Exploring Natives…and Some Extras!
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If you’ve been reading my blog, you may have noticed my obsession with weeds (here, here, and here are some examples). So when I heard that the Lux Art Institute was hosting an artist whose work features weeds, I couldn’t wait to visit. And I wasn’t disappointed. Beverly Penn makes exquisite sculptures by casting what others might classify as ordinary or weed-like flora in bronze and then creating beautiful art that seems to breathe, move, and reflect light. I wish I could have taken photos of the art–but the museum requested no photos in the studio.
And as an added extra, when I had a minute to chat with the artist, she talked about how her current work (that she is working on as she is in residency at the Lux) uses the native plants that grow prolifically on the Lux grounds. As we left the studio, we headed out into the grounds to see the sculptures installed in the native plant trail…also surrounded by even more native chaparral.
I took this photo of the native buckwheat. And if you look closely you will see a little extra in the background–one of the fanciful birdhouses that is a part of the sculpture collection at the Lux.
As I walked the natives, I couldn’t resist stopping to put my macro lens on to get closer to these often unappreciated beauties. Seeing Beverly Penn’s sculptures inspired my curiosity and had me wanting to look even more closely at these plants that seem to grow like weeds…and many consider weeds. Lately, they have been celebrated for their resilience in drought conditions, requiring considerably less water than the decorative plants that many like to cultivate around homes and businesses.
This Hummingbird’s Trumpet uses its brilliant scarlet to attract pollinators…and my eye.
I was surprised to learn that this vibrant yellow bloom is called the California Brittlebush. I love the bumpiness of the centers when when you get close.
I’m really not sure of the name of this purple flowering plant. The bloom is interesting because it includes a spiky ball and then a delicate flower.
My interest in weeds has also allowed me to find the beauty in the stages of blooming that some might dismiss as ugly or uninteresting. This plant, the Seaside Daisy, had a few blossoms in full bloom with white petals and a bright yellow center. But I found myself interested in the blossoms that were past their prime, “gone to seed”–reminding me of dandelions and their tenacious seed dispersement and the beauty of the husks as the seeds blow away.
I was also drawn to the black sage…a common plant in these parts. The blossoms are now skeletons, and yet somehow their intricate beauty draws me in and the fragrance evokes San Diego summer.
I loved the extras that presented themselves as I headed off to the Lux today. I was reminded to appreciate the natives…and look closely to find their beauty and intricacy. And one more extra: I ran into one of my students (and her little sister who will be my student when school begins in the fall) as they came out of the art studio and I was about to enter. Their mom mentioned that they were there because we had studied weeds…they just couldn’t wait to see what the artist was doing with weeds as her subject! What a great beginning to summer!
Weekly Photo Challenge: Doing
Do you speak in images? Enjoy taking photos to document your experiences or just to express what you notice in the world? Love to share them with others? Welcome to the weekly photo challenge! I post a new challenge each week…check in regularly and join the fun!
Tomorrow is my last day of school with my students, so they’ve been thinking a lot about summer and what they will be doing. And we’ve been doing a lot in the classroom this last week, taking advantage of our mild sunny weather and the incredible independence the students have developed over the course of the school year. Monday was a field trip to the NAT–the San Diego Natural History Museum–where students were busy doing a lot of inquiring and thinking about all the science learning they have done this year.
Here’s one of my students using his hands to pedal to create the energy to cause water to run in a sink. And then I couldn’t resist snapping this picture of a group of students busily writing in the pirate ship at the NAT.
Yesterday we had our second annual rock climbing event with third graders. It’s bittersweet to get to June when you’ve taught students for three years and know that they will be leaving and moving on to 4th grade and a new school too. So we spent yesterday afternoon rock climbing at a climbing gym. I got many shots of kids doing climbing. I love watching them gain confidence as they try again and again. This little girl had no fear…she climbed to the very top again and again!
This one isn’t my student, but I love when students take the initiative to make a difference in the world. I found these informational signs around our school, attached to fences with pipe cleaners. I did manage to track down the authors so I could congratulate them for their earnest efforts to improve the world.
And I’ve been doing some doing too. Just recently we put on an Advanced Institute at our writing project (SDAWP) focused on paper circuitry. It’s such fun to play around with writing and science and all the connections between the two. Here’s a fairly rudimentary parallel circuit I made playing with conductive thread instead of the copper tape I’ve used before.
And over the weekend I was exploring our local botanical gardens when I came face to face with this little guy. A lot of my doing is related to photography…and it takes me to interesting places and seeing (and photographing( interesting things.
