The job I do to pay the rent and the artistic work I present on my website represent two distinct spaces in my life, but they are not all together detached. The idea of making personal work in a school environment however, is fraught with problems. The following photograph was taken in the school I work in during my lunch break, inside a small room we refer to as ‘the quiet room’.

The above objects had been used in a lesson by two children I help to look after with a colleague and remained on the table. I have a short window in the day to sit down and have time to myself, so when the children are out playing or eating their dinner I often return to the quiet room for a moments peace.

Spring is definitely well and truly here (now it’s May).  I spotted this nesting goose on a wander this afternoon, along with a pair of nesting swans nearby.  I made sure I kept my distance, especially from her partner who was standing guard, while taking my pictures.  I’m looking forward to the opportunity to photograph their chicks in a few weeks, if they’ll let me!

Taken with my Olympus Pen EP-1.  Setting: Aperture Priority.  Aperture: f2.8; Shutter: 1/2000; ISO: 100.  Macro lens.  Cropped in iPhoto.

Window Light #6 – Bolsover Castle, November 2012

Sorry to you blokes out there as this is a rather girly post….

Yes – Pastels! Love them or hate them!  And whilst it is kind of  a ‘whirl wind’ trend from the fashion industry (think back to Louis Vuitton’s spring/summer 2012 collection), the fairy floss colour aesthetic has crept into a few interior projects that i thought were well worth blogging about.

hastings beach: 

april: 2013

Today’s picture is a direct consequence of a picture a friend* posted on Facebook for me as inspiration.  This is my attempt at her photo.  I didn’t mean to take one that’s practically the same, but this was the one that came out best!  The Starflyer in Piccadilly Gardens is not my cup of tea (being a wuss), but I do know people who have been on it, and one who would probably like to.  Craziness if you ask me.

Taken with my Olympus Pen EP-1.  Setting: Aperture Priority.  Aperture: f4.1; Shutter: 1/1250; ISO: 100.

*My friend is a cracking photographer, check out her Flickr feed.  If anyone else wants to give me ideas and inspiration, please do!!

The Trafford Centre in Manchester is a very odd place, as most malls are.  But the oddest bit is Barton Square, which houses home furnishing shops and is adjacent to the main part of the Centre – fashioned like an Italian city square (apparently), open to the air, it has a large ornate fountain of dolphins and ladies in the middle and all sorts of Roman-y statues.  As you do.

Taken with my Olympus Pen EP-1.  Setting: Aperture Priority.  Aperture: f3.9; Shutter: 1/3200; ISO: 200.

Two years ago I got this natty chap from The Linen Cat for my husband for Christmas (he’s a big fan of badgers).  He spends a lot of time sidling past books on our book cases, but we’re not sure where he’s trying to get to…

Taken with my Olympus Pen EP-1.  Setting: Aperture Priority.  Aperture: f4; Shutter: 1/8; ISO: 800.

galley hill: 

april: 2013

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Culture could be interpreted in many ways but I am using this interpretation -

“A culture is a way of life of a group of people–the behaviors, beliefs, values, and symbols that they accept, generally without thinking about them, and that are passed along by communication and imitation from one generation to the next”

My chosen subject is the way of life of a group of fisherman at a small harbour in Mallorca. Here they are mending their nets.

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I’ve been shortlisted in the Digital Lightroom Competition. 

You can see all the entries here http://thedigitallightroom.wordpress.com/2013/04/27/the-polls-are-open/  and vote if you want to

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You can see my other photos with a Mallorca tag here

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If you don’t already know my other blog 1500 Saturdays I hope you’ll pop over and take a look here 

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If you’d like to,  take a look at my Redbubble shopping page here 

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Hunter portrait

Loved doing this

galley hill:

april 2013

There is a lot that I am not happy about with this picture.  But the light was rather lovely on the buildings at the end, that I just had to take the picture and include it.

Taken with my Olympus Pen EP-1.  Setting: Aperture Priority.  Aperture: f2.8; Shutter: 1/4000; ISO: 400.  Macro lens.

The sweltering heat of July was blowing in through the open windows (non-existent air conditioning!) causing us 4 kids crammed in the back seat to stick together but it did not matter because somehow I had won the coveted position of a window seat.  I had an unimpeded view.  Happy, happy!

On our journey I remember passing by a roadside motel, with a name something like Lakeside Motel or Three Lakes Motel, and thought it funny that there was no lake in sight although there was a pool out front.  The motel was a long, 1-storey stucco building painted bright white with green roof shingles and blue painted doors.  To the side of each blue door was a very ‘mod’ looking chair in bright orange.

I have never forgotten this image – colourful yes, but it was the groovy orange chairs that I fell in love with.

Those chairs were the Solair Chair designed by Canadians, Fabio Fabiano and Michelange Panzini in 1972.   

The designers were recruited by an injected-molding plastics company, Industries Provinciales Ltée, of Quebec to produce a comfortable and stylish modern indoor/outdoor chair.  The chair was designed in one weekend!  The chair fell off the ‘design radar’ for a number of years but has recently made a big comeback.  The Solair chair is now in production and distribution by Industries Emile Lachance Ltée

I recently came across these chairs for sale in a rainbow of colours at The Hudson Bay Company  in downtown Toronto. 

A feeling of nostalgia came over me especially when I realized that my childhood memory is now an iconic piece of Canadian design.  (The chair, not my memory!)

These chairs also reminded me of these juicy colours! 

All images via Modmissy