My first thoughts, after wondering why I was up so early on a Saturday, were about telling a story. Who am I as a photographer? What is the story I’m trying to tell?

I feel so inadequate for the journey that I’m on….so ill-equipped to proceed forward, but I must.

So now…I drink coffee…keep browsing, and being inspired by, Flickr and I think about the space ahead.

1. Art is made by a human being.
2. Art is created to have an impact, to change someone else.
3. Art is a gift. You can sell the souvenir, the canvas, the recording… but the idea itself is free, and the generosity is a critical part of making art.

By my definition, most art has nothing to do with oil paint or marble. Art is what we’re doing when we do our best work.

from Seth Godin

So the challenge this week is using textures….on a portrait.  I’ve been experimenting with textures for a while, mainly on stills…not too much on portraits.  Because I had all three kids by myself for the last four days I haven’t had a lot of time to shoot…..but I did find the time to shoot a few self-portraits.

It’s taken a few weeks since we returned from Morocco to shake the “fog”.  Although happy to see family and friends I had a hard time focusing….I felt totally disconnected.  This past week clarity has started to return along with a sense of rest.  I had no idea how tired I was and laying low for the last few weeks have done wonders for my body and soul.  I feel refocused….and the dreams and ideas are starting to flow again.  Can’t wait to see what comes of them….

For more images using textures check out I Heart Faces.

This is from the first photo shoot I did for anyone besides my own family.  They were great, wanted something not so traditional and willing to let me try different poses.  Living in Africa has limited the number of portrait shoots I could do…so I’m super excited about having the Spring in the US to beef up my portfolio.  I’ve already got several shoots scheduled for Feb and March.

Check out “I heart faces” for other family shots.

It’s been a busy, but fun few days in the US.  The great thing about being here is that we’re surrounded by our favorite things.  We’ve seen both of our families over the last few days and we’ve eaten more than our share of favorite foods….with more to be enjoyed in the coming days.  In addition to processed foods such as Cheez-its and granola bars we missed simple things like blueberries.  These are a few of my favorite things….

The movers have come…everything went with them. We’ve said countless goodbyes…with a few more to come. The bags are packed…passports are ready. Tomorrow we leave Africa to come back to the US for a few months. So this is my last post from Africa….can’t wait to be back next week…from the US.

Bon Voyage!

movement—we’re in the middle of it right now.  We’ve moved out of the house, discontinued all of the utilities said some goodbyes and we’re now just a few days away from moving from Africa back to the US (for a few months at least).