And all this thinking about doing has me thinking about the CLMOOC (which begins tomorrow) and the making and doing I will be involved in there. I hope all of you will join in the fun as well!
So this week’s challenge is to focus on doing…your own or the doing you see around you. You can be watching doing in action, capture things you are doing, or any combination that works for you. As always, you are the one who gets to decide what counts as doing…so have fun, and start doing, especially if you are having fun!
You can post your photo alone or along with some words: commentary, a story, a poem…maybe even a song! I love to study the photographs that others’ take and think about how I can use a technique, an angle, or their inspiration to try something new in my own photography. (I love a great mentor text…or mentor photo, in this case!)
I share my photography and writing on social media. You can find me on Instagram and Twitter using @kd0602. If you share your photos and writing on social media too, please let me know so I can follow and see what you are doing. To help our Weekly Photo community find each other, use the hashtag #doing for this week and include @nwpianthology in your post.
So get going and get doing! Can’t wait to see what you are doing this week.
Appreciating Difference
I love my macro lens! What I like best about it is that it makes me slow down, breathe deeply, and pay attention to the smallest of details…things that I didn’t even realize I couldn’t see.
Over the weekend I had the opportunity to spend some time at our local botanic gardens, offering a wide variety of plants in different ecosystems from deserts to rain forests to native plants of our area. They also had a section of the gardens that was all fruit trees…a variety of citrus, figs, persimmons, guava, and more.
When I saw this delicate guava blossom, I had to stop and take out my macro. I just knew that it would take a close look to really see and appreciate the beauty of this ethereal bloom.
And once I got started, I couldn’t stop myself. Each variety offered its own unique beauty. Here’s one variety of fig.
This is a different variety of fig…and perhaps at a different stage of development.
I was surprised by the center of this lime blossom. I knew it was a white flower, but I hadn’t noticed the center before taking this photo.
And this lemonade lemon tree had the prettiest pink blossoms getting ready to open.
I’m not sure which fruit tree this blossom came from, but I love its crazy red fringe!
As I looked closely at these fruit blossoms I found myself thinking about how much diversity there is among them. Even varieties that are closely related are different from one another. Which got me thinking about my students…and students in general. As teachers (and parents too), we need to slow down, look and listen closely, and pay attention to the diversity among our students. Even when students are all the same age, they have vastly different personalities, learning strengths, and interests. I often have the privilege of teaching siblings…sometimes even twins and triplets…and what I know is, despite having the same parents and living in the same environment, each child in the family is different from the other(s), highlighting the complexities of DNA, personality, behavior, and more.
And in spite of these differences, we all have so much in common: the need to be loved and valued, to be nurtured and supported, to have others assume the best and help us learn from the inevitable mistakes we will make.
That macro lens offers insight as I look closely at the world of plants, noticing features and details I might have missed without it. I don’t have a macro lens to use with my students, instead I have to use the lens of mindfulness to keep myself attuned to the individuality of my students and take the time to notice and learn from them and about them. I don’t just teach a group of children, I teach a classroom full of diverse individuals and to teach them well it’s important for me to know that and take their differences into account. And for me, that’s the beauty of the classroom, it’s a room full of teaching and learning opportunities as we all bring who we are into the mix. Our differences are the best part of our learning community as we help each other slow down and see the world in new and different ways.
Playing with Cyanotype
Early this year I decided on play for my one little word. And I have been making time for play on a pretty regular basis. A lot of my play is related to photography and making time to take photos has me seeking out opportunities to explore that I might not have done otherwise. I’ve explored places in my community that I have never been before…and I am definitely spending lots of time outdoors, especially on the weekend, rather than doing housework or even reading!
For Mother’s Day this year a manilla envelope arrived in the mail from my son and daughter-in-law. As I opened it I found a typewritten note and a smaller manilla envelope. I love the note, knowing that it was typed on a typewriter that my son found left next to the dumpster near his home…and that he typed it. The note explained that I would find specially treated cyanotype paper that he had prepared for me. It gave me step by step instructions for using the paper…and included a few “negatives” that I could try if I wanted.
I played around a bit…and then got busy so it has stayed in the envelope until last weekend. I started thinking about that cyanotype paper and what I wanted to play around with. As I headed out for my beach walk on Saturday, I purposely looked for shell pieces that would work with this positive/negative kind of exposure (a rudimentary kind of photography). As we walked I noticed so many different kinds of shells and rocks…and sea glass! I seldom find sea glass on our beaches, but for some reason pieces of sea glass kept presenting themselves. We also found quite a few shell structures with holes and openings.
