Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #47 – The Five Elements

25 maj, 20196 mars, 2020 / Leya / 38 kommentarer

Our challenge this week, hosted by Amy, is about the Chinese theory of the five elements: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. Welcome to join in!

This Theory asserts that the world changes according to the five elements’ generating or overcoming relationships. Generating and overcoming are the complementary processes — the yin and yang — of Five Element Theory.

Generating processes promote development, while overcoming processes control development. By promoting and restraining, systems are harmonized and balance is maintained.

Wood fuels fire

Fire forms earth

Earth contains metal

Metal carries water

Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #46 – Delicate

18 maj, 201923 februari, 2020 / Leya / 183 kommentarer

We have buried so much of the delicate magic of life – D.H. Lawrence

On my walks in the forest, I love everything fresh, fragile and delicate that spring brings to nature – the feeling of looking at the world for the first time. Rebirth. Renewal. The importance of a living planet Earth for our children and grandchildren to be a part of, echoes with every step.

This week, the challenge must be Delicate. To me, Spring itself reveals something of the very essence of the word – Delicate. I hope you will enjoy walking with me, meeting some spring flowers from my ramblings!

Naturally, Delicate is used in several meanings, not only concerning flowers…:

Pleasantly soft or light – like the scent of a rose…; having a thin, attractive shape – delicate hands for example…; fragile or easily damaged – like fine china…; pleasant but not easily noticed – like a delicate floral pattern on the walls…

And being ”a delicate matter” is of course another, more difficult, possibility…

So, what is Delicate to you? We are looking forward to seeing your interpretations – Let us bring back some of ”the delicate magic of life”!

When you see how fragile and delicate life can be, all else fades into the background

– Jenna Morasca

The delicacy of flowers takes different shapes – they might be tall and stately…

…or as tiny as these moss flowers, not higher than your thumb nail…

Some live in the shade on the forest floor, and some thrive in the bright sunshine…

Sometimes delicacy stands out most beautifully when placed in rough company – oh, the joy of forest apple blossoms!

As humans we are indeed, in many ways, just like flowers. So, I would like to end with a reflection from Henry David Thoreau – together with a hope that we will be more delicate in how we treat Mother Earth as well:

The finest qualities of our nature, like the bloom on fruits, can be preserved only by the most delicate handling. Yet we do not treat ourselves nor one another thus tenderly.

Thank you again, Patti, for a marvelous Street Art Challenge!

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #45 – Street Art

11 maj, 201923 februari, 2020 / Leya / 31 kommentarer

Patti’s challenge this week is all about Street Art – something I believe people in general have a special relation to. She shows us some remarkable examples of fine Street Art and asks us to send some more…so, here we go. Greetings from Poland, Sweden and Ireland.

In the header – This happy party I found in a small alley in Lodz, Poland.

Light Move Festival – Lodz

Poster – Canadian artists from famous Cirque du Soleil visiting Sweden

Mural – Blending in nicely in Lodz

Installation – Poland

Graffiti: Peace Wall – Ireland

Welcome to join in!

Create a new post on this week’s theme.
Link your post to Patti’s post ”Street Art”.
Tag your post with Lens-Artists to help us find you in the Reader. We’ve had some trouble with pingbacks, so tagging will help us find your post.
If you need more detailed instructions, click here.

Next week…

…I will be your host! Ann-Christine, Challenge #46. Wishing you an inspirational week and hope to see you then!

Lens-Artists Challenge # 44 – Harmony

4 maj, 20196 mars, 2020 / Leya / 38 kommentarer

Tina challenges us this week to think Harmony – and in her splendid post, she encourages us to show our favorite harmonies. In short, Colour Harmonies are colors that look good together. If you have ever taken classes in painting, you should be familiar with the colour wheel. There are many different systems to create a color harmony. You will find a useful, free tool, for colour harmony here.

I guess colours are always a part of what makes up our inner concept of ”Harmony”, but there are also other types of harmonies. These are some of my favorites.

Art is a harmony parallel with nature – Paul Cezanne

Antoni Gaudí’s masterpiece Sagrada Família.

Organic architecture is a philosophy of architecture which promotes harmony between human habitation and the natural world. The term ”organic architecture” was coined by Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959), and Wright’s ”Fallingwater” is a very good example – but the concept can also be illustrated with an old Nordic cottage like this one.

