Weekly Photo Challenge: Mountains 04

Mountain biking at Tsali Recreational Area in North Carolina

A photo challenge that includes mountains would not be a challenge without a difficult mountain bike to the summit. In this photograph I have just reached the top of the Right Loop at Tsali Recreational Area in North Carolina. The elevation at this point is around 5000 feet.

The popular Tsali Recreation Area has long been a top destination for mountain biking in Western North Carolina, and even the entire eastern US. Containing nearly 40 miles of trails in a system with four excellent loops, it has been rated as one of the top 10 places to ride in the USA. The area is located on a hilly peninsula reaching into beautiful Fontana Lake, at the base of the Great Smoky Mountains. The four long main trails at Tsali wind along the lake shore and onto the wooded, steep interior ridges. There are several connector trails, gravel roads and extension trails that give a few more options for rides besides the main loops. Three designated overlooks along the trails provide sweeping views of Fontana Lake with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the other side. The trails are fast, hardpacked singletrack, and they’re extremely well designed and well used.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Mountains 03

The rocky edges of Grandfather Mountain, North Carolina

Another classic view of Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Mountains 02

Waterrock Knob, North Carolina

Waterrock Knob is a mountain peak in the U.S. state of North Carolina.It is the highest peak in the Plott Balsams and is the 16th highest mountain in the Eastern United States. It is the 15th highest of the 40 mountains in North Carolina over 6000 feet.

The mountain is split by both Haywood and Jackson counties in the western mountains of the state. It is located in the Plott Balsams mountain chain between the Great Smoky Mountains and the Great Balsam Mountains. The mountain’s summit is located within the Blue Ridge Parkway National Park Service unit.

The mountain is a popular destination with tourists and amateur hikers as it is easily accessible from the Parkway. A visitors center is located near its summit and a hiking trail leads to its top. The hiking trail and visitors center are manned and maintained by the National Park Service, part of the United States Department of the Interior.

This photograph was taken during a hike to the summit of the mountain. I love the view here. The Blue Ridge Parkway is a wonderful drive in which to cruise by car or bike.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Mountains

Grandfather Mountain, North Carolina

Grandfather Mountain is a mountain, a non-profit attraction, and a North Carolina state park near Linville, North Carolina. At 5,946 feet (1,818 m), it is the highest peak on the eastern escarpment of the Blue Ridge Mountains, one of the major chains of the Appalachian Mountains. The Blue Ridge Parkway passes by the south side of the mountain. It is located at the meeting point of Avery, Caldwell (highest point), and Watauga (highest point) Counties.

Until 2008, Grandfather Mountain was privately owned and operated as a nature preserve and tourist attraction. It was and still is best known for its mile-high swinging bridge, the highest in America, built in 1952 by Hugh Morton. The bridge links two of the mountain’s rocky peaks, and is known as the “swinging” bridge due to its tendency to sway in high winds. Morton inherited the mountain from his grandfather and developed the tourist attractions. He died on June 1, 2006 at the age of 85. After Morton’s death, he donated all of his photographs, including many of Grandfather Mountain, Mildred the Bear, and many other aspects of life on the Mountain to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

This Photograph was taken during an earlier visit to the mountains of North Carrolina.

As We Live Our Lives Moments In a Day Stand Apart

Whitewater and chakra flowers for meditation, journey and insight (detail)

June 18th 2009, a day that stands apart.

On the Nantahala river in Western North Carolina in celebration of
my 53rd birthday the following day on the 19th of June.

A contemplative day full of energy and colors….

A view of the Nantahala river

We can never have enough of nature. We must be refreshed by the
sight of inexhaustible vigor, vast and titanic features, the sea-coast with its
wrecks, the wilderness with its living and its decaying trees, the
thunder-cloud, and the rain. …Henry David Thoreau

I love this quote because during our 3 hour trek rafting down the river,
it began to rain hard with severe thunderstorms. What an incredible experience battling the
elements as we faced the challenge of the rapids.

We found our courage, our laughter, on the river

If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of
grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things of
nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive. …Eleonora
Duse (1858-1924)

Nature always sets itself apart

Notes for chakra flowers

Our thoughts are like the waves of a whitewater river. They rise
and fall relentlessly. Our minds, like the lower depths of the river, become
increasingly more settled as we immerse ourselves in our meditation practice. …Walter W. Smith

In a new day that stands
apart, we remove ourselves from yesterday’s trials (the painful past and
uncertain future) and find insight in the quiet of the present moment. We are in
touch with our bodies—moving the energy through the chakras.

Our day ends as it began---finding meaning in the present moment

Today, hold the past in your
hands.  Hold your two hands out in front of you and allow them to fill
with the past, your past, every moment of it.  All that happened and did
not happen, all that was wonderful and all that simply was.  Let it all
fill your hands.

And now, as you continue to hold
your past in your hands, turn your inner vision to your heart.  See how
your heart is clean and clear, free of any regret or longing.  Your heart
is beating in this moment and this moment only. …author unknown

As we live our lives we find ourselves standing apart---living in the moment

As the details of our lives become memories and the moments of
life stand apart, what brings joy, peace and happiness to you? What are some of
your experiences that you embrace with fondness and love? What are your
thoughts? Please do share a moment or two with us.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Broken

A broken world view

This week’s photo challenge is “broken”.  The image I selected for this challenge is a
photographic still of my 1991 video installation presented at Highwire Gallery
entitled “The World Spins Black / White”. The 1991 installation was an
examination of—and condemnation of the forces of civil disobedience, war, and
social unrest that our society was struggling with at the time. The motivation
for choosing this photograph, at this specific point, is the state of our political
union here in the United States and abroad. At the core, I believe is a broken democracy.

