Rocky Beach

Two of my nephews were here a few weeks ago - Caleb & Justin. I'm terrible about remembering ages but I think they’re around 3 and 5 - little fellas - and close to the ground. The reason I mention their height is because of Rocky Beach.

This is a close up of what we always called "Rocky Beach."  Can't imagine how we came up with that name.  Do you see anything fascinating there?   Well - neither do I… now.   I think you have to be really short, close to the ground so you can see it better and of course be young and open minded enough to let your imagination run wild.

Here are few other views.
 

 
There’s a beach down that way that has no rocks, just sand. And yes, we always called it “Sandy Beach.”
 
 

 
Another view. I love TVA but hate these big towers they plopped down right in the middle of this beautiful scene. So …. I usually do my magic trick and ….
 
 

 
Poof!!!! The towers are gone!
 
Back to the rocks.
 

 
 
When we were kids, Rocky Beach was where we hung out. Shoes were required, even when we swam. My sister Anne reminded me the other day that we thought if we picked up all the rocks, we would have a sandy beach.  That would have been a lot of work for two little girls.
 
 

 
My grandma lived just up the hill from Rocky Beach. Over the years we hauled several tons of rocks up to her house one bucket at a time because we were always finding fascinating rocks that looked like turtles, or bowls, or birds, or ashtrays, or that had shell patterns imprinted in them, or had holes all the way through them.  These rocks were just too unique and wonderful to leave laying around on the beach to get lost among the other rocks.
 
 

 
Justin and Caleb hauled several buckets of these fascinating rocks over to Gammie Anne’s house the other week.   I wonder where she stashes them?  I wonder what Grandma did with all those rocks we hauled to her house?

Paris Twilight

Trying something a little different here in the latest addition to my "Windows On The Square" series.  Going for sort of an old world look.  Can't decide if I like the horizontal or vertical version best. 

Paris Twilight - Horizontal

Paris Twilight - Vertical

Horizontal - vertical - can't decide.  Either way it would look great on canvas as shown here.  Buy Print. 

"Windows on the Square" is a series I started several years ago showing off my very picturesque hometown - Paris, Tennessee.

How Murphy Became Famous

If you have ever tried to take a good photograph of a black cat - you know it can be tricky. If the cat lives in a house with dark burgundy carpet - it’s even trickier. And if the cat you are trying to photograph is Murphy - it’s just almost impossible.

Over the years I have taken lots of photos of him. Most of them were horrible. He won’t sit still, the flash bounces off his eyes (looks like a devil cat), he blends into the carpet - etc. A few photos were good enough for a family photo album, but most were just horrible.

One day I caught him sitting at our storm door, staring through the glass, watching the birds. He was really into it - making that little clicking sound cats make when they are trying to convince birds that they are just another bird. “Come here little birdy. It’s safe. I’m just another bird although I know I must look like a big, fat, black cat.”

Anyway - he sat there long enough for me to get the camera and really get things set right for a good photo. This was the result.

"Birdwatching"

Not only has this become one of my best selling prints but it convinced me that I could actually take a half way decent photo of a difficult subject. Of course the photo is manipulated - that’s just what I do to create my style of art. And this art piece has really gone to Murphy’s head. He knows he famous now. You would think he had posed for the Mona Lisa!!! Such an attitude!!! Every now and then he will honor me with another decent pose

"Black Cat - Golden Eyes"

Sometimes I have to remind myself that - after all - he is just a cat.

Sunrise On Antioch Road

This is how my backyard looked this morning at sunrise. The landscape takes a dip behind those trees and on some mornings it gets this foggy look with the sun shining through it.

To buy a print please visit my online art gallery shown in the top right corner of this page. 

I actually took the photo for this image several years ago and did very little to enhance it. I almost titled it “Rejoice” because that was the way this sunrise made me feel. There was nothing really special about that morning until I opened the curtains and saw this scene in my backyard.

I grabbed the camera and ran out the door. I know folks driving down Antioch Road that morning probably got a kick out of that crazy woman running around in her backyard in nothing but her nightgown while she snapped photos.

It doesn’t look this way every morning. I wish it did.