When I got home, I pulled out the paper treated with the cyanotype chemicals and laid the shells out. I took them out for about five minutes of sun exposure, brought the paper back in to rinse to stop the exposure…and here is the resulting cyanotype shell study.
I love the dimension of this print. The way the shadows create an almost three dimensional effect.
This attempt excited me, so I gathered some plant pieces and created an arrangement on another piece of treated paper.
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This created an interesting result, but I found that the lightweight plants blow when I put them outside…there were pieces of lavender on the lower left…and they left a faint impression when they blew away.
Then I grabbed a leaf branch from a tree in my backyard and created an arrangement with the beach glass as the grounding.
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I like the way the beach glass produced an interesting effect when placed in the sun. I tried another one today…and won’t subject you to the results. Playing around with this printing technique is tricky. Objects that are too dense or too thick create big light splotches that are less interesting and pleasing than those that have opacity or cast interesting shadows that create dimension.
I have only a few pieces of treated paper left…but my son tells me it is easy and relatively cheap to create my own. I’ve had fun playing with this technique and created some interesting pieces. I think the shell study is my current favorite…although I do like this early piece I did with some dandelions and other weeds from the yard.
I like that I have been playing enough that others are giving me encouragement and opportunity to play more. And I know that taking time to play is good for me, good for my family, and good for my students. I’ve noticed that lots of my play is about making…making photos, circuits, art, movies. And I’m looking forward to some more play and making when the CLMOOC begins again on Friday. So maybe this post is a preview of another summer of making…and playing with others through social media and connected learning. Will you join us and do some of your own connecting, making and playing?
Beach Rooms
As I’m sure you have noticed, I take lots of beach walks. And since I take lots of photos on those walks, in order to keep from taking the same pictures over and over again, I have to be ready to find a new focus each time I go.
I saw the new Daily Post weekly photo challenge last night…room. And as I headed for the beach, I started to think about what room would mean on the beach. My first thought was that the beach offers lots of room to breathe. While that is true, once I arrived, I saw a variety of rooms on the beach.
As I headed down toward the shore, I noticed the lifeguard stand. This particular one had been put away during the winter, but is back out now…complete with a lifeguard. This is definitely a room for the lifeguard and he was making himself comfortable as he watched all the people on the beach.
Heading down the beach, I started to notice the spaces that people who live on the bluffs above have built right above sand level. It is clear that they see the beach as an extension of their home and have gone to elaborate lengths to create some comfortable rooms and spaces to keep their beach gear.
Notice the beach stones used to build the lower wall on this one!
Not long after, we came across a group of people with surfboards who had built this teepee-like structure from reeds that grow nearby. They seemed to be gathered to honor one of their own. The women gathered in beach chairs and the men with their surfboards, clutched flowers as they readied themselves to enter the waves. It is a common ritual to gather on surfboards in the ocean to pay tribute to a fellow surfer…a memorial at sea, choreographed by the friends of the one who has died.
As we continued our walk this maze of stairways caught my eye. Unlike the ones I saw earlier, these seemed to emerge from rooms far above on the bluffs rather than near the shore.
And some rooms are more temporary in nature. I love this room…a fort made from a boogie board and beach towels. A perfect place to hide away from the sun and easy to pick up and go…either into the waves or to head back home.
The beach is filled with rooms. Some have roofs and no walls, providing shade without privacy, while others are almost tents, blocking wind and offering shade–and a great place to read!
As we got ready to leave, I couldn’t help noticing the sign behind the room-less showers…of course the full sign read bathrooms, but I couldn’t resist taking this photo!
I love the beach for the room it offers to breathe and to think, the cool frothy waves and briny sea air seem to soothe worries and offer space in an otherwise full life. But today, I also noticed all the other rooms at the beach…for shelter, privacy, ritual, storage, and service. I’m reminded that rooms serve many purposes and come in endless varieties. And now I’m wondering…what unexpected places have you found room(s)?
Weekly Photo Challenge: In Flight
Do you speak in images? Enjoy taking photos to document your experiences or just to express what you notice in the world? Love to share them with others? Welcome to the weekly photo challenge! I post a new challenge each week…check in regularly and join the fun!
