photography

It’s Someone’s First Birthday

/ Terrill Welch / 17 Comments

My apologies for taking so long to post. But I have a good reason 🙂 You’ll see.

Can you guess who has just had his first birthday?

Some of you were around last year when Baby O arrived shortly after 9:00 am on February 19th. For others, this might even be a first introduction to Coen. Either way we are all about to experience the wonders of being one.

“PEEK” is still a favourite game at one.

We might as well get mom and dad into the picture as well.

Mom and Coen’s other grandma have made birthday cupcakes. He is given one all to himself. But the size is unusually enormous compared to the bite-size pieces that generally arrived on his dinner tray.

What is a boy to do? Well, at one and on a person’s first birthday no problem is so big it can’t be solved.

There! No problem at all! Okay, now it might be alright to touch it.

Happy First Birthday Coen.

Love Grandma Welch 🙂

 

SPROUT: What is the first great big humongous problem you remember solving?

 

Best of the weekend everyone and I shall get to my mother’s lipstick post soon 😉

 

© 2012 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

No Hard Edges

/ Terrill Welch / 10 Comments

Some days have no edges as light filters through the morning mist. We may want sharpness, clarity and defined perceptions, but on a morning like this we must trust and wait. I find it is not a hardship really as I notice the coastal mountains in the morning light across the Strait of Georgia.

(image available for purchase HERE) 

Today is like this as I think about what I need to do before taking a few days off from much of my online community. I have tasks that need to be completed such as sharing my 15 versatile blogger awards following the recognition bestowed upon me by Laurie Buchanan at Speaking from the Heart and Leanne Dyck from The Sweater Curse. I sigh a little in the soft edges of time and when I might follow through. I want clarity but I must wait. It will happen but not for a while.   For now, please do drop in and visit both of these inspiring bloggers and enjoy.

 

SPROUT: What is filtering through the misty edges of you commitments? 

 

Best of the weekend everyone and I shall be in a few days  with a story about my mother’s lipstick. Until then!

 

© 2012 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

 

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MANAROLA WINTER AFTERNOON original painting by Terrill Welch

/ Terrill Welch / 12 Comments

This 16 x 20 inch oil painting on gessobord was inspired by the Manarola Collaborative Project between G+ Painters and Photographers 2011 -12

Yes I have kept it a secret for almost six months 🙂

What a journey of personal discovery! It was October 15, 2011 when I finally get a chance to settle in and explore the images provide by the three photographers Elia Locardi, Marisa Williams and Mike Brzozowski. I have it in my mind I want to do a winter mid-afternoon painting of the village. I have never used any other photographer’s images as painting reference and I feel like my being is strapped to a narrow window on a high cliff. This is a location I have never experienced. I don’t know what it smells like. I can’t hear the sounds in the streets. I have no idea how the light falls at different times of day. What temperature is it? Does the wind blow a lot or a little? What does is feel like from one location in the village to another? What are the daily routines of living? When is it quietest? I realize that these are all threads and fibers that ground me in my paintings. What was I going to do.? I had to know. I couldn’t paint without knowing. So I went on a long journey of research discovering more images, blog posts and youtube videos to my learn from so that I could paint.

Using information as references from the photographs of all three photographers and more, here is the end result of my impressions of what Manarola might be like on a winter mid-afternoon day with its golden light. The fishermen have spent the afternoon in the pubs as they won’t be going out tonight. There is a storm coming. It took hours and even days. Finally I painted.

MANAROLA WINTER AFTERNOON 16 x 20 inch oil on gessobord with a 2 inch wood cradle by Terrill Welch

(I haven’t put this painting on the market yet but but it will be about $900 U.S. If you are interested send me an email )

More Background: A small group of G+ painters are inspired to paint Manarola in the Cinque Terre of Italy. The painters have never been to Manarola Italy and seek photography reference from photographers willing to give copyright permission to use their images in the creation of these paintings.

A small group of G+ photographers agreed to participate. Links to initial images for reference follow each photographer. I used a combination of these three photographs plus additional research to complete my painting.

