold" by @ivanroque for "Wallpapered City," seen at 2310 North 68th Street in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.

 

Drone photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.

 

Edit by Teee

Seen in my set entitled "Mississauga"

www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/sets/72157600987373042/

I've often mentioned that I work at RONA, which is a Canadian competitor to Home Depot and Lowes.

 

When I was growing up, our family business (Pleasant View Farms) was engaged in the wholesale and retail sales of farm and landscaping/nursery supplies: hardware, fencing, pesticides, plants, hay/straw for bedding, containers, firewood, seed, clothing, paint and on and on.

 

In 2002, after many years in various endeavours (museums, teaching English, marketing, I was accepted in the seasonal department at RONA, where I employed the skills and knowledge that I had garnered so many years before at Pleasant View Farms.

 

If you visit while I'm at RONA, you'll likely find me in the greenhouse and/or garden centre. I also spend a good deal of time on the seasonal hardware floor.

 

It's just part-time... a day or two a week, but it suits nicely.

 

About RONA

wrightreports.ecnext.com/coms2/reportdesc_COMPANY_C1248L300

Rona Inc. The Group's principal activity is to retail and distribute hardware, home improvement and gardening products in Canada. The Group operates in two segments namely Corporate and Franchised Stores and Distribution. The Corporate and Franchised stores segment relates to the retail operations of corporate stores and the Group's share of the retail operations of the franchised stores in which the Group has an interest. The Distribution segment relates to the supply activities to affiliated, franchised and corporate stores. As of 19-Feb-2008, the Group had 77 Big-Box stores, 327 Proximity stores and 235 Specialized stores and 40 specialized ICI.

 

RONA.ca Information

www.rona.ca/content/investor-relations

 

General Links:

www.mssociety.ca/en/events/biketour/default.htm

 

RONA History

1982 - Ro-Na purchased the assets of Botanix.

 

1984 - Ro-Na created a purchasing alliance with Ontario-based Home Hardware Stores Ltd. through Alliance RONA Home Inc.

 

1988 - Ro-Na merged with Dismat, another building materials company, to create Ro-Na Dismat Group Inc.

 

1990 - Ro-Na formed an alliance with Hardware Wholesalers, Inc. of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

 

1997 - ITM Entreprises S.A., a France-based group, invests $30 million in the Ro-Na Dismat Group Inc. ITM becomes a shareholder and forms a purchasing alliance with Ro-Na.

 

1998 - Ro-Na eliminates the Le Quincailleur and Dismat names and introduces RONA L'express, RONA L'express Matériaux and RONA Le Rénovateur Régional. It also changes its name from Ro-Na Dismat Group Inc. to RONA Inc.

 

1999 - RONA opens a new warehouse adjacent to its headquarters, measuring 654,000 square feet (61,000 m²), doubling its warehousing capacity and achieving considerable cost savings.

 

2000 - RONA acquires Cashway Building Centres, with 66 stores. It permanently opens its online store on the rona.ca website.

 

2001 - RONA acquires 51 Revy, Revelstoke and Lansing stores and thus owning many more stores in the Greater Toronto Area.

 

2002 - RONA closes a public offering consisting of a total offering of $150.1 million of Common Shares. RONA's Common Shares are then traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "RON".

 

2003 - RONA acquires Réno-Dépôt Inc. from British Kingfisher plc, including The Building Box stores. RONA also opens its third large distribution center in Calgary, Alberta.

 

2004 - RONA acquires Totem Building Supplies Ltd., an Alberta company. RONA Dream Home airs on Global. RONA also joins the AIR MILES Reward Program.

 

2005 - RONA Dream Home 2 airs on Global.

 

2006 - RONA acquires a majority (51%) stake in Matériaux Coupal Inc..

 

2006 - RONA acquires Curtis Lumber Building Supplies

 

2007 - RONA acquires Burnaby, BC based Dick's Lumber

 

2007 - RONA acquires Nova Scotia based Castle Cash & Carry

 

Post Processing:

PhotoShop Elements 5: crop, balance, posterization, rough pastels, sandstone

      

Statue entitled ‘Kanklininkas’ near the castle in Kaunas, Lithuania’s second city, of a man playing the kanklės, a traditional Lithuanian plucked string musical instrument, of the zither family. It was sculpted by Robertas Antinis. I cannot find a date of completion.

Excerpt from www.mtr.com.hk/en/customer/community/art_archi_syp_our_me...:

 

Our Memories of the Western District — Sai Ying Pun

 

Photo winners from local community and MTR Corporation (Hong Kong)

 

The photographic competition entitled "Our Memories of the Western District" was the inaugural activity of the West Island Line Community Art Programme. Unique images of the Sai Ying Pun area were captured by local residents and the winning photographs from the champion, 1st runner-up, 2nd runner-up and merit award recipients were selected as the theme images for use in Sai Ying Pun Station. These photographic images were then pixelated using thousands of images collected from the community and then combined with monochrome graphics to create a panoramic collage, reflecting the uniqueness and culture of Western District with traditional buildings and daily life of the local community.

