The Magical Time Before Twilight

The Magical Time Before Twilight  - Image c Lynda Lehmann

With the approach of twilight, mystery shrouds the forest and the islands that dot a pristine Maine lake.  Day is not quite finished with her light play on the lake surface.  But night will move in with moonlight, twinkling stars in the ink black sky, and capricious winds playing in new rhythms over the water.  

With each soft puff of sweet lake breeze, my heart fills and quickens.  I am replete.

Note: You can click on each photo to see a larger version. All images and text on this blog are copyrighted material, and may be used only with written permission, except where syndication rights have been granted. All other rights reserved. Please visit my sites listed in my sidebar if you would like to see my paintings and more of my photography and digital art, or make a purchase. You can also find cool, artsy gifts at my Zazzle shops!

Curious Crew

Curious Crew - Image c 2010 Lynda Lehmann

A herd of friendly cows out to pasture on a Maine farm, is curious at the presence of passersby.  I got such a kick out of the way they made their way across the field in an orderly cue, and then turned their heads in unison to look at the camera-toting woman on the road.  They struck me as very gentle, curious and sweet, and I think they would have sauntered all the way over to say hello, if it weren't for the electrified fence enclosing their pasture.  By the way they hang together, one can surmise that they must be very social animals.
I remember seeing some calves turned out to pasture one year, on a different farm.  They were playful and exuberant, like children finally busting out of class on a gorgeous afternoon.  Not to cast them with human traits, but to me their innocence seemed very real and palpable. 
It's at times like this when I question how it is that we can eat meat!  I'm not a vegetarian but the idea of consuming these gentle creatures does not sit well with me.
I shot this image in September but when I saw it in my files today, I wanted to share it with you. 

All images and text on this blog are copyrighted material, and may be used only with written permission by the author/artist, except where syndication rights have been granted. All other rights reserved. Please visit my primary art site at http://www.lehmann.myexpose.com/gallery if you would like to see my paintings and more of my photography and digital art!

Signs of Autumn

Bounty - Image c Lynda Lehmann

The frost is not yet on the pumpkin, but the gourd harvest tells us fall has arrived and makes us feel just a bit festive in anticipation of the holidays. But I'm grateful for nature's incredible variety and bounty, twelve months of the year, and try to always be mindful of it.

View from Goldenrod Hill - Image c Lynda Lehmann

The ferns and grasses are fading in color, drying up and dying back, while goldenrod still holds her head high enough to bring on allergies to ragweed.

Eye of the Sunflower - Image c Lynda Lehmann

This sunflower seems to be peering coyly out from behind her leaves.

Garden on Beach Rocks - Image c 2010 Lynda Lehmann

Vegetation along beaches, fences, and hedgerows, and in fields and meadows has paled, though its remaining color is still a feast for the eye.

Eye of the Sunflower - Image c Lynda Lehmann

This sunflower has lost many of her petals, but she's still commanding and magnificent in the early autumn light.

Looking Beyond the Hill - Image c 2010 Lynda Lehmann

Panoramas of the hills and mountains across an expanse of our Earth are always an inspiration, reminding us that nature's diversity is a precious gift and that it is, after all, Earth who sustains us.  To forget that is a slow, collective suicide.  Let's all celebrate the blessings bestowed upon us in the form of earth, sky, and water, and plants and animals of every ilk.  And by the miracle of birth and Life itself, in all cultures and races of humankind on Earth.

What do you see around you in autumn that makes you feel most inspired and grateful?

ON A PERSONAL NOTE:  I am struggling to maintain some regularity with my art and stock photography, and to find time to get back into the painting process.  As I said in my last post, I will be blogging a little less but I'll certainly NOT forget to visit you and keep in touch!  And, egad, I've just had several HOURS of trouble with the formatting in this post.  I hope I've finally got it!  Is anyone else having trouble with formatting, lately?

All images and text on this blog are copyrighted material, and may be used only with written permission by the author/artist, except where syndication rights have been granted. All other rights reserved. Please visit my primary art site www.lyndalehmann.com if you would like to see my paintings and more of my photography and digital art.

The Luck of the Seagull

The Culprit - Lynda Lehmann c 2010

Lunch Frenzy - Lynda Lehmann c 2010

Wharf Scene - Lynda Lehmann c 2010

A Gull's Position - Lynda Lehmann c 2010

Outside the Fish Market - Lynda Lehmann c 2010

Bike Dock - Lynda Lehmann c 2010

Back at the Dock - Lynda Lehmann c 2010

We visited Portland the other day, since I had to deliver some new photos to a gallery there. Afterwards, we had a lovely lunch at DiMillo's floating restaurant, housed on a

huge ship that was originally a car ferry running between New Castel, Delaware and Pennsville, New Jersey. We

gazed at the boats in the harbor while enjoying delicious lobster club-sandwiches.

