Solstice Evening

I haven't made a bit of art since I have been here, save for some photos of the kids, and a couple of night shots when the kids are in bed. I don't know how any artist with little ones gets to do much and it brings me back to the days of mostly single parenting when I worked on my kitchen counters or on the dining room table doing little things to quell my urges.  I don't remember painting for a period of some 8 or 9 years and the only thing I accomplished was some jewelry making and glass work which could be done in a small space and in small bits of free time.

I don't know my digital camera that well, and it is nothing fancy, but sometimes the best things are made with the most simple of tools. After all, some of history's most magnificent sketches were done with a piece of burned wood and paper.

I wanted to make a photograph to celebrate the solstice. It is a night that I love, but also a night that makes me sad as I know the days will start to get shorter, and that my brain chemistry will gradually shift with the amount of light....and I will go into a dark hibernation, like much of the earth in the northeast.

Working with Picassa and the subject matter at hand - a military base in Kentucky, and my trusty Canon Powershot, I bring you tonight's celebratory photograph.  It reminds me of a cross between a hand colored Wallace Nutting photo, one of Parrish's more toned down paintings, and that famous Magritte painting.

No ice cream, no party, no friends, just two little children sleeping in the house, my daughter on the couch, and the twinkle of fireflies on the fresh mowed lawn.  In the quiet I honor the beauty of the light and am grateful for it all.