Door Knocker, Florence, Italy

Does anyone remember when Senator Clinton was running for the democratic nomination? How it was insinuated that women would vote for her just because she was a woman – damn her policies, positions, etc. And women were up in arms because we’re not that dumb; we do have functioning brains.

Then along comes Sarah Palin. An inexperienced governor from Alaska with a knocked up 17 year old who has taken over the news for the past week or two. What on earth would make a man choose such a person as a running mate? Possibly angling for the women’s vote? Doesn’t that mean the Republicans are insinuating that women will vote any woman into office – the thing we were up in arms about to begin with when the press portrayed our support for Hillary in the same manner?

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Observances by Courtney

Ponte Vecchio, Florence

I had one of the most wonderful, most eye-opening experiences about a week ago. As many of you know I sell my work on Etsy – a great place to find handmade work by artists & crafters (if you didn’t know that, you should pop on over to my shop and check it out). CBDImagination – another Etsy shop owner – messaged me to tell me how much she loved the picture posted above, that it brought back many memories for her.

I do love this photo, the way the light pours out of the windows and reflects on the rainy streets. The life that is portrayed down the street, the person in the red jacket who pulls your eye down there.

But as much life as I see in my pictures, I sometimes can’t shake the art school feeling. “It’s just a pretty picture,” they would say, “… it has no meaning, no depth, no insight into something greater.” Like everything you have to make as an artist has to make that big, political statement. It has to generate some controversy. And, somehow, any work that doesn’t do that, isn’t as good.

So, CBD, she made me realize that a pretty picture can be more than a pretty picture. Photographs, just like music, just like a scent, can bring back waves of memories for a person. That’s how I feel every time I look at one of my photos – and often how I feel when I look at the work I own from other artists. Photography is documentation of a moment, a particular point in time. And just because something is beautiful, mainstream, doesn’t make it any less worthy of the term “art” for some people.

To each their own – their own feelings, their own memories, their own opinions.

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Life Changing Moments, My Art, not just a picture, Observances by Courtney

Santa Francesca Romana

Gray is a color that comforts me. The moment I slip into a gray t-shirt, sweatshirt, or sweater, I’m just so damn comfortable and I get the warm and fuzzies.

I’m slowly learning it’s not just being wrapped in gray – just the color cues my mind to fall into this feeling. My breathing gets a little deeper, my mind stops racing quite so much. I’m comfortable and chill.

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Observances by Courtney

A couple of weeks ago I came home from work and everything was hazy. It was actually rather beautiful although it was an odd, surreal feeling.

I know the picture isn’t purple haze, more yellow, like that eerie color the sky gets before a really bad thunderstorm. I didn’t get a picture of the purple haze – it was off to the left for a short time period.

I know the fires are destructive and the air I was breathing was really bad for me, but it was beautiful that night.

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Observances by Courtney

I find it funny that some people don’t realize how much I love music – even I miss that about myself occasionally. It has the power to lift me up out of my blues, or sink me farther into them, depending on the mood I’m in when I hit that play button.

I’m not sure if there’s anything better than driving down the road, windows rolled down on a sunny day, listening to something that makes you want to move. Move your head, tap your toes, dance with your fingers, wiggle your booo-tay.

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Day in the Life, Music, Observances by Courtney