I know exactly what did. I love to read and read obsessively for a number of years. At some point I began to notice peoples particular styles of writing and how they used words. Along with the unfolding interest in how authors wrote, I discovered I wanted to write romantic fiction and did. I didn’t much like what I wrote. Until I discovered poetry. That changed everything. And while writing poetry, photography attracted my attention.

I scoured the Internet looking to grow, learn, and draw my shy artist out of hiding. While hunting for images and photographs to accompany my poems, I found myself thinking about what makes up an artistic photograph, and wondered what it would be like to make art with a camera.

So, I take photos and write poetry and everyday is a discovery of what I’m capable of and what I’m not. I was surprised enough when I discovered I can write poetry, even more surprised when I started to get behind the lens of my camera and produced some photos I like.

There are advantages to having two strings to my bow. If my writing is struggling, I go take some photos…simple. Writing is a deeper digging into the well of self, photography is a lighter avenue of expression. A good release if I’m tense and can’t find any worthwhile words.

Creativity is sometimes hard to access and open up inside ourselves, but so worth the effort. I can’t help myself…it’s too late to even pretend that I don’t have a desire to explore what talent I have. Whether it’s good or not, whether I have that special spark in my work or not, I have a flame inside me and the process of getting that flame to come to life in poetry or in a photo is my burning challenge.

The girls of Artist’s Retreat are partly responsible for me making art of any kind. They have always encouraged me, read what I wrote and looked at what I captured through my lens. We don’t live in each others pockets, sometimes it is weeks that we don’t make contact. But to have support of others who are living their creativity is a must for when it gets tough. And it does get tough, your muse dries up or nothing looks worth a photo anyways, some days are bent on being non-creative. That’s where like minded friends help carry you through to the next phase of expression. We complete each other – syrupy, but true. 🙂

The photos below are from a current study in my back yard, a giant Sunflower my eight year old daughter named Linda.

*Click on the Pics to see the details*

Love,

Eaton