THOSE FURRY FRIENDS

OK, you have to understand where I am coming from.  We have two dogs that share our home.  They follow me around everywhere.  I get up from my chair and they are at my feet ready to follow.  I pour myself cereal in the mornings and they are at my feet waiting for that first slice of banana.  Time to check my e-mail and they are at my feet again!  Zoey will hop in my lap and Yogi will lay under the desk.  So I believe...
there is NO feeling in the world greater than hugging a furry friend and feeling that soft, warm fur!!
So when my daughter snapped this photo last night I had to post it on my blog.  They look so cute and snugly that I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this shot!
Do you notice something odd in the photo?  You can win a million dollars if you find it.  (NOT)

FIBER ARTISTS FOR HOPE

 I belong to this wonderful group of ladies which is why I wanted to participate in the 911 Show that I spoke of yesterday.

Fiber Artists for Hope

The Fiber Artists For Hope (FAH) is a group of 58 racially diverse women from all over America, ranging in age from mid 30’s to 70’s. The group formed in November of 2008 to exhibit art quilts that celebrated the election of Barack Obama, the first African-American President of the United States.

FAH’s first exhibition opened on February 9 and ran until March 5, 2009 at The King Street Gallery of The Caftriz Foundation Arts Center of Montgomery College in Silver Spring, MD, curated by artist Susan Walen and professor Mary Staley.

Many of these same artists contributed to Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi's exhibit and book, Journey of Hope: Quilts Inspired by President Barack Obama.  (my quilt is in the book)!
Within the professional genre of art quilting, most groups are homogeneous, this is the first group the artists know of that contains such a vibrant balance of races. These artists value the trust they have built with each other and are very excited to express their feelings, present their research, tell their own stories, and most importantly, support each other, once again, in another powerful exhibit about an important social issue.

The group keeps in touch and collaborates through an online group. The quilts can be seen at this link if you missed the show:

http://www.quiltart.com/obama/

RECLAIMING GROUND ZERO

This is the quilt that I made for a 911 show coming up in Chicago.  It is the ten year anniversary of that horrible day that changed the world forever!   The size of the quilt is 9"x11".  Materials used were cotton batik fabric, recycled clothing, a man's tie, printed text and seed beads.

Here is the link to the show. 

http://www.chicagofringe.org/pilsen2011_events.php#american-armistice

September 11, 2001 was a dark day in the United States of America.  The attacks changed forever the way we viewed our security and our place in the world. 
It greatly affected me by witnessing it live on television that fateful morning. My innocence was shattered in a second! But our effort to rise to the challenges of a new era has brought our country closer together and recaptured the American spirit.
I chose to include two panels of the American flag.  Its message is clear!
Red-stands for hardiness and valor
White-symbolizes purity and innocence
Blue-represents for vigilance, perseverance, and justice
This quilt is a tribute to all of the men and women who made it possible for life to move forward.  My quilt shows new buildings and new life after ten years have passed.  There are people pushing strollers down the street once again.   From ashes of destruction America will rise to meet her enemies. WE WILL NEVER FORGET and we will reclaim ground zero!

UNDERWATER FUN

We bought an underwater camera before our Carnival cruise so that we could play with it for the week.  The pictures actually came out pretty good under the water but not on top.  These photos were taken in the swimming pool on the ship.  It is salt water but you wouldn't know that unless I told you.

 I love how the water distorts the photograph.  It is very soothing to me.  We had a lot of fun together for the week.

BEING A DOG

 While we were watching the USA World cup game against Japan, Yogi Bear was looking at us each time we were jumping up and down and cheering.  He finally gave up and went to sleep!!

HOLD THAT CALL

All of these photos were taken during a trip to downtown Houston.  Everyone was caught talking on their cell phones.  Can we live without them???

CARRY IT WITH YOU ALWAYS

I am on a street photography kick right now.  I absolutely LOVE shooting this genre.  I am going to pledge right now to start carrying my camera with me EVERYWHERE from now on.  You see such interesting shots at the grocery store, on the street corner stopped at a red light, and walking the streets.  You just never know what you will find.

This week will be an interesting one so stay tuned!!

I'M LIVING ON BLUES POWER

 Lately I have gravitated towards the color blue so here is another posting of "BLUE" thoughts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuqFHc5ewlQ&playnext=1&list=PLB1C137FC5D4D29E5

 

Blues Power

by

Eric Clapton, Leon Russell

Bet you didn't think I knew how to rock 'n' roll.

Oh, I got the boogie-woogie right down in my very soul.

There ain't no need for me to be a wallflower,

'Cause now I'm living on blues power.

I knew all the time but now I'm gonna let you know:

I'm gonna keep on rocking, no matter if it's fast or slow.

Ain't gonna stop until the twenty-fifth hour,

'Cause now I'm living on blues power.

by Eric Clapton and Leon Russell

These are Dale Chihuly flowers taken in Vegas at one of the casinos.   He is such a fabulous glass artist.

COOL CALMING COLOR

Blue is the coolest color - the color of the sky, ocean, sleep, twilight and the heavens.  A pure blue is the color of inspiration, sincerity and spirituality. Blue is often the chosen color by conservative people. Blue is the calming color. Dark blue is the color of truth and moderation. Wednesday's color is blue.

 Here are some of the "BLUE" shots I have taken:

LADY LUCK'S COLOR

Orange Energy

Orange is a power color. It is one of the healing colors. It is said to increase the craving for food. It also stimulates enthusiasm and creativity. Orange means vitality with endurance. People who like orange are usually thoughtful and sincere. Lady luck's color is orange.