As I think about possible photo prompts, I try to think about the variety of images that might be possible with the particular prompt. I like to think about “out of the box” interpretations as well as those that might be expected. So this week as I considered pictures I might include along with the prompt, I was thinking about the relationship between a photo of a hang glider, a bee, some geese, and a balloon rocket…and they all seemed to suggest something along the line of in flight.
The most literal is the hang glider I couldn’t resist following with my camera while walking on the beach on Sunday. We were down at La Jolla Shores, not far from the glider port, and could see gliders in the distance. One came over the bluffs and got quite close…and here is a shot.
And I was recently in Ohio where I saw many things that are different from the things I see in San Diego. One example is this family of geese walking across the parking lot. They are clearly not in flight…but seeing them creates images in my head of that magnificent “V” of geese in flight, most often seen by me in movies and picture books.
And school is still in session in my district. This week we were out in the garden, enjoying the abundance growing in our Scrumptious Schoolyard. There were birds, butterflies and bees diving in and out of the blossoms taking care of the business of pollination.
For the last few weeks our students have been busy with balloon rockets in the science lab. They developed hypotheses, created launch procedures and data tables, and then tested their theories as they flew their rockets across the room. It wasn’t easy catching these rockets in action. Here’s one in flight.
I couldn’t resist this final photo of one of my favorite photo subjects: dandelions. I love this version of a dandelion with most of its seeds blown away. For me it suggests that the fluffy, wisps of seed pods are in flight…heading toward a place where they will take root and proliferate, maybe even in a sidewalk crack. I love the tenacity and strength of the dandelion!
So this week’s challenge is to find subjects that are in flight. Those flights might be the literal leaving of the ground of an airplane or bird or the fanciful flights of imagination and whimsy. Maybe your photo is grounded…but suggests flight (like my geese). As always, you are the one who gets to decide what counts as in flight…so have fun, and take to the air!
You can post your photo alone or along with some words: commentary, a story, a poem…maybe even a song! I love to study the photographs that others’ take and think about how I can use a technique, an angle, or their inspiration to try something new in my own photography. (I love a great mentor text…or mentor photo, in this case!)
I share my photography and writing on social media. You can find me on Instagram and Twitter using @kd0602. If you share your photos and writing on social media too, please let me know so I can follow and see what you are doing. To help our Weekly Photo community find each other, use the hashtag #inflight for this week and include @nwpianthology in your post.
So let your imagination and your camera lens take flight! I can’t wait to see what you find.
Garden Magic
This is the time of the school year when schedules become unscheduled, students start to feel like summer has arrived (and act accordingly), and it’s also the time when the most amazing displays of learning happen.
We’re lucky to have a school garden…and even luckier to have a gardening teacher who takes our students out to the garden to plant, learn, and harvest each week. And yet unexpectedly this week our gardening teacher resigned. So we (my teaching partner and I) decided this would be an excellent time to have our students get their iPads and head out to the garden to take some photos.
It was just a week ago that I had taken the first and second graders out around the school grounds to take photos while the third graders were otherwise occupied. And as we walked the campus they framed shots of whatever caught their eyes…and many of the photos are stunning! (When they get them posted on their blogs, I’ll link you to a few!)
So with iPads in hand, our students were eager to explore the garden. They photographed strawberries and cucumbers, sunflowers and squash, bees and caterpillars. They delighted over each new find and worked to capture their discoveries in photographs. (And I couldn’t resist a few either!)
But taking pictures just wasn’t enough. So after recess (and putting the iPads safely away), we headed back to the garden with our writer’s notebooks. And that is when the true magic happened. Our students settled with their notebooks to capture their images of the garden in words…words of their choice, format of their choice, style of their choice. They sat on the ground, on the stumps, on the benches, and even on the edges of the garden beds. Some sat alone, others gathered in small clusters. And all wrote. A magical hush settled on the garden. We could hear the shush and whoosh of cars passing by and the songs of the birds that would swoop into the beds for a nibble here and there. Butterflies flitted from blossom to blossom and bees went about the business of pollinating too.
After some time writing, I got up to peek at the students writing and captured a few images of the writers in action.
After a time, we gathered back together to share a few lines from their writing and experienced the richness and variety of what it means to write under the influence of the garden. I can’t wait to see how they transform this writing into blog posts that also include their photos.
So, I’m reminded that the unscheduling of schedules can result in wonderful serendipity…and the most incredible writing! Gardens are amazing places…and our school garden is truly spectacular, filled with life and science and learning and offering students so many opportunities to interact with the natural world and get close to the foods they eat. There is really nothing like a bit of garden magic.
Thinking Through My Lens 