He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the Universe

– Marcus Aurelius

A life in harmony with nature, the love of truth and virtue, will purge the eyes to understanding her text – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony – Mahatma Gandhi

Harmony is pure love, for love is a concerto ~ Lope de Vega

Even if some will always be playing out of tune…

…it still is a Concerto.

With love from the vast tulip fields in The Netherlands.

So, How do you reach colour harmony in your picture if it isn’t there from the start?

A simple and effective way to change its mood is to shift the white balance either towards the warmer or colder temperatures. This can often also push the image towards a colour harmony. One of the simplest yet also most effective ways to further tune your colour harmony is to use the Hue, Saturation, and Luminosity (HSL) panel in Lightroom.

Or, if you were a certain fashion icon: Women think of all colors except the absence of color. I have said that black has it all. White too. Their beauty is absolute. It is the perfect harmony.

― Coco Chanel

Thank you to Amy for last week’s lovely ”Less is More” and we’d love you to join in with Tina’s ”Harmony”!

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #43 – Less is More

27 april, 201923 februari, 2020 / Leya / 47 kommentarer

Amy challenges us to think Less is More – and that, is always a challenge… In photography we often talk about simplicity, and a photo standing on its own. No need for words. Often Black and White is helping us to achieve that.

So, let us slow down…because “Life is really simple but we insist on making it complicated.” – Confucius

Less is More even when the ground is covered in spring flowers below a blue sky,

or when a lonely path strives to reach the mountain lake – because colours matter here –

The history of the phrase Less is More, is that it was adopted in 1947 by architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohem. Since then, the aphorism is one of the most used (and abused) in design and architecture.

Originally though, this is a 19th century proverbial phrase, first found in print in Andrea del Sarto, 1855, a poem by Robert Browning. And it still is a phrase very much alive!

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” – Leonardo da Vinci

Thank you for all your innovative and creative contributions to my hosted challenge Creativity last week!

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #42 – Creativity

20 april, 20196 mars, 2020 / Leya / 152 kommentarer

Creativity is the use of imagination or original ideas to create something new or somehow valuable – inventiveness. The created item may be an idea, a scientific theory, or even a joke; or a physical object, maybe a new invention, a literary work – or a painting. Being creative is a very valuable asset today – and has always been. That is, when creativity is used in a positive way.

I believe for many of us, being creative is a way to relax from our ordinary jobs (of course your job is creative in its own way too) and also to develop our minds as well as the use of our hands.

Snapshot of my son’s desk – (he is a graphic designer, and the wall quote is by Einstein)

Maybe the creative space most used today is at the computer in our own room? Or maybe not? This week’s challenge is all about Creativity – hobbies, crafts, creative spaces at home or places you have visited – show us your creative post…unlimited!

Last week I was fortunate enough to visit Keukenhof in the Netherlands, and the annual Flower Parade (Bloemencorso in Dutch). This is a glorious feast brimming with beautiful colors and delicious flowers. Twenty huge floats and thirty lavishly decorated cars follow a 42 kilometer route from Noordwijk to Haarlem.

Millions of flowers and the creative work of hundreds of volunteers make this most amazing flower parade possible. And, hundreds of thousands of visitors from Holland and abroad are drawn to the colorful flower spectacle every year. Let’s have a look at something of the brilliant Dutch creativity!

Some floats were so big, that they were divided into two – like this one.

The impressive Phoenix

When we visited Keukenhof in the 90’s we missed out on the parade, so this year, we decided to go to Noordwijk early in the morning to see the flower creations from up close.

It was a very cold morning, with temperatures below zero – So, to save the flowers, all floats and cars had to stay inside before the parade started.

This float was the winning equipage – But there were also very modern themes – creativity unlimited!

And how about driving your car from an Easter egg?

Thank you for joining in the fun, and while we are looking forward to seeing your creativity flow – we wish you all

Happy Easter Holidays !

Thank you, Patti for your simply Delicious challenge last week!

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #41 – Delicious

16 april, 2019 / Leya / 41 kommentarer

This week Patti has chosen to challenge us with Delicious, which means having a very pleasant taste or smell, or it can be used to describe a situation or activity that gives you great pleasure.