I took this photo of fresh flowers in Vegas at the Bellagio Hotel.

Orange is associated with the benign warmth of the sun. A dynamic color to be sure, orange offers  thoughtful control. Curiosity is a driving characteristic of orange, and with it comes exploration of new things.  I guess that is why artists like this color.

Put some orange in your life when you want:

• to spice things up when you feel time is dragging
• to become more involved in something
• to increase creativity
• relief from things becoming too serious

TILL DEATH DO US PART

Yesterday I was doing my usual morning surf on the internet and landed at the New York Times Sunday website.  What is so much fun is to read all the entries in the wedding/celebration section.  Check it out for yourself when you have time: http://www.nytimes.com/pages/fashion/weddings/index.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1307369174-hlZYs2JMgcsmGsCRZU4Log


It is a much more liberal account of all the weddings than one you would see here in Houston, Texas.  I was also told that to make their column you have to be VERY, VERY important and have LOTS and LOTS of money! Although I am not a wedding photographer I do enjoy shooting them when we are invited.  Here are just a few of my photos from my last wedding we attended in January.  My nephew Noah and Lauren were married in Austin.

WHERE HAVE I BEEN?

I can't believe that I haven't posted on my blog in so long.  Sometimes I just am so busy that I don't make the time to write a few words or pass on some really interesting links.   (S*O*R*R*Y) I have been busy taking lots of photographs and posting to my ZEE AT HIGH NOON PHOTOBLOG.  You can always check out my work there daily.  It is a 365 day blog of posting one photograph each day.  I kept up with that since 2007, if you can believe it? http://www.photoblog.com/TWOZEES/

 I had a fabulous photo shoot with a family for Easter.   Here are a few of the more 'artsy' photos that I took.

TREE FUN

Having fun with my fish-eye lens I captured this tree and played with it in Photoshop.  Do you remember this book by Shel Silverstein?  I thought it went with my posting today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TZCP6OqRlE

BUBBA

My brother passed away this past week.  He was my older brother who was known as Bubba.  I will really miss him!
 

RALPH DAVID STEKIN, JR., born in Houston, Texas, on April 29, 1950, to Betty Mae (Cohen) and Ralph Stekin, passed away on April 19, 2011. Ralph graduated from Bellaire Senior High School, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Houston Law Center. He proudly served as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force. Ralph was predeceased by his father, Ralph Stekin. He is survived by his mother and stepfather, Betty Mae and Selwyn Dante, his sisters and brothers-in-law, Susan and Dr. Ed Septimus, and Kathy and Perry Zieben, his nephews and their spouses, Dr. Joshua and Ali Septimus and Rabbi Daniel and Amanda Septimus, and by his nephews and niece, Brent Sacks, Lane Zieben, and Avery Zieben. He is also survived by his great nephews and nieces, Mia and Noah Septimus and Talia and Jonah Septimus.

PHOTOBLOG

I have been working really hard on capturing meaningful shots with my photograpy.  Finally one of them paid off.  My photo was picked for the front page of http://www.photoblog.com/.  It was quite a surprise to be chosen, too!  It was a photo of a flamingo that I took on a class photo shoot a few weeks ago.  Normally I am really into street photography because it allows us to freeze one of those moments and study all of the small dramas that were taking place. But this was taken at the zoo without any people in the shot.

ART FESTIVAL

Hundreds of Houstonians visited the 40th Annual Bayou City Art Festival March 25-27 in Memorial Park. The festival, which transforms the 1.1 mile trail of the park into a unique outdoor gallery, showcases the work of more than 300 artists from across the country.  Perry and I were two of those people counted for being there last Saturday.  Although I didn't think the art was that exceptional it did motivate me to revise my own mosaic work and apply to show there next year!  Here are a few of my photos that I took.

ZOO SHOOT

Yesterday my photography class had a field trip to the Houston Zoo.  I was taking pictures of people rather than the animals most of the time.  The genre of street photography fascinates me so much that I am constantly looking for those candid shots to capture.  I can't even remember how long it had been since I was at our zoo!  This little boy looked at my camera just at the right time!

STORY TELLER

I have been thinking a lot about my photography and where I want to take it. Currently I am taking an intermediate photography class to try and understand my camera a little better. I am learning about Photoshop, the exposure triangle, and practicing taking pictures that I normally wouldn't shoot. But I feel more like a storyteller than a photographer. I love the genre of street photography because you get to capture moments in time. Instead of words, I am using images to tell my stories. In traditional portraiture, we most often focus on the face of our subject to narrate the shot. But I like to look at the whole picture and capture the story behind the photo. Here are some images I have been taking. Hopefully you can tell where or what I was shooting.

MR. LOYD BROWN

We recently visited Montego Bay, Jamaica for a day. This is a photo of our tour guide-taxi driver named Mr. Loyd Brown. He was an interesting character that showed us around Montego Bay, Jamaica. It was an interesting day driving through the streets of the city (away from all the tourists) and shooting out the windows of the cab as we sped through the crowded town.

We had an authentic jerk chicken lunch with him at a place called The Pork Pit.

This is how they smoke their chicken. Notice how they use a roof panel to hold the meat down!

We enjoyed Jamaica's local beer.

Loyd enjoyed a grape drink that I had never heard of called "BIGGA". More pictures to follow...