Sunday, December 21, 2014

Your Holiday Guide

If the amount of dire warnings and special offers from my inbox is any indication, the Great Day of Gift Giving is nearly upon us.

Some of you are behind the eight ball. You’ve postponed your shopping safari for the creative individual in your life and now little sweat beads are beginning to form on your upper lip when you realize you have no idea what to do.

Take a deep breath, I’m here to help.

The following is my handy dandy idea gift list for those of you who have loved ones who construct, discover and imagine.

Sadly for you, Handsome Husband is already taken. He’s one of a kind, sorry ‘bout that.

Otherwise, consider offering -

A quiet space to work. It doesn’t have to have 12 foot ceilings or north windows - although that would be really awesome. A space all ones own, even if it's just a comfy chair, is important.



Time; time to ponder, time to wonder, time to put down in whatever medium they choose the results of that wondering and pondering. Time to grow.

A self-cleaning work space. (Oooh, I wanna get me one a those. Maybe next year.)

Acceptance. Of them, of their field, of their output. 

An ear. No, not like Van Gogh. I was thinking more in terms of listening. We creative types need to vent, mostly in a way that lets the fears and frustrations and delights and victories and annoyances out. Notice I didn’t add ‘advice’ to that. Ears open, mouth shut.

Toss in a few open-ended questions. Something like; how do you feel about that? Tell me about…, or how does that..?.


Exhibits. Go! Spend time looking with your sweetie. Use a few of those open ended-questions to find out what they find interesting. 

Pick one, two, or all of the above. Wrap them in ribbons and a hug. You'r welcome.


Sunday, December 7, 2014

The Nebraska Project

If you've never been to Nebraska, you really need to see this.

If you live in Nebraska, you really need to see this.  
©Patricia Scarborough Loup River oil

Seriously, it is good enough to snag the attention of the Washington Post Photo Editor Nicole Crowder.

I recently had the great pleasure of meeting photographer Bill Frakes and his partner in Straw Hat Visuals, Laura Heald. They were traveling headlong through the state, creating and collecting images and conversations of what the uninformed call ‘fly-over country’.

©Patricia Scarborough Turkey Creek pastel
  
The result of their travels is The Nebraska Project, a collection of exquisite photographs and videos showcasing the people, rolling hills and endless skies of this place.

They see the Nebraska I see. They see the shadows, the rhythms, and textures, and I am reminded again of how lucky I am to live here.  They also see the people of this state for who we are; deeply thoughtful, hilarious, well-read, quirky, and really, really interesting. Pretty darned good looking too. Actually, we're alot like people everywhere.

As serendipity would have it, they ended up at my house one very foggy morning in the middle of their trip. I wrote about it toward the end of October.  You can see the final result in the segment titled Makers.

©Patricia Scarborough  Morning Song  oil
So go see what Bill and Laura saw. Listen in on the stories and lives of those of us who live in the center of the world.