Treetop Views

December 31, 2010December 31, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 13 Comments

The sun is out. The end of the year is upon us. We are going high up for a look around.

A grand view always has me reflecting on my blessings. I usually sort of hop-skip up and down and exclaim about how wonderful it is to be alive.

David laughs and we both grin one of those big grins where our teeth show and our eyes snap as if we are keeping a secret. This past year we have tramped the island trails regularly. We have meandered along the roads. We have washed our hands in the Salish Sea. We have sat quiet watching as the light changes on the trees.

This year of 2010 has been a good year.

Happy New Year dear friends! May you notice the blessings you receive.

Sprout question: What are you most treasured memories for 2010?

On Monday shall see Creative Potager begin a new posting schedule with Monday and Friday being the book-ends for the week with the occasional surprise post in the middle. Monday will be used to set my intention for the week and Friday will be a report out on the results. So off into 2011 we go!

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Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Rocks

December 29, 2010December 29, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 7 Comments

Some days like yesterday, rocks play a prominent role in photo shoot. There are those in a spot of sun deep in the forest floor.

There are those providing a backdrop for an old fir tree.

There are those clustered together on shore.

Then there are those providing a foamy footpath for Surfbirds.

(image may be purchased here)

Rocks – all of them sandstone rocks.

Sprout question: What is prominent in your creativity today?

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Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Winter Waves

December 28, 2010December 28, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 14 Comments

Leaving Vancouver B.C. to catch a ferry back to Mayne Island on Boxing Day there was a slice of early morning sun coming through the heavy rain clouds. I was early. I took a left at Tsawwassen and headed for Boundary Bay Regional Park. This park is a seaside wetland sanctuary for birds and bush bunnies like me passing through on their trek home.

To day the wind and sea were both high as waves rolled up and sometimes over the sandy beach.

The scene was dramatic. The contrasting colours between sea and sky were unusual. The light changed fast as it rose above the sea towards the cloud bank. If I had painted it, the viewer would have had a hard time believing its authenticity.

Even with a photograph… you might think “she did it with Photoshop! You can do anything with Photoshop.”

But I didn’t. I just happen to be at the right place at the right time with camera in hand.

Sprout question: When is life grander than your imagination?

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Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Winter Solstice on the islands

December 21, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 13 Comments

These images are from the shortest day before the darkest night with a lunar eclipse on Winter Solstice.

I find great comfort in their deep dark soft peace.

The hush of low light brings its own beauty.

The light of day begins to length as we pass through to deepest point of darkness.

Sprout question: Where do you find light in the darkest of darks?

Thank you for your support, encouragement and purchase of my photographs, calendars and paintings.

Please note: Creative Potager will be on holidays beginning Saturday, December 11, 2010 and will return on its one year anniversary Monday, December 27, 2010. Which doesn’t seem to stop the occasional post from appearing.

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

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Edge of the Sea

November 25, 2010November 25, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 17 Comments

Standing close, feeling the softness of the smudged edge of the sea, being washed into a possibility.

(view and purchase full resolution here.)

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our USA Creative Potager friends… may your year be bountiful with simple abundance and love. It is a perfect day for us all to take a moment and count our blessings.

Sprout question: What are you grateful for today?

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

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

My Top 10 Gratitude List (tricitypsychology.com)
G is for Gratitude (speaking from the heart)

One

November 24, 2010November 25, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 19 Comments

Rolling continuation yet no second like the one before.

Come now! It is just a rock and a bit of sea water reflecting the blue sky. What makes that worthy of contemplation?

What defense do I have? It was cold and my stiff fingers slipped on the shutter button. I am a bit touched from being to long on an island. Whatever the reason, I have come back to this image more than once in deciding what to post for today.

This is it. Enjoy a Zen moment. Or not:)

Sprout question: What are some repeating themes in your creativity?

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Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

A Search for Colour ends in the Japanese Garden

November 18, 2010November 18, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 24 Comments

With the slate gray of winter loping around cavorting with my finer spirits, tempting them into the gloom, I went in search of colour.

There is this leaf amongst the twigs with the sun soaking through it.

An orange calendula is there to greet me in its last rain-soaked days before predicted weekend frost will pluck its brilliance.

These yellow calendulas will fair no better.

Then I go to the Japanese Garden. At last I feel satisfied. I take this image home and render it in a painterly fashion.

View and purchase full resolution image here.

I prefer the simplicity of this version rather than just a photograph… but I do have that way as well.

Sprout question: What keeps your spirits up when the sun fails to find you?

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

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Photographers feast on fall colors at special Japanese Garden shoots (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
Celebrating its 25th Anniversary, Osmosis Day Spa Sanctuary in Northern California Named “America’s Most Spiritual Spa” (prweb.com)
5 Incredible Gardens of France (hotelclub.com)
Visions of Paradise – The Japanese Garden in the UK (punjapit.wordpress.com)

Washed Smooth

November 17, 2010November 17, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 15 Comments

The heaviness of the cloud pushes down until I hunch under its dreary weight. West coast winter has arrived. Last nights winds were an early warning of what is yet to come. Today is smoldering quiet. Only small birds twitter in the trees as we walk.

I cast my eyes south,

then north along the shore,

stopping my roving gaze only when I look west and settle upon the smooth sandstone washed clean by years of waves.

I notice one small leaf also sitting in deviance.

Sprout question: What might you like to wash smooth?

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

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Discovering the Joy of Winter Games… (prweb.com)
Unscheduled Down Time (timesunion.com)
Night Lights (christineredmond.wordpress.com)

Snow Clouds

November 16, 2010November 16, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 20 Comments

It doesn’t snow very often on Mayne Island but it does all around us. Some days I can smell snow and people frown when I say so. Raising one eyebrow, they will say “I didn’t hear of a snowfall warning.” Then I have to explain that I can smell it from where it is snowing on the mountains around us… 30 or 40 miles away.

Sometimes I look up and say “those are snow clouds.” It is not just the look of them. It is how they feel… and smell.

Sprout question: What smells in your neighbourhood?

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

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada