365 Things That Inspire Me

I also do posts for my clay group, beads-of-clay.org. Twice now, I have posted pictures that I took on walks with my dogs in a park near here, 3 Creeks. I post these as creative inspiration for my fellow artists and jewelry designers. These posts have been so well received that I decided to start a blog with daily inspiration in the form of pictures, quotes and poems. These pictures will be things from my immediate environment that I find inspirational or beautiful; textures, colors, contrasts, animals, unusual things, intriguing things. A daily dose of wonder....


"Finally brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, and of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, THINK on these things."


"Earth's crammed with heaven, and every common bush is afire with God, but only he who sees takes off his shoes."
E.B. Browning

It's all for Joy!

Sunday, October 31, 2010

October 31 2010 Spider

Happy Halloween!


October 30 2010

Consider the wisdom of optimism.

October 29 2010 More Grasses

October 28 2010 Grasses

I see these grasses a lot planted in front of ugly office buildings and warehouses to make them look more beautiful.  They are lovely plants.

October 27 2010 Fall

 I think this is the first poem I ever wrote.  I was 7.  I still remember it:

In winter it snows
In summer it shines
But I like fall best of all.
Fall is colorful
Fall is gay;
I like fall in every way.

October 26 2010 Horses



On my way to the park, there is a small farm that has horses.  I stopped to take pictures.  The horses all moved toward me until I spoke to them, then they backed off.  Slowly they came forward again.  One was very friendly and hung his head over the fence for some petting.

October 25 2010 Mexican Sage

I discovered this flower when my mom & I took a bus trip to an herb and craft show down in southern Ohio.
There was a walkway lined with these beautiful bushes.  They have long, velvety, purple spikes in the fall.  My favorite fall flower.  They are annual in OH but perennial further south.

 

October 24 2010 Turtle Pond

I'm really far behind on my blog...I'm going to try to catch up.  I forgot to take my camera to the park yesterday.  I'm meeting my friend for a walk this morning and it's looking beautiful outside, so hopefully I'll get some inspriring new pics.  This is Turtle Pond at the park where I walk the most often.

"There is a destiny which makes us brothers;
None goes his way alone:
all that we send into the lives of others comes back into our own."

 Edwin Markham

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

October 23 2010 Tree Trunk Series

My blogger has been down, and I've been unable to load pictures.  It's back...yea!  Now I have to catch up.  Here is another in my series of tree trunk photos...again, I see a face in this.   Like a Star Wars or some kind of Halloween face. That is my beautiful dog Sheenie in the background.

Friday, October 22, 2010

October 22 2010 More on Thought

"We build our fortune thought by thought
For so the universe was wrought,
Thought is another name for fate;
Choose then the destiny and wait,
For love brings love and hate brings hate."

Van Dkye

October 21 2010 Thoughts

"I hold it true that thoughts are things
Endowed with being, breath and wings;
And that we send them forth to fill
Our world with good results or ill."

Edwards

October 20 2010 Opportunity

"We all have gifts and talents to offer.  We live in a world of unlimited potential, a world of creative genius.  All that is required to succeed is to know, not just to hope, that there is plenty to go around."

Richard Carlson, PHD  Wise words for these trying times...

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Monday, October 18, 2010

October 18 2010 Red Tree

"What is the thought that is in your mind?
Is fear ever running through it?
If so, just tackle the next you find
By thinking you're going to do it."

- Edgar Guest

Sunday, October 17, 2010

October 17 2010 Clear Creek Park

Silence is the key that unlocks the vast resources of the universe.

October 16, 2010 Clear Creek Park

Beautiful southern Ohio, Clear Creek Metro Park, Hocking Hills
"Every man's life is a fairy-tale, written by God's finger."

- Anderson

October 15 2010 Hocking Hills



"The Hills are alive, with the sound of children's laughter..."
I could hear children playing down below.  What a wonderful place to raise a child!

Friday, October 15, 2010

October 14 2010 Dahlias



"To sweat the small stuff is to forget to be grateful for this precious gift of life."

Richard Carlson, PHD
My dahlias wouldn't bloom this summer, but are blooming now!
 


Nature's paintbrush:  gray to orange gray, orange, to yellow and white, lovely!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Ocober 13, 2010 Twisted Tree Trunk

Here is another in my series of fantastic tree trunks.  This one looks like a giant hand grabbed it at the top and gave it a twist.

Monday, October 11, 2010

October 11 2010 Sunrise

Good Morning, good morning!  Ok, it's Monday, but I can still be cheerful, right? 


Such a beautiful sunrise this morning, this is my view from across the street.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Ocober 10, 2010 Lop Rabbit

This rabbit was at the Groveport Apple Butter Festival yesterday; there was a small petting zoo with goats and rabbits.

This is an English Lop Earred Rabbit and the was breed was developed in England in the Victorian Era; the first time rabbits were kept as pets instead of bred for their fur and meat.
I can't imagine what those ears must feel like, but they can reach 22" long.  It is thought that in Algiers, the ears helped keep the rabbits cool.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

October 9 2010- Peace

Peace begins on our own doorsteps.  Cultivate peaceful relationships with your family, your friends, your neighbors and co-workers....that is your power to help bring about peace in our world.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

October 6 2010 Park Bench

This is the Thomas W Berry Friendship Park in Cinn.  It runs right along the Ohio River.  I thought the shape of this bench and the surrounding flora beautiful.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

October 5 2010 Totem Pole

I love the colors, artistry, and symbolism of totem poles.  This one was carved at Shillito's department store in Cincinnati, in 1959; to celebrate Alaska becoming a state.  It is on display in the Natural History and Science Museum.

Monday, October 4, 2010

October 4, 2010 Union Terminal

The Cincinnati Natural History museums are housed inside the Union Terminal, Cincinnati's old train station.
Inside is a dining space, currently an ice cream parlor, and the entire room is done in ceramic tile.  The booth spaces are divided by wonderful, colorful panels of dragonflies and flowers.  The same pattern surrounds the room near the ceiling as a border.  They don't make rooms like this anymore....



Sunday, October 3, 2010

October 3, 2010 Dinosaur Eggs

" Discovered in the Henan Province of China,  a fossilized Macroenlongatoolithus nest. The nest, perhaps the most spectacular fossil of its kind in the world, contains 26 eggs arranged in pairs, likely laid by an unknown species of oviraptorosaur, a feathered dinosaur that inhabited Asia and North America and resembled a primitive, flightless bird."  Many millions of years old....
Photo take at the Natural History and Science Museum in Cincinnati OH

October 2, 2010 Great Horned Owl

I went to Cincinnati this weekend with a friend, to walk in the Walkathon for the Foundation for the Blind.  I also wanted to go to the Natural History and Science Museum to see the giant fossilized nest of dinosaur eggs that they have on display there.

My friend's brother in law works at the Cincinnati Zoo, and he brought a great horned owl to the Walkathon.  More owl pictures...yea!  Here he is in all his beauty and splendor...

Friday, October 1, 2010

October 01, 2010 Tree Trunk Face

Here is another tree trunk that looks like a face.  I wonder what the science is behind the way a tree trunk is formed?

Sept 30, 2010 Franklin Park South

What I find inspiring about this house: the beautiful roof tiles, which even cover the porch; the long porch that is framed by the openings shaped like slices of toast, and the wild, natural look of the garden