I’d like to add a coda to Nan’s most excellent post on using black and white photography to evaluate the role of tone, or value, as an element in creating pleasing combinations. I’ve got a whole other diagnostic use for black and white, but more about that in a moment.
Nothing is simple anymore. In part, it’s because we have too many choices. Even picking out a toothpaste at the drugstore can be a conundrum-there are tubes stuffed with different colors, different flavors, tooth whiteners, cavity fighters, fluoride-treated, on and on and on. Speaking of toothpaste, although there is a lot of choices, we all[...]
My family celebrates Thanksgiving outside. Sun, snow, rain or whatever, we congregate at Thanksgiving Field to celebrate the day in a way for which I am truly grateful. I can’t take much credit for it though. My mother-in-law Hope and her brother Burges started the tradition more than 50 years ago, and haven’t missed a[...]
Geometry comes in really handy if you’re a gardener. All those neat shapes-circles, squares, rectangles and onwards-make great design motifs in a garden. I’ve got a number of circular areas, and another spot (in front of my shed) where I made a four-square garden (except it’s four rectangles). In any case, the repeated elements bring cohesion[...]
Storage has been at a premium here at Clatter Valley since we turned the garage into a painting studio for my wife. I was hard put for a spot for the lawnmower, assorted pots, hoses, tools and all the bric brac of gardening, so I built this 8×12 shed fronted with a 6×12 porch. Together they[...]