How One Looks at Dryer Lint

Last week I emptied the dryer at my son and DIL’s. Thought I’d help out, fold a load.

When I cleaned out the lint trap, I found a tri-layered catch of fresh dryer lint. The striation helped out by the load of new white towels.

I put the dryer lint on the counter above the garbage and saw the face of a sock monkey.

“Erika”, I said, “let me save the dryer lint and show the kids in the morning, It’s striped and looks like a sock monkey.”

Hmmmm. I decided to take a pic on the phone instead and throw it in the trash cause I didn’t think she was seeing the face and she hadn’t been to the dryer lint art show at the Duds ‘N Suds Laundromat on Centre Ave here in Pittsburgh, a few years ago. I took some friends and it was a memorable and quirky event. The laundromat had that detergent, steamy scent. The people and scenes were all made from none other than DRYER LINT! You know how different loads offer different colors, frequently gray but sometimes a lovely hue, depending on the clothes or sheets.

My DIL had no idea there was a National Lint Project and that artist Cheryl Capezutti creates art from such a catch. You can go to her website and see her creations.

What I should have done is send the batch of lint to the artist Cheryl Capezutti and she could have created a winged creature or a tiny figure. She finds art in the everyday.

My lint screen here at home in Pittsburgh isn’t as interesting a shape, either. Erika’s is a half moon and mine is a flat, broad screen.

Weekly Photo Challenge: The Sign Says

When I went to look in my files for signage, I wasn’t surprised to find a ton of them.

I know I’m attracted to writing and the reading of it.

This week’s challenge arrived in my inbox Friday May 31st and I am wondering how it is going to be June in a few minutes. Last day of school is June 17th.

Little Italy

The Strip District Pittsburgh PA Penguins Hockey

Sign by Ghost Bicycle

Adjectives Illustrated- But Which Ones?

Today I read an ________________________(noun) about creating a self-assignment for your photography.

It made me _________________________(verb) about what I might like to try to photograph.

Then I ____________________________(verb) at what I’d already photographed.

(Chose a word – like Mad Libs ™ (Did you know Mad Libs™ was created in 1958?)

I was looking for images to go with the ____________ (adj) Strawberry I photographed on the _____________(adj. )porch this afternoon- it seemed to have a __________________(adj. )mouth.

I added the ________________________ (adj.) eyes and ears.

Adjective defined by Merriam-Webster : a word belonging to one of the major form classes in any of numerous languages and typically serving as a modifier of a noun to denote a quality of the thing named, to indicate its quantity or extent, or to specify a thing as distinct from something else

and the Writing Centre University of Ottawa has an accessible definition and examples (not that you need them but I was refreshing my grammar knowledge)

An adjective modifies a noun or a pronoun by describing, identifying, or quantifying words. An adjective usually precedes the noun or the pronoun which it modifies.

In the following examples, the highlighted words are adjectives:

The truck-shaped balloon floated over the treetops.

Mrs. Morrison papered her kitchen walls with hideous wall paper.

The small boat foundered on the wine dark sea.

The coal mines are dark and dank.

Many stores have already begun to play irritating Christmasmusic.

A battered music box sat on the mahogany sideboard.

The back room was filled with large, yellow rain boots.

____________________________________________________(adjective) Strawberry face

____________________________________________________(adjective) Stanchions in the elevator when we took down the student art show

____________________________________________________(adjective) Origami on the school steps

______________________________________________________(adj.) sign in Millvale

_____________________________________(adjective) masking tape dispenser in an art room

_____________________________________(adjective) sign

_______________________________________________________________(adj) night light from Divertido

_______________________________________________(adj) iPad fireplace

Sock Monkey in camo sleeping bag _____________________________________(adjective)

A garden gnome for my Daughter-in-law’s garden (just kidding, Erika!) ____________________________________________(adj.)

There might be descriptors for several that are interchangeable. I am restraining myself from writing a list of adjectives to choose from.

Thanks for playing MadLibs™. Hope you will write an adjective for any image(s) you wish.

Bob Rumba- Ventriloquist, Comedian, Balloon Artist and All Around Funny Guy

His card states COMIC GENIUS*

and the asterisk below statement says *Genius Available by Appointment Only.

When Steve and I were downtown at the Gallery Crawl a couple of weeks ago, we were walking in front of the new Arcade Comedy Theater. Kristy was out front distributing info and invited us in. I told her my daughter Laura was taking an improv class in Columbus.

Free beer! Hmmm. Steve thought that sounded good. There was improv going on in the theatre. Lots of good energy in the place.

We promised to return another time when we didn’t have to be somewhere.

