Feed your soul. Free downloadable art. A fabulous project from Jen of Indiefixx.

Pink, the image above, is my contribution to the Feed Your Soul vault of wonderful imagery. Visit Indiefixx to download a high resolution image file of Pink. Free! Thanks for this opportuntity Jen!

And a big thanks to Apartment Therapy Unplgged for featuring my art in their post about Feed Your Soul!

Holy cow!!! I was featured on Daily Candy today! Thanks Daily Candy!

The birds along Lake Wheeler Road continue to catch my eye. I live for sunny days that I can pack up my camera bag and ride around with the windows down looking for whatever is out there.

I’m so often amazed that my photographs are better if I start with an “empty cup.” A really wonderful artist once told me he starts every day in the studio by setting a tea cup upside down to remind him to let go of his old ideas & be open to new ideas.

The image above is Summer, new in the Departure series (on flickr, on etsy). The slowness of Southern summertime and yearnings of flight and wander inspire these works. Original photograph with digital painting.

I’ve been honored to get some really sweet mentions on blogs & I’ve been remiss not to post these wonderful links on my own blog. Thank you!

5 O’clock Crows

Emmy Lu

Heather-Elaine

The Experts Agree

A big big big thanks to photojojo for including me in their list of 20 photographers:
20 Photographers Whose Work You Can Actually Afford
photojojo.com/content/buy-this/20-affordable-photographers

Happy day! :)

I’m honored that Comma Press choose one of my photographs for a book cover– Long Days by Maike Wetzel.

From the Comma Press site:

Long Days

Maike Wetzel

ISBN-10: 1905583028
ISBN-13: 978 1905583027

‘Recently something funny happened. There was no summer, no autumn either.’

With this opener Maike Wetzel begins exploring that moment in life when the breakneck experience of growing up suddenly changes gear and slows down. A young woman sees a dead body for the first time; a sister watches her anorexic sibling transform into different person; a girl pieces together the facts of a custody battle she’s not been let in on. Wetzel’s stories catch people when some part of their lives has been put on pause, leaving them so adrift only acts of obsession or self-destruction provide direction.

Wetzel’s stories have great depth of focus. In the background, an over-eager teacher might be explaining the facts of life in unnecessary, lurid detail, but in the foreground students will be taking drastic measures, in secret; a gymnastics class may be limbering up for an impressive display, but in close-up, dietcrazed girls faint in alarming numbers. With pared down but insistent language, Wetzel achieves a poise and clarity and presents lives that are as arresting as they are arrested.

‘There is the special art in Maike Wetzel’s writing to demonstrate vividly how events and stories can affect people – in particular if those only passively involved.’
- Der Spiegel

‘Adds magic to the brutal banality of everyday-life.’
- Schlaglicht

About the Author

Maike Wetzel was born in 1974, attended film school in Munich and in the UK, and currently lives in Berlin and the Rhein-Main area. She is the author of two award-winning collections of short stories: Lange Tage [Long Days] (2003) and Hochzeiten [Weddings] (2000), both published by S. Fischer Verlag. She has directed several short films and documentaries and also writes screenplays. She is currently working on a novel.

About the Translator

Lyn Marven is Lecturer in German at the University of Liverpool. She did her doctorate at Oxford, and researches and translates contemporary literature. The collection of 20th century short stories, which she has edited and translated, Berlin Tales, is forthcoming with OUP (June 2009).

Cover photograph by Tricia McKellar.

Thanks so much to Brigette for her kind words about my art on her blog, weirdbuglady.

Wow! My insects are cute! Thanks so much to the blog of all things cute and desireable cuteable.com for featuring a print from my Plans & Diagrams series!

Thanks so much to Jenn Wallace at Indie Fixx for including my Plans & Diagrams #4 in her collection of Black & White lovelies!

Thanks so much to Sonja Engdahl for her kind words about my art on her blog Nervous Motion! :)

I am totally thrilled that Zolton at Lost at E Minor mentioned me on their blog of pop culture! Thank you Zolton! Check out the blog. Where else can I read about the mathematical properties of river lengths and giant toys!? While you’re there, be sure to check out Lost at E Minor’s banner gallery.