197 / pelican

At the beach one day, very few people around

this pelican & I met

we looked in each other's eyes for what seemed a long time

then he shook his head in a wonderfully funny way

& flew away

196 / sand

I used to live closer to a long beach that's open to the Pacific,

& nearly every day when I walked there

it would be quite different, according to tides,

wind etc

as with every other subject, I've many photos

probably a metaphor there somewhere...

Best wishes for 2015

~ may all beings be happy ~

195 / thinking of Mexico

a few more from Mexico - 

a stream in Chiapas

the front door (maybe the original?) 

of the Posada Carmina, in San Miguel

& a church window, probably in Morelia 

194 / walls

Some walls in San Cristobal de las Casas

gave me such pleasure ~ live paintings

I hope everything hasn't been 'fixed up'

193 / faces

My theory: the faces in landscapes

are a kind of residue of the people who have passed by

in rock terms that could mean a whole human lifetime

passed in one spot

as nothing is separate, what's before you is noticing you too

so.. when one loves a certain area, it thrives on our attention... 

that theory doesn't quite work in these places, there was 

apparently a 500 year drought 

in what is now known as the usa southwest - 

too bad that humans don't seem able to think

in extended time frames.. 

192 / travels

from my hotel in Darjeeling, a great old raj-era building 

in fairly serious need of renovation

through a doorway in Mexico, which has some wonderful

old stone architecture. (as does India, of course)

a thatched roof in Japan

& one of the superb temples in Kyoto

191 / usa

From a road trip with a friend, from New Mexico

to Canyon de Chelly 

in Arizona

though it might be Chaco Canyon,

both have such spectacular country.

Memory is becoming nomadic..

190 / past travels

Lately I've been taking short breaks from painting,

scanning old photos (from a large box full)

in an effort to get rid of some stuff

top is an Olmec head, the next three are ranching country 

south of San Cristobal de las Casas, 

during the smokey burn-off period

I was on my way to renew a visa in Guatemala

& liked the layers the smoke haze created

back in SCC - southern Mexico.

189 / a few more

a few more pages from a new photo book

who will I give it to?

everyone likes trees, no?

some more than others

many kinds of palm trees, here in Byron Bay

some from tropical places, far away

188 / photobook 2

left a grass tree spike & right stag horn ferns

top left is an Equisetum

top left I think is the new centre of a cycad

these last three

I can't name

I just like the shapes.

The book has 30 pages, but this will do..

187 / photobook 1

For several years I've been making photo books, usually after

a trip somewhere, do them online, & get them in the mail

here are some pages from the latest one,

mostly of bark & trees around Byron Bay

I probably should have defined the page edge,

too late now

They are not all eucalypts, I don't know the other names

I really like the patterns

next year the shapes will be different

& the trees larger

this is near a different beach, a mad scribble