Instructions for Life

by Kelly

Instructions for living a life.  Pay attention.  Be astonished.  Tell about it.  ~Mary Oliver

by Leigh

I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way."
~Georgia O'Keeffe

Focus on You

A lot of beautiful purple images in the Flickr gallery this week for our August Break Purple theme! But this one stood out. I love the little fuzzies on the petals and the look into the inner part of the flower. Such a gorgeous shade of purple too!  This was posted by Barbara Vautier.  Thanks so much, Barbara, for sharing your photos with us here at FOL.  Next week our focus will be on Red, so don't forget to keep posting your color photos as we continue our August Break Color weeks.

Shades of Gr..?

by Linda

hah! Caught you looking!

I bet you were thinking about that book that my daughter won't let me read! So I don't know what all the fuss is about. (fingers crossed behind back)

While you get your mind out of the gutter, (I'll wait), this is really going to be about shades of color. Specifically, green.

As a child, I was pretty much a pure color kid. I always wanted the biggest box of crayons but only used about 4. The three primary colors because the sky was BLUE, the sun was YELLOW and RED was my favorite color, and always the shortest crayon in my box. (I have since matured and moved on from red, sadly my mother did not think purple was an appropriate color to paint my room, but I doubt if she would have liked red any better) If I wanted to color grass, it was GREEN.

There was always all these "other" colors in the box with weird names. As well as lots of colors with mixed up names like blueish green and my particular thorn in my side spring green.

Spring green. What is that? I would often try to use it but it always looked too yellow. My grass looked like it was dying a slow death in the heat of summer. Who made up this color? It was terrible. But I couldn't leave it alone. I kept trying to use it on something.

Then I grew up. Suddenly a whole new world of color exploded before my eyes. Every color changed and became something close to what I remember but a completely new experience. A feast for my eyes. I felt like I must have been color blind my entire life because now, seemingly everywhere I turned, a new shade of a familiar color revealed itself!

I found spring green! And I love it! It is a yellow-green and it is much more than just a color. It has become a sign of growth and new life and hope that is spring.

I love it!

..

But purple is still my favorite color.

..

It's Not Easy Being Green

by Dotti

My intentions were to post about some photography related subject today but the more I thought about our monthly theme, colors of the season, the more I heard it calling my name. Don’t you just love this theme? I know I do!

You see, I’m a color person. There aren’t many colors I just don’t like and in my photography, I find it very hard to desaturate the color in my photos or to make them black and white. I love color that pops off my computer screen or off the paper. Yes, color lights my world.

And Spring, well, Spring makes my pulse beat a little faster – I love seeing the earth come alive again with her colors. As I looked around me at all the fresh, new green growth in our landscape, I kept thinking about Kermit. Yes – that Kermit, Kermit the Frog.

*It's not that easy being green;

Having to spend each day the color of the leaves.
When I think it could be nicer being red, or yellow or gold-
or something much more colorful like that.

It's not easy being green.

It seems you blend in with so many other ordinary things.
And people tend to pass you over 'cause you're not standing out like flashy sparkles in the water-
or stars in the sky.

But green's the color of Spring.

And green can be cool and friendly-like.
And green can be big like the ocean, or important like a mountain, or tall like a tree.

When green is all there is to be

It could make you wonder why, but why wonder? Why Wonder, I am green and it'll do fine, it's beautiful!
And I think it's what I want to be.

So – what about you? Does the Spring color make your heart beat a little faster? Is your camera your new best friend again? As you immerse yourself in the awakening of Spring, don’t overlook the color green. This time of year it’s brilliant in its own, understated but ever so beautiful way. And you might just find yourself humming, “It’s not easy being green …”

*Lyrics: Joe Raposo

A Walk Around the Lake

by Kelly

Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around the lake. ~Wallace Stevens

Pink

by Leigh

Some interesting tidbits about the color pink.