Elia Locardi: https://plus.google.com/112957708071337353347/posts/UhLzeW8dEqi

Marisa Williams: https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/116975473087103045706/albums/5630380399468681713/5630690138668613394

Mike Brzozowski: https://plus.google.com/photos/103053238748819026069/albums/5200107765813493457

My heartfelt thanks to these photographers who shared their work so that I could create mine. You can meet all of the artists who participated and see their paintings as well as those that the photographers contributed in this album gallery HERE.

SEED: I have this great desire to learn more about this small fishing villiage. I now have Manarola Italy on my travel list.

© 2012 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

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February Flight at Sunrise over Strait of Georgia

/ Terrill Welch / 10 Comments

Everyone once in a while my heart seems to stop as I focus an image into the frame. I usually must click the shutter release at the same moment as this happens if I am going to capture it for us. Such is the case with this image of the sun rising over the Strait of Georgia…

 

(image is available for purchase HERE)

It is dawn on the west coast in February with a bit of fog for added mystery.  Yes, it was taken shortly after yesterday’s image of “Queen of Cumberland Ferry on a Morning in February” Having just three seagulls fly up like that and being able to click the release for the shutter to get them in that perfect position is nothing short of a miracle. I know highly skilled photoshop users would put as many birds as they wanted wherever they wanted in an image. But this is not me. I have to do it the old fashion way.

 

SPROUT: What mysteries have you been able to capture lately? 

 

© 2012 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

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Queen of Cumberland Ferry on a Morning in February

/ Terrill Welch / 20 Comments

It may have been super bowl Sunday for much of North America yesterday but for this Gulf Islander it was simply another lovely morning in the mist at Sunrise.

The Queen of Cumberland Ferry is just coming out of Active Pass and is heading to  Sturdies Bay Galiano Island. These small ferries are an integral part of Gulf Island life. They are more than a mode of transportation between islands and to Vancouver Island. These ferries are where novels are read, naps are taken, friends are visited, books are written and meetings are held. These ferries are an extension of home on the islands and of our communities.

I remember the first time I road the ferry to Mayne Island when we were coming to look at what is now our home La Casa de Inspiracion. A woman had gone to the washroom and left her purse open sitting on top of the table. Middle-aged musicians were practicing for a performance they were going to do the next day beside us. A sleepy child was nursed by her mother as she listened. Another group had papers and pens in hand as they discussed something that I could not comprehend or accurately hear over the other noises of the diesel engine and the acoustic practicing. I thought to myself, in a few years this will be normal. I will be part of this life instead of an observer. And now it is so.

Tomorrow, I have another image to share from Sunday’s sunrise. A colleague said “I think this must take the prize for ‘my favorite Terrill Welch.'”  I wonder if you will feel the same.

 

SPROUT: What aspects of your community show up in your creative work?

 

© 2012 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

 

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A Rare Sighting on an Ordinary Day

/ Terrill Welch / 12 Comments

There is sometimes nothing particularly outstanding about a particular day and yet my shoulders relax and I breathe just a little deeper than usual into the pleasantness of it all. Such a day is this.

Possibly this is what led to a rare sighting of Terrill Welch out on a photo shoot.

Covered in dirt from scrambling for a particular angle on an image and complete with weather-tangled hair, I confirm she was having a good day to hand the camera over to her husband, David Colussi, so he could take this photograph. Besides, she has never claimed to be inclined towards making fashion statements. At a rather round 5′ 3.5″ tall, on a good day, there never seemed to be a need or desired. Now, as for making photographs and paintings that would be a firm yes! 🙂

SPROUT: What is your favour photograph of yourself that seems capture the “real” you?

© 2012 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

Good morning and happy Friday to you!

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Seaweed Triptych

/ Terrill Welch / 14 Comments

I was fascinated to learn that our eyes only see clearly a small area at a time and then the brain translates and stitches the image through memory into a whole view. At times we seem to be fixated on creating photography with overall sharp focus, leaving no room for the eye to rest and the brain to create and complete the image – as it so loves to do.

This triptych plays with the concept of viewing one eye frame at a time.

I may not leave it like this but have an idea about printing it on canvas and using paint to complete the work as mixed media decorative works.

We shall see.

 

SPROUT: What are you waiting to see?