Afterwards, we decided to explore the wharf area adjacent to Congress Street. We turned a corner just a few blocks past the restaurant and came into a narrow thoroughfare that bordered the fish market area. We were fascinated by the trappings of an industry that has lasted since America began and brave new towns sprang up all over the Northeast. Old docks and walkways, colorful old buildings that bear the markings of age and exposure to coastal Maine weather: crusty and salty with worn, rusted, scarred and tattered surfaces in a variety of old materials. It was an interesting scene, and I was excited to be surrounded by vintage architecture and time-etched surfaces.

It was mid-afternoon on the first steamy day of a May hot spell, and a couple of lobster boats were just coming in with their catch. All around, the seagulls were in an uproar. Their excited cries nearly drowned out the steady, deep hum of the diesel engines. I've never seen so many swarming, screeching, flapping, swooping, fluttering, and diving creatures anywhere. The mayhem was not without a dimension of aggressive behavior, as they competed for morsels of available fish.

I was raptly photographing those graceful white birds, whose wings by the hundreds, fanned the warm, salty air. I stood at what I thought was safe distance. After shooting about 30 images, I had cocked my head to look through my camera at a new angle. Suddenly a shadow passed over my head. I heard the approach of fluttering wings and felt a rush of wind, then the sensation of cool liquid oozing into my left ear. He had let one go! And by that I don't mean a clam shell or a morsel of lobster meat. He had POOPED on me! Not ON but directly IN to my left ear!

Had it hit the outside of my ear, the fleshy part called the "pinna," I could have dealt with it better. But the idea of that oozy detritus sliding towards my ear canal, did NOT make my day.

On the way back to the car, I joked with a couple of people we met along the dock about my surprise gift from a seagull. Apparently they were fishermen, because they showed no great surprise at the event and even chuckled at my consternation. Two of them went so far as to say "When a seagull _ _ _ _ s in your ear, it's means good luck!"

"Yeah, sure," I muttered under my breath. "Maybe with an albatross...."

I was immensely grateful for the hand wipes we had in the car, and I cleaned my ear the best I could. So far I've suffered no ill effects.

I'm sure I'll survive, but I could have done without that added sensory dimension to my harbor experience.

The regal bird you see in the top photo may have been the culprit. One moment I was fixated on his dignified stance on the wood piling, and the next thing I knew, he'd given me more than a photo op. I'm grateful that it happened after lunch!

NOTE: For my last couple of posts, it seems as if unwanted code has been insinuating itself into my text. Has anyone else been having that problem with Blogger this week or last?

All images and text c Lynda Lehmann. If you would like to view more of my art or make a purchase, please visit Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography, where my other sites are listed, as well.

Birch Over Water

Birch Over Water - c Lynda Lehmann

Serenity is where we look for it.

A white birch with fresh spring leaves, reflected in a Maine river, offers a moment's tranquility.

Image and text c Lynda Lehmann. If you would like to view more of my art or make a purchase, please visit Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography or my gallery at Imagekind, where you can choose from several sizes and paper types or buy my prints plain or matted and framed.

Envisioning a Web of Light

Web of Light - Image c Lynda Lehmann

Today was gray--a raw, damp, winter day. The solid stripes of snow slathered on the north sides of all the trees we saw along the roads we drove, had not yet melted or been blown off the bark by the wind. The dirty but otherwise undisturbed snow-cover gave the landscape a formidable look, reduced to a blatant, cold contrast of black and white. It was a day bereft of color and warmth. Snow and ice-sheathed and chilly, without a trace of color to behold in sky or forest, without the generous wafting scents or caressing breezes of spring.

Old Man Winter really is a stingy curmudgeon! I had to close my eyes to find an image that was warm and inviting, and I remembered summer days spent dangling ankles in river water and staring into endless reams of light thrown upon the lake by the nurturing sun. I came home and had to upload this image, to remind us all that warmer, more gentle and affirming days are on their way....

Impressionistic images like this are among my favorites. I could spend hours or days filling my "cup of beauty" with the shimmering patterns of sunlight on water and the pebbles underneath.

Image and text copyright Lynda Lehmann. All rights reserved.

If you would like to view my art or make a purchase, please visit Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography or my gallery at Imagekind, where you can choose from several sizes and paper types or buy my prints plain or matted and framed.

Country Dreams

Grazing - Image c Lynda Lehmann 2009

Country Dreams - Image c Lynda Lehmann 2009

I was enchanted by these idyllic scenes of a pasture in autumn, with grazing cows and horses. It was such a peaceful and dreamlike scene, with the muted colors of a somewhat hazy fall day. Here are a couple of my favorite shots, among many taken during a couple of short outings in the past month.

The animals look so contented that it's easy to forget they are being raised for commerce. I know the demands of the food chain are an indisputable reality, but I feel an empathy with animals who overall, perhaps, have less control over their fates than we humans do. Or do you think that's a subject for debate?

Regardless, the natural beauty of rural areas does not disguise the fact that life is a struggle. That's why I think it's important to have empathy for every living being. We can't deny the realities of the food chain, but we can strive for harmony and intelligent living. We can also count our blessings....

