It’s been a while since my last post. We’ve had a mild winter with just enough snow to ski out the back door most of the days during the last six weeks.
Over the last month, our dog has treed a mountain lion at night several times on our property. Last week my husband was out skiing along an irrigation ditch where we ski almost everyday and saw a mother mountain lion and her maybe two year old cub leap across the water. In the forty years I’ve lived here on this land in Northwest Montana we’ve known the mountain lions are around, from occasional tracks and sightings, but this winter’s activity is more than usual. I think about them moving around as I move around in this place we share.
A couple days ago I was out skiing and took a few shots of ice patterns and forms. I like the lines, angles and contrast in this ice. Paying attention to what I like visually is a process of collecting. I don’t have to know why I like something as I am letting that information soak into me for exploration but I do have to pay attention. Sometimes it can take years before I have any idea where an image might be taking me or how it influences my work.
I like the highlighted angular shapes in this ice. The water in this part of the ditch had less movement because of small beaver dam.
The water in this part of the ditch was in a less shaded place so there was more water flow. I like the wild bright light and lines in the ice above. It has a kind of shimmering exuberance. I played with editing the image to focus on the elements that engage me.
This last image of ice was at a bend in the irrigation ditch. It carries some of the energy of the moving water as it navigated that curve and froze. I am always looking for ways to catch a sense of movement within stillness.