Few tasty things give me more pleasure than the first semla/fastlagsbulle of the year! These were temptingly standing in a window in Umeå some months ago. I can tell you they did not stand there for long…

Last week I was in The Netherlands, at Keukenhof, for the the biggest flower show in the world. Holland, or The Netherlands, is the magical land of tulips and hyacinths.

The gardens and fields were filled with the most delicious scent, colours and shapes. I was in a state of euforia for 7 hours – the visit was a total dream. I had not been to this flower show since somewhere in the 90’s.

Interested in joining the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge? I guess you too have some delicious experiences to show us! For instructions and more information click here.

Lens – Artists Challenge #40 – Something Different

7 april, 20196 mars, 2020 / Leya / 37 kommentarer

Our host this week is Tina. She asks us for… Something Different. I give you – my Magnolia tree in April.

I must have flowers, always, and always.

– Claude Monet

Magnolia is a large genus of about 210 flowering plant species of the family Magnoliaceae. It is named after French botanist Pierre Magnol.

The name Magnolia first appeared in 1703, for a flowering tree from the island of Martinique. Magnolias are native to both Asia and the Americas.

Magnolias symbolized dignity and nobility. In ancient China, magnolias were thought to be the perfect symbols of womanly beauty and gentleness.

Magnolia is a very ancient genus, appearing before bees did. It is believed that the flowers have evolved to encourage pollination by beetles.

The Magnolia flowers last only for a couple of days – but what magnificent days!

Thank you, Tina, for another lovely challenge!

Lens-Artists Weekly Challenge #39 – Hello April!

31 mars, 201921 februari, 2020 / Leya / 24 kommentarer

A gush of bird-song, a patter of dew,

a cloud, and a rainbow’s warning,

Suddenly sunshine and perfect blue –

— An April day in the morning.

– Harriet Prescott Spofford

April hath put a spirit of youth in everything.

William Shakespeare

So, with a young spirit’s illustration of William Wordworth’s lovely daffodils’ poem, I say Hello April from Sweden!

Thank you, Amy, for a lovely April morning!

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #38 – Weathered or Worn

23 mars, 201921 februari, 2020 / Leya / 171 kommentarer

Are you one of those who love things weathered or worn? I am. I love driftwood, old houses, old furniture, toys, the grey cottages up north – things with patina. Clothes with a story – leather jackets, jeans. And people? Only your fantasy sets the limit!

This week’s challenge is Weathered and/or Worn.

The other day I was driving along the familiar road between my home and Malmoe, and as usual passed the old Distillery. Every time I wonder why I do not take the time to stop the car and walk up to the old historic buildings…This time, I finally decided to return the next day – with my camera. And I was not disappointed. As usual, click to enlarge.

These are the weathered remains of one of the oldest Swedish distilleries – Sösdala Distillery, built 1860. The same year that Vladivostok was founded and Abraham Lincoln was elected president.

And most important for this distillery, home distillation of alcohol was forbidden in Sweden.

History in short says, that in 1766 the Swedish king, Adolf Frederick, decided to abolish all alcohol restrictions. This led to virtually every household making and selling alcohol. At the beginning of the 1800s, the Swedish people were drinking a lot of alcohol, from 175,000 distillers (most of them for household-production only), using tremendous amounts of grain and potatoes that otherwise would have been consumed as food, and it was later said that most men in Sweden abused alcohol. Women rarely drank alcohol, since it was considered inappropriate.

In 1830, the first moderate drinking society was started in Stockholm. A few decades later, the first fully-fledged temperence organisation was formed, and in 1850, alcohol began to be regulated by the state. Sösdala distillery was shut down in 1950.

It was forbidden to go inside, but I walked over the open space and up to the old buildings. Some of them weathered and some worn down to dilapidation. But all of them blending in with the surroundings, and being slowly and beautifully reclaimed by nature. The stillness in the air, the soft song of birds and the calls from cranes flying north this spring morning – made this a walk of harmony.

Welcome to the challenge! – We are so looking forward to seeing your inspirational photos and thoughts! Also, Be sure to tag your post with Lens-Artists so that others can find you in the Reader.

Before you go – We say thank you to all contributors of interesting ”history lessons”, and to Patti for hosting the History challenge.

Have an inspiring week!