• In 1947, fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli introduced the color "hot pink" to western fashion.  She dubbed the shade "Shocking Pink", though today the color is more well known as magenta.  
• First Lady, Mamie Eisenhower, who loved and wore pink so much it became known as "Mamie Pink".
• Pink encourages friendliness while discouraging aggression and ill-will.
• Since the color pink is said to have a tranquilizing effect, sports teams sometimes use pink to paint the locker room used by opposing teams.
• Some studies of the color pink suggest that male weightlifters seem to lose strength in pink rooms, while women weightlifters tend to become stronger around the color.
• Pastries taste better when they come out of pink boxes or served on pink plates (it only works with sweets).
• Pink makes us crave sugar.

Read more 

Beauty All Around

by Terri

There is beauty all around us.  We just have to keep our eyes open in order to see it.

Next week, we will be focusing on Hot Pink.  Can't wait to see your bright and beautiful images in the Flickr gallery!

Focus on You::Blue Edition

Doesn't this photo just make you want to play hookie and go find a pool somewhere?  You can thank our longtime FOL friend, Susan Bolton, for this heavenly image.  Hoping that you can find some pool time in your future!

Happy Wednesday!

The Gift of Paying Attention

by Kelly

Survival lies in sanity, and sanity lies in paying attention...

the capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention.  ~ Julia Cameron

Focus on Phoneograpy

Thank you all so much for continuing to share images with us.  So many vibrant red shots flooding our photostream.  Here is just a small sampling of the wonderful art that you've shared with us this week.

@mellissakraft @hill_em_nick @javavenus

@marl1een @saurand @junemakessix 

@sunnybarb @timelesscourt @jessemixer 

Next week the color is yellow!  Can't wait to see all the happy images!

My Courageous No

by Kelly

I hope that you are soaking up every last, blessed drop of summer.  For me, time away from the computer has been just what the doctor ordered. There is a part of me that is a little fearful to be away for so long - fear of missing out, fear of being forgotten about in the noisy world of the interwebs.  But I can feel my creativity renewing...It has certainly been worth the risk.

Thank you for continuing to play along with our weekly color challenges.  This week the color is turquoise and we look forward to seeing your beautiful images in the Flickr pool.

Until next time,

Kelly

I Am Seeing Red....

by Deanna

When I think of all the colors in the rainbow plus all the other derivatives of those colors I have to say that RED always calls to me.  When I peruse at all the photos I take (and I do take literally 1,000's, thank goodness for digital) RED seems to be the pre-dominate color.

 I like red in the winter-time on the berries topped with snow....

And what would we do without red at Christmastime...

And red is especially nice in February for Valentine's....

 And then there are the red tulips that find their way into my kitchen in the springtime....

I like this one so much I am having a canvas print made to hang on the wall in my kitchen...

 Red candy is certainly delicious...especially when the insides are made of chocolate!!!

And red cherries in the summer...oh yes!!

Red apples in the fall....

And ofcourse I cannot leave out red barns....sigh, these are always pure bliss to me when I come across a red barn....especially ones with hearts...

and angels...

The hummingbird moth is attracted to the red flowers in my garden..

And ofcourse there is the quintessential red geranium in the summertime...

My love of red carries over to the decor on the porch....

And even our local band that performs every Thursday evening in the Park loves red....note the color of their shirts.  

Admit it...red is a color that most of us are attracted to in all seasons of the year.  What color do you find that you are attracted to the most?  

Happy Yellows

by Deanna

If any of you follow my personal blog, Snippets from Springdale, you know that this has been a pretty tough couple of weeks for me.....finding out that my sweetie's current Memory Care Facility could no longer care for him in his decline, searching for a new facility, making the decision and finally moving him today has been REALLY stressful.  So to regain some happiness and put back the sunshine in my life, I decided to focus on a "happy" color...YELLOW.

No one can deny that yellow is one of the happiest colors in our rainbow and with that theme in mind I set out to capture some of the Yellows of Summer.

The bees of summer....

A lovely summertime bouquet filled with lots of yellow....

Those sweet Rainier Cherries....

Yellow sunflowers...screams summertime & happiness.

And my Black Eyed Susans speak volumes.....

And ofcourse the Daylily....this one not only is a brilliant yellow but it has an aroma like perfume....

Summertime tables set with yellow lemons...

And yellow hair moppets.....

All combined bring back the sunshine into my life.....

Sure hope my yellows brought you some happiness.  What color or colors help you when you are "blue"?  We'd love to hear what some of your favorite summertime colors are.