 

© 2012 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

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A Good Day By The Sea

/ Terrill Welch / 13 Comments

Wild wonders are left washed in natural design after the many days of high winds, high tides and rain.

Seaweed clings in its deep sea green vest to the sandstone chest of the reef.

Reflections shine clear and true in the shallows.

It is a good day by the sea.

(image is available for purchase HERE)

I have more to share from yesterday’s time at the water’s edge but it shall have to wait.

Oh! A small celebration. My photograph of the three Orcas is featured on the cover of the regional Gulf Islands Island Tides newspaper latest issue. The online version is here athttp://www.islandtides.com/assets/IslandTides.pdf

Happy Friday and all the best of the weekend to you!

 

SPROUT: What makes it “A Good Day!” for you?

 

© 2012 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

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Deep in the Meditative Woods

/ Terrill Welch / 14 Comments

The winds have quieted down some and the rains have become patchy showers. With this relative retreat in the stormy weather, we head out for a long walk “to stretch the kinks out” as my mother would say. These walks do more than stretch out our physical bodies. They also refresh our emotional, mental and spiritual being. Most often the walking is done without talking and at a good pace but not power walking with arms swinging. That kind of walking would be exercise not meditative. We can do that kind of walking at another time — such as when we are going to get the mail and climbing back up the hills home.

So because the weather was only in “relative retreat” we decided to take a middle trail out to the point and walk deep in the meditative woods. We can hear the surf and wind in the distance but the big cedar trees in this part of the forest cushion all that they hold. Sensual whiffs of trees, shrubs and the rain-soaked earth permeate the cool air as it drifts past my cheeks. We keep walking.

(image is available for purchase HERE)

Did you think I was going to leave my camera behind? Taking photographs is very much like part of my meditative breath and personal practice of being present.

Today’s post and sprout question are part of a call-and-answer with Laurie Buchanan over at Speaking from the Heart and her post today “Rain Retreat Meditation.” I am going to borrow her question and sprout it here while encouraging you to answer it there – and here too if you like 🙂

Laurie’s SPROUT: Where do you go to retreat?

It may have been divine intervention that had me read Laurie’s new post just before setting this one for publishing here. Whatever the reason dear readers, you get two unplanned, uncoordinated, just-happened-that-way meditative posts in one today.

© 2012 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

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Mayne Island Rain Wind and Snow

/ Terrill Welch / 12 Comments

How quickly it all changes. Yesterday’s winds have given way to rain. How those branches did bend for fear of snapping as others had in the past.

We did not go out to the shore. I get too nervous in high winds to hardly leave the house. This photograph of the valley was taken while stood at the kitchen sink preparing lunch and being thankful that the electricity was still on.

The day before however we did venture out into the blustery weather. The sandstone shore of Georgeson Island was particularly lovely in the soft light of the winter afternoon.

(image available for purchase HERE)

But this morning it is raining. I sit quietly hunkered down under a down quilt on the old couch in the loft marveling at how different each day can be from another. It was only four days ago I overheard these daffodils muttering in the snow “I told you it was too early.”

The snow is now long gone for this  young deer that browsed under the trees by at the edge of the forest, hunched up in the damp cold. I wonder where it sought shelter yesterday as the winds howled like jet planes crossing over the top of the cliffs?

A flicker had called from the beam on the covered deck to ask if I might come out for awhile.

I did. But even the oregano was snow bound.

However, it was the day I captured winter by the pond

(image available for purchase HERE) 

and enjoyed the grass against the snow…

I noticed that which was undisturbed.

This is the noticing that comes with the sudden change of snow covering much of our dark greens, grays and browns during the overcast west coast winters.

Much is still dreary though.

I thought of lighting a fire in the outdoor fireplace but then went back inside to paint – as I did yesterday. I painted on the ample 30 X 40 canvas. I wonder how the weather will be evident in my brushstrokes? We shall see on Wednesday I think. Here is a snippet of a small detail I liked that no longer exists.

The painting is almost complete. A couple of wayward blustery brushstrokes to tame and it will be done.

SPROUT: How might the weather be impacting your creativity?

 

© 2012 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com

 

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