Speaking of contented animals, here is a chipmunk who made multiple appearances on a tree stump in our yard. He seemed to be as happy to watch me as I was to watch him. Every time I snapped a shot and the flash fired, he disappeared under a weed-covered rock, only to appear again for another pose, a few seconds later!

Chippie Takes a Pose - Image c Lynda Lehmann 2009

You can click on the photos to see a larger version, or visit my sites, listed in the right sidebar, to see more images.

All images and text copyright Lynda Lehmann. All rights reserved.

If you would like to view my art or make a purchase, please visit Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography or my gallery at Imagekind, where you can choose from several sizes and paper types or buy my prints plain or matted and framed.

The Real Magic

The Real Magic - c Lynda Lehmann 2009

Autumn is a magical time of year. In the state of Maine as in many other places, nature is going through its Rites of Passage by changing its behaviors, forms and patterns in advance of the coming winter. The paradox is that as it passes into dormancy, rest, or even hibernation, concentrating its resources in order to burst with new life in the spring, it seems to be at its most beautiful. In the time of transition the phenomenal sights are fleeting, but linger long enough to inspire us with anticipation of more life experience and joy, in the future.

Please click on the image to see a larger version. All text and image c Lynda Lehmann 2009. All rights reserved.

If you would like to view my art or make a purchase, please visit Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography or my gallery at Imagekind, where you can choose from several sizes and paper types or buy my prints plain or matted and framed.

Reflections on Summer's Passing

A Still and Solitary Time

Water Tapestry

Beneath the Surface

Sunset With Wake

Peace

autumn lays a cold hand on the lake
as its shores slip into evening shadows.
twilight's reminiscences bring joy and sorrow to bear.

under a painted sky i envision the freezing of the lake and the winter gale.

loneliness is in the air, in that settling autumn hush,
as seeking shelter becomes the point of it all.

another season of my life has passed
but in the sureness of beauty, I am comforted.

in the peace over the chilling land, i am replete.

- Lynda Lehmann c 2009



All photos and text copyright Lynda Lehmann. All rights reserved.

If you would like to view my art or make a purchase, please visit Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography or my gallery at Imagekind, where you can choose from several sizes and paper types or buy my prints plain or matted and framed.

Serene Lake Scenes, Seen from the Shallows

Glory

Heading Out

Pointing West

Preening Loon and Mate

Reflections of Heaven

Where A Tree Grows

Heads Up

Tendrils

Emerging Lilies

A Whisper and A Prayer

Emerald Grasses

Cove

Yesterday we worked until 4:30. It was time to call it a day, a bit earlier than usual. We needed a break so we took our small aluminum boat out. It's well-suited to shallow waters, and easier to handle than a canoe, when encumbered with a camera and bag.

We headed into the fresh-water marsh at the near end of the lake, and here are a few photos of the delightful sights we saw. I didn't get a good shot of the new beaver lodge--last year's is abandoned--but I'll post it when I get one.

As you can see, the most elegant and luminous golden grasses sparkled in the sparkling water, while emerging, fresh (as yet uneaten by beetles) lily pads with unfurling scalloped edges floated in the sun. In the photo above, what you see sprinkled in the water around the lilies, is pollen. Pollen was everywhere, in staggering amounts, washed into long necklace-like strands that coated plant life, boulders, and fallen snags. It seemed a fitting counterpoint to the ice lines etched on the flanks of rocks protruding from the water.

The globes of yellow lily flowers poked their heads above the water's surface like little echoes of the golden sun.

A large turtle basked on a sunken log, and he stayed still as we cut the engine to float nearer to him. When finally I made the mistake of moving my leg over an oar--we always take oars in case the engine fails--he disappeared.

We saw a Baltimore Oriole singing on a bush, seemingly a song of joy. Unfortunately my shots of the Oriole are blurry, so I left them out.

At the far end of the marsh we cut the engine again and sat transfixed and awed by the symphony of bull frog and peeper calls that echoed out of the shallows, filling the world and transforming it with sound, as the gentle breeze rocked the boat and caressed our cheeks.

Shadows of clouds in the water made an alluring parallel universe of ripples and reflections.

I just wanted to convey some of the splendor and pouring forth of new life that we were able to partake of. It's not easy to get quality shots from a moving (and rocking) 17-foot boat, but I try.

Being in Maine makes me feel at peace. It's like being on another planet, a planet once lost and forgotten but forever imbued in our consciousness... All my dreams return to me and come alive when I'm here. I LOVE the deep, resilient silence of the starlit night, and the infinite shimmer and flux of the lake by daylight. And the cries of the loon....

I only wish I could share it all with you in real-time.

I wish you peace and joy on Father's Day!

All images and text c Lynda Lehmann. If you would like to view more of my art or make a purchase, please visit Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography or my gallery at Imagekind, where you can choose from several sizes and paper types or buy my prints plain or matted and framed.