A Year in Photos - see you in 'Oh-Twelve'

I leave for Vancouver en route to Taipei in a few hours, and knowing that we'll be busy gorging ourselves on random fried and skewered mystery meats for the next 3 weeks, I thought I'd send out a year end closing note to you all a few days early. Wishing you all the best through this holiday season, and remember to spend some time thinking of those who are less fortunate than us.

And as a wrap up for the year, here's a mosaic of some of the stuff I photographed over the past 12 months.


Previous annual mosaics: 2010 | 2009

See you in 'Oh-Twelve'.

_the Galactic Empire of the art store universe_

I've been spending a great deal of time at Michael's (the arts and crafts store) lately. While I know they're the Galactic Empire of the art store universe, I can't justify paying 2x the prices at local art stores for supplies I will only use to make some crap art. So there we were again, 50% off couponing at Michael's, when I picked up a set of 12 tubes of watercolours for $3.66. I haven't played with watercolours in almost 10 years, and my clear lack of understanding of how to use them is evident in the piece below. But while it was a lesson in frustration last night, I did also enjoy the whole learning process.


I particularly like the subtle use of colour in her skin and lips, but do wish I could erase or at least lighten the dark blue shadows immediately next to her face.

_lost in a fog of photographic indifference_

Saturday morning. Check. Snow. Check. Sipping from the well of endless and unrelenting mediocrity. Check and check. I've been lost in a fog of photographic indifference and creative apathy for the past few weeks, unsure of how to escape, and unclear of what I want when I escape. So when we land in Taipei in a couple of weeks, I am going to strap my camera firmly to my face, and photograph the shit out of everything in sight... there's no better cure for a flatlining inspiration funk than exotic food, loud sounds and glimmering lights of a 7 million strong metropolitan area 6000 miles away.

In the meantime, we'll continue to muddle through the onset of winter (thankfully punctuated by the occasional fleeting scene of beauty despite the bleak cold and darkness)...



Taken off the front step of our house with the D300 and Voigtlander 58mm f/1.4. A couple of berries cling stubbornly to otherwise bare branches of the foliage.

Smoke Break

Quick sketch done at home, while watching the intermission of the Oilers game. Don't smoke, it's gross.



Charcoal Pencil, blending stump.