Waterscapes
Copyright © Keiko Stong Artist 2010
My husband likes to travel. As our family was growing up, he took us on many trips. Back then, he was “dragging us around” to all sorts of places, doing all sorts of things; basically wearing us down until comments started slipping out:
● “Sorry, I’m all castled out.” (somewhere in Japan)
● “Daa-ad! You’ve worn our legs down to stumps.”
● “We’re going to do this for how many days?!”
● “I don’t want to see another temple.” (somewhere in Japan)
● “I’m just not into waterfalls.” (Niagara, while crossing from the US to Canada)
● “Well, it better get moving. It doesn’t seem too bullety to me.” (hot & sweaty after running, in August, in Tokyo, to catch a Shinkansen-Bullet train)
Standish Hickey Park, California
He took us hiking and even camping. Somehow, I enjoyed the hiking and camping a lot more when he did them by himself; taking a lot of photographs. It was quite enjoyable looking at the photos from the comfort of our living room sofa. We got to see the forests, streams, lakes, prairies, and mountains through which he had tramped (yes—he learned to enjoy “river-running” while serving as a camp counselor in Japan).
The vistas were expansive and soothing. The colors, whether stark browns and reds of deserts, soothing greens of forests and plains, or brilliant blues of skies and water; these spoke to me of an inner peace. I wanted to capture those feelings.
Grand Portage National Forest, Minnesota
Water in nature seems to be the perfect canvas. Its reflections vary. So much depends on the light at the instant of the photo. The surface can be a mirror like the labyrinth waterways in the Okefenokee Swamp in southern Georgia and northern Florida. Or it can be white and turbulent like the rivers in Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada and the Grand Portage State Forest in Minnesota. Or it can be both like the South Fork river in Standish Hickey park in California and the Oak Creek in Slide Rock park in Arizona.
My series of “Waterscapes” tries to capture this soothing, magical side of nature.
Keiko
Keiko Stong
E-mail: keikostong55@hotmail.com
Blog #: 10-03-013
“Art communicates emotion.”