Mural entitled "Duality" by Eduardo Bastida Guzman aka @trasheer, seen at 7666 South Main Street in Midvale Utah.

 

Drone photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.

 

Edit by Teee.

Mural entitled "The Path We Came" by 蔡陈林 (Chenlin Cai) aka @chenlin.cai for Shine on St Pete, seen at 1975 3rd Avenue South in the Palmetto Park area of St Petersburg, Florida.

 

Drone photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.

 

Edit by Teee

Mural entitled "Tres Reinas" by Lola Goce aka @lulagoce for Blkout Walls 2023, seen at at 2501 Cass Avenue in Detroit, Michigan.

 

Drone photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.

 

Edit by Teee.

Dimanche 09 février. Vagabondage vers le quai Kennedy. Retour au source du roman de Maylis de Kerangal intitulé "Quai Kennedy"....

Sunday, February 9. a wandering toward the dock Kennedy. Back to the source novel Maylis Kerangal entitled "Quai Kennedy."vers le quai Kennedy. Retour au source du roman de Maylis de Kerangal intitulé "Quai Kennedy"....

Sunday, February 9. a wandering toward the dock Kennedy. Back to the source novel Maylis Kerangal entitled "Quai Kennedy."

Mural entitled "The Last Butterflies Ballet" by Mantra aka @mantra, seen at 2713 Commerce Street in Dallas, Texas.

 

Drone photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.

 

Edit by Teee.

Entitled ‘Beauty,’ this is an artwork by Olafur Eliasson from his exhibition “In Real Life” at Tate Modern. A curtain of fine mist is sprayed from the ceiling and lit by a spotlight. I wanted a shot with a single person as it emphasises the contemplative feel the work gave me. My favourite piece from this superb exhibition.

@ Entitled "Back to Supersonica"

Lockheed VC-140B JetStar ( L-1329 ) • cn 5044

• REG : 62-4200

• RMK : Part of boneyard project titled "Black to Supersonica"

 

@ History Aircraft :

• 1962 : was built and still wears very distant USAF markings with reg 62-4200

• 1977 : It was withdrawn to AMARC in Tucson AZ

• 20XX : This rather unique Jetstar entitled 'Back to Supersonica' was painted by Andrew Schoultz and display at the "Pima Air Space Museum" as part of the "Boneyard Project" Artist paintwork.

A model locomotive by Hornby entitled 'Queen Elizabeth II'. This was a Hornby Collectors' Club special edition model from a few years ago. I chose this to be a little different as I suspect there will be a large number of chess pieces, playing cards, coins and stamps this week. The portion of the locomotive shown is exactly 3" long.

 

A focus stack of 23 images lit by natural window light and processed in Helicon Focus. Global adjustments in Lightroom. Dust and speck removal in Photoshop. Conversion to mono using Silver Efex Pro.

 

Many thanks to everyone who views, faves and comments on this image and the others in my photostream. HMM to everyone!

This sculpture entitled 'Seated' is on show outside the De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill from 19th April - 29th October 2023.

 

It is by Tschabalala Self and she says "Taking a seat is a universal act of leisure and calm. I wanted to create a monumental sculpture for the public that spoke to this simple joy. The woman is strong, beautiful and self-possesses. She represents all individuals, but women in particular, who understand the power and importance of simple gestures that assert their right to take up space." (2022).

 

Tschabalala Self was born in 1990 and is an American artist

 

Tschabalala Self's first public sculpture stands three metres high and is made from patinated bronze. This monumental work was an everyday object - a seat - as an entry point for questions of permission and performance within public space. Its subject - poised, immaculately dressed, glancing to her left - emboldens onlooks to sit with confidence and comfort.

 

Through an expansive practice bringing together painting, printmaking, sculpture and collage, Self's depictions, predominantly of women, traverse different artistic traditions. Bland and femme bodies are particularly prevalent in her work, heating different subjects, or characters, with individual and powerful identities, many of which are reimagined from chance encounters. Through mediations on race and gender, Self's work is concerned with what it means to flourish as a human and how the self is performed and perceived within contemporary life.

 

Read how the local community came together to make a statement after she was vandalised......

www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/jun/03/uk-seaside-c...

 

What’s with this recent entitlement-culture and dilution of artist recognition across social media?⠀

⠀

I can attest to the effort, time and hardship invested by photographers to capture the images they do. It’s not a bad thing, we do it because we love it and because it challenges us but the images we share don’t come easy. This is why it’s hard for us when we see our carefully shot and carefully finished image somehow becoming someone else’s image. To re-edit and use however they choose.⠀

⠀

Finding a photo online, dropping it in a bucket of saturation then warming up your keyboard ready to thank everyone for admiring your ‘new image’ isn’t photography and it’s not ok.⠀

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“I’m a skilled connoisseur and I’m just as entitled to use the photo as you are”. I’m sorry but, no. You’re not.⠀

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Let’s shift the culture back to what’s right, stop supporting the cheaters and go back to encouraging talented artists to continue creating amazing work for the rest of us to enjoy. ⠀

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#Photography⠀