Month: March 2013

Drafts to Save

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TAKING FLIGHT
An osprey, with white underbelly and ragged wings,
builds his nest atop Chesapeake waters
He perches, surveying the shoreline,
leaving when warmth calls

I wonder how the black-capped chickadee
takes on cold, surviving in its boldness
He struts and flits, shaking off winter’s freeze,
finding satisfaction in the staying
A GIFT INDEED
You strut to the door, puffed and proud
Full  mouth of your feathered friend
Its eyes wide, not a blink
I scream, leaping to my feet
Feathers fly around
your precious, surprised face
Escape.
The world is not always what we wish.

Water, Water, Everywhere

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My design skills are limited to the rule of three, sending white space to the outside, and the eye line rule. Years ago, I used Pagemaker to help students design school newspapers (relying on their design skills as mine are nonexistent). Then I learned HTML and began creating web pages with Dreamweaver. I added Photoshop to my bag of tricks, though I still struggled.

When I started blogging and using wordpress, I didn’t need much HTML. Pages on my Mac came with templates. And even photos needed little work to use online.Somewhere along the way, I stopped designing much of anything.This year, I’ve had to create small ads for my writing studio for our local newspaper, and without a program, I’ve limited myself to text in a white box. Exciting.

Today I tried to create a flier to advertise a new class I’ll be offering, and I realized I have nothing on my computer to help me do that. I used a template but wasn’t able to change the background or move photos around. Grrrr.

Oh, the headline to this post? As I sat here working, I realized I have 5 paintings of different river views in my room–one oil, three acrylics, and one water color. Each has its own perspective for design and color, all beautiful.

I think it may be time to invest in some learning again.