The world is changing and it can be
argued not for the best. There is an ideology that threatens to disrupt, dismantle,
and delineate our democracy and freedom.  That dismantling presents itself in many
different forms, with a variety of sponsors. Here in the United States, I
believe its greatest sponsor is right wing conservatism at its extreme,
supported by various proxy organizations, and funded by wealthy individuals
such as the Koch brothers. At the heart of the process with malice intent are
the reduction and perhaps even the elimination of our government i.e. the way
it functions and the services it provides. Hence there is the privatizing and
systematic assault on the public sector, with the goal being the transference
of wealth from the many to the few. In league with the machinations to
facilitate these insidious methods are corporate media moguls, right wing think
tanks and Tea Party legislators to name a few.

My image for this challenge “broken” is a world globe,
wrapped in barbed wire and decaying red roses.

“The vast possibilities of our great future will become realities
only if we make ourselves responsible for that future”. … Gifford Pinchot

As We Grow Older Details Become Memories

A mother's smile, a mother's joy

Do you at times find yourself transported back in time when
a certain inherent detail of your life presents itself and reminds you of
something or someone? Do you recognize that moment as a significant junction
between remembrance and the here and now?

A father's necktie, the way he dressed

The other day while driving and listening to some beautiful
introspective music by the New Age composer Cleveland Wehle, I found myself
visualizing small details of my life. The name of his CD is Relax Deeply – The
Music, and the inspiring track that prompted me to compose this post is
entitled Anne’s Pleasure. What I visualized while listening were small
fragments or details that were components of a larger picture. Those images symbolized
in part the relationship I have had with time and memory—my life, my time here
on planet earth, my memories.

A photograph, a loving memory, a mother's wedding

Details become memories….
It seems that as we grow older, our lives manifest a
deeper sense of reflection. It is at times … like the feeling of Déjà vu, when
something ignites our connection to the past. The smallest detail infuses
itself into our mindset.  We feel and
remember things hard to describe in words, but intuitively understand their
meaning.

A daughter's beauty throughout the years

One of the objectives of my work as an artist has been to
bridge the past with the present.  In
this post, I take small visual details of the past, and present them as memory
fragments. Those fragments reflect my relationship with my mother, father,
daughter, sister and family.

A sister's handwriting, so distinct

There are a host of details from our past, about our lives, just
waiting to present themselves unexpectedly—changing the way we remember.  We all share in our own unique way this
experience. Let’s look back and celebrate.

A memory of my family's elegance, so timely

http://youtu.be/IKMDy_elBK8  –  Cleveland Wehle – Song for Mary Clare – Video by David Flood

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It
is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a
stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good
as dead: his eyes are closed. … Albert Einstein

What do you think? What small details that surround your
life bring back memories of beautiful times gone by?

Just Felt Like Posting a Work of Art / a tribute to my daughter

My daughter the model and the world behind you

A photograph of my daughter who as a teen did some modeling. This was around the time I was visiting Europe and Barbados.  I wanted to post something, hence the title “Just Felt Like Posting a Work of Art”, and the first thing to come to mind was my daughter. Lady, as she was affectionately known, remains in my thoughts. I wake to her, and I fall to sleep with a dream of her. The title of the piece is “The World Behind You”. She certainly had a world full of life, beauty, and wonder in which she embraced with joy.

Rest in Peace my Lovely Daughter….

The Silence of Liberation

Toward the love within….

Silence

Silence 02

It is after 12 a.m. and I have just read a wonderful post by
fellow blogger Elizabeth—the author of the blog Mirth and Motivation on
Wordpress.com. I was so inspired by her thoughts and comments on the recent
tragedies in Norway, China and the death of Amy Winehouse, that I felt compelled
to create a post on her theme i.e. the need for silence, for understanding,
compassion and healing.

Silence 03

Silence 04

I am not going to say much about the events that occurred here
in this post, (the struggles of mankind as a community and we as individuals
speak for themselves) however, I would like to express my feelings, my
compassion, and the love of healing through
silence via my art.

Silence 05

Silence 06

Silence is a powerful tool. When we cultivate our inward
journey through meditation, contemplative thought and positive action, we
harness the energy to change ourselves and the world around us. For me, these
moments tonight of creative insight and sharing, in connection with my art and
the desire to send forth compassionate energy is liberating in of itself.  I can feel the hurt that so many in our
communities are experiencing and my desire for their liberation and the end of
suffering goes out to a world in need.

In Buddhism we learn the need for Nirvana: the cessation of
unsatisfactory conditions and their causes.

Silence 07

Silence 08

I hope the images I have created and the music I selected
for this post help to bring some peace and positive recollection to our hearts
and minds.

http://youtu.be/K8-iTakhFrs  — The Disintegration Loops III — William Basinski — Video by Bodyheaven

We are of one Source Energy, and one Spirit.

The Silence of Liberation and the Silence Within

Weekly Photo Challenge: Colorful 02

The Brooklyn Bridge in NYC

Continuing the theme for this week’s photo challenge: colorful, is again an early digital work. This piece is one of the first to incorporate photography and digital manipulation. I am combining marble paper digitally altered and a photograph of the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City. This piece was created in 1987.