View allAll Photos Tagged Life!
I'm still keeping a record of life drawing, it helps in a way to find out what works and what doesn't. The last couple of months I've been feeling a few aspects are slowly clicking into place.
I wish I could do more drawing more than once a week
This is my attempt at a more loose and painterly approach. It was a challenge for me to just leave a stroke once I laid it down. My inclanation is to try and render every detail that I see!
Comments or critiques are welcome and much appreciated!
This is an installation by Rebecca Louise Law entitled Life in Death. It consists of around 375,000 preserved flora entwined with copper wire and can be seen in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art at Kew Gardens, London, until 11th March 2018.
(homeless man in tenderloin just diagnosed with cancer, sf, 6/5/06)
homeless james from virginia in the tenderloin; goes by "bags." he's 44. james has been in sf since he was 16 when he got out of juvenile detention. he was locked up from the age of 12. he started shooting up when he was 11. he drove out to sf with a girl he had started dating at the time who had just gotten out of college. says "i was a goodlooking kid."
james says his father was a sniper in vietnam who had 163 kills for the cia. he agrees his dad was "hardcore." james learned to fight from him. they had a falling out and don't speak any longer. james' mother was a stripper.
james used to love to keep animals and guns. he would collect both. he had dogs, cats, rats, etc. but he went through a bad period where he was really tweaked out on drugs and he killed them all. he didn't shoot them; he strangled them. says he feels bad about it.
says he doesn't feel bad about the men he's killed. the one he killed in prison was a child molester who had raped a 6 year old boy. it was a hit and he carried it out with no reservations. he stabbed the man through the back of the neck with a pick axe or some such. says he still remembers the sound as the axe went through the man's neck and grated into the bed. the spiderweb prison tattoo on his neck is a "badge of honor" which commemorates the kill.
i took to james immediately. he is friendly, open and warm. he says he'll have my back if i should ever need him. he introduced me to his friends as he walked the street looking for a fix. he says he has "a lot of hatred and a lot of happiness." he agrees it's a strange mix.
he doesn't mind people taking his picture. "people say it's stealing your soul; but my soul ain't worth nothing."
but he says he thinks he has goodness in him. "i'm a motherfucker, but i'm good to women and old people. i always give up my seat on the bus. and i'm good to my friends."
james is dying of colon cancer. he has a tumor "the size of a grapefruit" which was caught too late. says he's "pissing and shitting blood." but he says he doesn't care. "why should i care? i've had it bad and i could complain, but plenty have had it worse than me."
he figures he'll be dead within the year.
"My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style." -
Maya Angelou
Let me but live my life from year to year,
With forward face and unreluctant soul;
Not hurrying to, nor turning from the goal;
Not mourning for the things that disappear
In the dim past, nor holding back in fear
From what the future veils; but with a whole
And happy heart, that pays its toll
To Youth and Age, and travels on with cheer.
So let the way wind up the hill or down,
O'er rough or smooth, the journey will be joy:
Still seeking what I sought when but a child,
New friendship, high adventure, and a crown,
My heart will keep the courage of the quest,
And hope the road's last turn will be the best.
Title and poem by Henry Van Dyke
♫ - The Life Ahead - Laura Pausini
I would like to thank everyone who has taken an interest in my work. I take this opportunity of wishing everyone a Happy New Year. Please take good care of yourselves in these uncertain times. Keep well, safe & inspired.
Kind regards, Sophie.
for Flickriver - Sophie Shapiro
.
BLOGGED here: abitofpillipilli.blogspot.com/2011/06/wise-words-of-other...
photo credits: 1. Sailing Takes Me Away, 2. blue tears, 3. Untitled, 4. Untitled, 5. Selfportrait, 6. fruitmasters, 7. IMG_2719, 8. #8, 9. +
VIEW IN LIGHTBOX!
I'm so proud of this photo.
It's just a bokeh, but the best bokeh I've ever shot.
Follow me:
you can also read my blog:
mademoiselle-riot.blogspot.com
or ask me anything on formspring: