Diane Jarvis-Schuller

“There are three forms of visual art: Painting is art to look at, sculpture is art you can walk around, and architecture is art you can walk through.” ~ Dan Rice

I’m enjoying going through my archive of photos. When I visit different places, it’s both the people and the architecture that strike me as the most interesting. I normally avoid the tourist traps and especially those annoying, ubiquitous souvenir shops. Whether it’s people or architecture, I appreciate the complex and carefully designed structure of things. I’d rather bring home photographs of the people and places I visit, or hand made products artisans there have created; those are souvenirs with worth. What do you appreciate most when you visit places away from home?

I was on vacation in Victoria, BC when I took these photos. I was meandering, taking in the intriguing sites and architectural details. The window is a very old building at the harbour and obviously once opened up from an active place of commerce. It’s now more decorative than functional. Numerous buildings had beautifully detailed and crafted door handles. I thought this pair of bronze keys was particularly clever. Although the building, also located on the harbour, was likely a bank it now houses a tastefully appointed fish and seafood restaurant.

I’ll be heading back to Victoria in February so was browsing through some of these images from my previous visit. It’s interesting how my vision through the lens was so varied. Many photos are of the details, some include the people, oodles of the photos are taken of boats and the water, food and street markets abound in the photos, and I forgot how many I had taken at night. It will be the same time of year when I revisit Victoria so I wonder what I will focus on, in terms of the photos I take, for this upcoming trip. Funny how we see the same things differently at different times. Funny how time seems to have actually enhanced the beauty and details of these old building features. Funny how people took the time to create beauty in the everyday details.

Time is a brisk wind, for each hour it brings something new… but who can understand and measure its sharp breath, its mystery and its design? ~Paracelsus

As promised, here’s one more image from my recent trip to Edmonton. It’s a shot of the sunrise and the other buildings reflected in the glass of the building across the street from the hotel where I stayed. Isn’t it beautiful?

[caption id="attachment_909" align="aligncenter" width="287" caption="Sunrise Reflections :: Copyright © Diane Schuller"][/caption]

I have good news. With my recent decision to spend less time on the Internet and with a renewed interest in the life that surrounds me, I’m experiencing my own sunrise of sorts. I’ve finally begun to revisit my fiction writing. It feels so good. It’s like a golden light filling that corner of my creative self. Really all I’ve done is give myself less time as a mouse-potato resulting in more time out experiencing the outdoors and real life. I highly recommend it.

I don’t plan on cutting out any of my other creative pursuits, particularly the photography. I’m just so pleased that my fiction has risen up to see the light of my days.

Remember I had mentioned at the beginning of the year I don’t do resolutions but definitely set goals? This year in my personal goals, I’ve been doing something very different: each month I have set out to learn or experience one new thing. Well I’m pleased to share that not only has that been an easy one to accomplish but (so far) I’ve been tackling more than one new thing in January and February. Unless I get sidetracked (which is entirely possible), the next post will demonstrate the results of another of my new self-taught lessons from February. (Oh yes, and I have a give-a-way coming up very soon … it’s really a pay-it-forward.)

What new thing have you taught yourself recently? Or, what new thing have you experienced recently?