Urban Outfitters Print Shop!

Today Urban Outfitters chose one of my Polaroid prints for inclusion in their Print Shop, a partnership with Society6. I couldn't be happier. What I like about this image is, well..., it's sexy. Buttery soft cotton sheets, still warm, with the early morning sun casting deep shadows in the folds. Makes you want to crawl back in. (Who knew an unmade bed could be a potential revenue stream!)

Impossible Project PX100 Silver Shade Instant Film

Polaroid SX-70 Camera

Winter, At Last

Is it January yet? Don't get me wrong. I do love all the glitz of December, but thank god it's almost over. There's just a little champagne to sip on New Year's Eve, and then a solid month of cold and quiet.  January does have its charms. (February, not so much).

Though I can't spend it pulled up to the cook stove in this little house on the cove, I will be there in spirit.

Hot mug of strong coffee in hand. Thoughts of the year's projects chugging away in the space between my ears. Peering out the window at the snow and thinking this might be the year for snow shoes.

A blank slate of a month. Brilliant.

Sweet Relief

It's getting a little too sweet around here. Here's something to wipe the taste of sugar out of your mouth.

(Because in this season of excess, there's more sweetness coming, of course.)

Peace

Today is the first day on the Advent calendar, and around here we have gleefully begun the countdown to Christmas (never mind that we're Buddhist). Someone smarter than me observed that Christmas is a holiday by women and for women. (Of course, we're talking about the secular holiday as celebrated in these whacked 50 states.) Truer words have never been spoken.

The wisdom I take away from this observation? Take it easy.

Don't invite 40 people to brunch (oh, but we had fun - didn't we?). Don't hand-make the gift wrap (did it). Don't build a gingerbread house more beautifully fitted out than your own home (also guilty). Hell, don't even bake.

Take it easy. Play Christmas carols every day. Eat chocolate. Really listen to the people you love. The rest will take care of itself.

This holiday month I wish you peace (and quiet).

The Evening Star

Late last month, I spent a long weekend off the coast of Maine on Vinalhaven. And there I met Hesperus. Venus actually. When the ancient Greeks looked up into the night sky at the Evening Star, they named it Hesperus. Hesperus is Venus at night.

I have a real fondness for Venus. I own a little house on the other side of town (which I miss if I give it too much thought). On winter nights when I would hurry in with my little boy bundled in my arms, we always stopped on the footpath to find Venus in the night sky. She was just over the rooftop in the west. At two, he could point her out to you.

One of these winters soon, I'd like to be looking for Hesperus in the winter sky over Carver's Harbor with my boy.

Because in winter, it is quieter than quiet. And we could all do with more of that.

Chocolate

The last five boxes of this lovely (out of production) Polaroid Chocolate film that I am ever likely to possess are stored neatly in my frig. This morning was the perfect day to open the wrapper on this little box of sweetness.

And who doesn't love a little Chocolate before lunch? Warm, luscious browns and soft, buttery tones. (Too bad I don't have any of the edible variety on hand. I'm workin' up an appetite.)

Fall Color

The new house is slowly revealing its charms to me. One of my favorite is the bittersweet vine which trails up the mulberry tree in the side yard.

I've known it was thriving there through a handful of seasons, but this fall with my little boy, my cabinet of cameras and my collection of hand-knit scarves all tucked away under the eaves, this bittersweet vine has seemed to bloom there just for me.

 

I love its little burnt orange seed heads. And the way they wear their bright yellow collars, looking like they just got caught in a stiff fall breeze.

So, why the exploration in shades of grey? Hmm...  I suppose it's like a cup of black coffee after a bowl of peaches and cream.

Bumbling

As I get a little older, I am more willing to make mistakes and look goofy in broad daylight. Younger, I preferred to exude confidence and keep my mistakes hidden in the back of my closet. A few more years behind you, you know you're bluffing.

Strolling through my archives today, I found this little Polaroid gone wrong. Wrong but in an almost right kind of way.

Even though I horribly miscalculated the ambient temperature that morning and over-exposed this lovely bit of Impossible Project film, I'm happy to share my mistake. Put it right out there. Where you may perhaps find it inherently charming.

Historicism

Britt / Samurai portrait. Paris, 2011, a photo by LzoPhoto on Flickr.

Untitled, a photo by ludwigwest on Flickr.
  
A perfect medium for exploring the past.

Polaroid Week 2011. Thursday

Our garlic harvest is in. The big guy spent last evening hanging it in the garage to cure. The smell is great in that hot, dry building right now. Earthy with just a hint of garlic.

And a garlic plant has the most beautiful texture. Papery with a fringe of roots. Needless to say, a bundle of plants ended up in front of the lens for Polaroid Week (and the morning light in my bedroom window deserved a second take).

Polaroid Week 2011. Tuesday

Today was the perfect summer day.

An afternoon with my boy by the pool following a lazy morning.  Hot, yellow sunshine through the bedroom curtains and pj's until noon.

Captured with grace and elegance by Silver Shade instant film. When it's good, it's really good.

Polaroid Week 2011. Monday

It's Polaroid Week 2011 over on Flickr. Five days. Two shots a day. Fresh work. No dredging through the archives. How could you not?

Yesterday I rolled up my sleeves and gave it a go. Three types of film. Three cameras. No re-takes. 

(sometimes a little homework assignment is just the thing)