Friday, October 12, 2007

Odds and Ends

The last few days have been dark, dreary and rainy. I actually love those kind of days, however a few in a row can really put a crimp in my ability to photograph my work. My prime photo location does depend on at least a little bit of sun and we haven't much lately. So the stack of paintings waiting to be documented will have to wait for another day at least and today I will make do with putting up a few other things.

Doug and I went with the girls to the local Pumpkinfest a couple of weeks ago. Growers from all over the area bring in their pumpkins to get them weighed. This year the winner weighed 1376 lbs! If you are truly fascinated by all of this, and who wouldn't be, haha, you can see more results here. There were also the obligatory craft tents and baked goods for sale and we saw nearly everyone we knew there. We go every year and it is always a good social event. The next day the local huge pumpkin participants hollow out their pumpkins and there is a regatta race in the lake, along with another set of crafts, activities and food booths. We skipped that this year, although it is pretty surreal to watch adults paddling around a lake in a big pumpkin.


I took some pictures of our yard (plus one gratuitous shot of Penny, our dog) and house last Sunday when we did actually have some sun. My heart bursts when I see all of this fall color, even though it is never as good in a photo as it is in real life.




And last but not least, my work has been reviewed at this blog. I am feeling a bit big headed today, as it is a very flattering review where so much more meaning is given to my work that I ever thought possible.

Have a nice weekend. We will be busy in our garden, trying to prepare it for next spring as well as for planting a few winter crops in a straw bale cold frame. Wish us luck on that. Heh. We need it.

10 comments:

Brooke said...

Great review! You should have a big head after reading that! Congrats!

Also, I am amazed by the pumpkin fest and your gorgeous yard... Penny's sweet too!

Casey Klahn said...

Great review, and I subscribed to the site. I particularly like that first image he chose, too.

Mary Klein said...

Congratulations, Tracy! That's a wonderful review!

Susan Constanse said...

Wonderful review, Tracy. Congratulations. No modesty, you deserve it; you work awfully hard.

And, umm, I want to paddle around in a giant pumpkin. It looks like a blast.

Steven LaRose said...

I thought that this sentence was what I've been trying to say all this time:
"In a way, her pieces can be compared to the first machines, which consisted of a few parts — but never failed to perform."

It never dawned on me that you might have and "unorthodox palette". . . I suppose that you do, in a familiar way.

The second paragraph could have simply read:

Tracy's paintings are anthropomorphic.

I wonder what part of the review attributed "more meaning" then you "ever thought possible?"

ps
your dog looks like brown liquid is pouring from its head and I still can't figure out why we treat leaves like litter?

Tracy Helgeson said...

Thanks Brooke and don't let Penny fool you. She recently killed two of my chickens and I am not very happy with her lately. She was trying to get back in my good graces by posing for a photo for me:)

Thanks, Casey and Mary.

Susan, it does look fun although plenty of them tip and the rower ends up in the water. Brrr!

Steven, I thought the machine analogy was good too. Which is a good example of what I meant when I said that he has applied more meaning. I don't really think about stuff like that when I paint, I am just trying to get things to "look right".

Leaves are far from litter around here. Eventually we will rake them up and they will be put to very good use in our gardens. In the meantime, I love how EVERY SQUARE INCH of our property is covered with blazing reds and oranges.

tlwest said...

OMG I love these photos!!!

Tracy Helgeson said...

Thanks, Terry!

Christine DeCamp said...

Tracy,
Congratulations on your great review! Lovely paintings. I think you should do a painting of people paddling around in a giant pumpkin! What an whacky image that would be! I love looking at your paintings & reading your blog--makes me homesick (I grew up in NW PA)
Christine http://passionfor painting.blogspot.com

Tracy Helgeson said...

Thanks Christine and good idea about the pumpkins, but I doubt I can top the silliness of the actual photos:)!