We were on our way home but with the free beer and the man in the window motioning for us to come in, too, what else could we do?Just a few minutes.

Turns out it was Bob Rumba, All Around Funny Guy.

Women outside the Arcade Comedy Theater

Anna and Her Sock Monkey Photo Shoot

Anna set up the sock monkey clan in the family room and photographed them. The most cooperative subjects you would wish for. A couple sock monkeys must have been hiding but collecting four grandchildren’s monkeys is the challenging part. Trying to get the real family for a group shot is much more difficulty. I get a kick out of the kids trying out their photography skills. Anna(9) photographed this one with the iPad. Thanks Anna for the guest blog.

Guess How Many Jelly Beans in a Glass Quart Jar

I counted them.

One person guessed just two under the exact total. The jar was theirs. If you guess without going over, I’ll send Jelly Beans to the one closest. I think you could google the question but that wouldn’t be fun. The contents are the tiny jelly beans.

Lots of people don’t even like to eat them but they’re colorful and at this time of year, plentiful. There are all sorts of flavors, too Not just the fruit, spice or pectin. Did you ever put one in your mouth and guess what color it was?

Scroll down to see a simple jelly bean art design I made to photograph.

All things Jelly Bean today is inspired by fellow blogger Inside the MInd of Isadora and her post Create More Love where she showed a Kina Grannis music video with Jelly Bean Stop Action for the entire video using 288,000 jelly beans. And if you want to know more about the History of the Jelly Bean click here

And if that isn’t enough, head on over to the Jelly Belly Art Gallery and see Mona Lisa or the Girl With the Pearl Earring or Marilyn Monroe or Elvis created entirely wtth- you guessed it- JELLY BEANS. Did you know there was Jelly Bean Art before today? I just found out last week.

I’ll post the number of Jelly Beans in tomorrow’s post.

We’ll see who comes closest without going over the number!

Watching the Box in a Box*

Here are two views of the grandchildren watching”the box” while sitting in a box. A portion of one was in the Lost in the Details yesterday.

Thanks to a wonderful fellow blogger, S – Another Day in Paradise – who wrote this comment on yesterday’s Weekly Photo Challenge and inspired today’s post. ( she is originally from England, now South Africa and Florida)

*“Wonderful selection of photos, Ruth. I absolutely love the “Watching TV in a box.” In England, the TV is often called “The box,” so you could have titled it “Watching the box in a box.”

Continue reading “Watching the Box in a Box*” →

Inspired by Christopher Boffoli Miniature Food Work

When I saw photographer, Christopher Boffoli’s work, I thought that this was something we could do in the digital photo classroom. He has really perfected the art in this department of miniature food scenes. And we tried to recreate one of his ideas at school. The miniatures are so appealing.

Only problem is 6 mini HO scale figures run almost 14 bucks at Esther’s Hobby Shop so that makes it pricey. They’re fragile too but oh so fun.

The Oreos were on sale at Giant Eagle. But they don’t last, either. I took in beans and rice and we had some Cheerios but it just wasn’t feasible for more than 120 students to get satisfactory results.

This is one of my practice shots. The students liked the little figures. I had some larger plastic dogs that they photographed, too.

Thanks Mr. Boffoli for the cool inspiration. It isn’t that easy to do it as successfully as you’ve done.

I’d photographed a model railroad mother hanging out the wash before but not the whole scene with props.

Be sure to check out his picture show at this link cause his creativity and imagination is endless.

What People Do in Their Car on the Way to Work

I’ve seen women brush on mascara at a red light, adjust the rearview mirror, apply lipstick.

Lots of coffee drinking. Dancing. Singing.

Cereal eating. Bagel noshing. People talk on the phone.

Guess who found this shot last summer? That’s right. On the way to swim practice.

Granddaughter Anna (9). Remember her photograph of the pickup truck full of mannequin legs?

“Look! That guy’s brushing his teeth!”

(An electric/battery toothbrush!) You just wonder where he would spit!

I had the camera in my bag and got it out as quick as I could. My daughter-in-law was driving so that was good.

This is the shot I was able to get as we passed. He was getting ready to exit.

A Pick-Up Truck Bed Filled with Legs on a Snowy Highway

Guest blogger again today. The blog has been a family effort as of late. I’ve been out here for ten days and going back home New Year’s Day.

Today”s guest blogger is none other than my nine year old granddaughter Anna who shot this scene with her mom’s cell phone from a moving car.

She saw this pick-up truck on the way to swim practice. What I love is that she saw it, got her mom’s camera on the phone going and captured the shot and THEN she texted it to me saying “I just blogged for you”. People write to me and tell me they see something and think, ahh Ruth would photograph this. People have called or emailed suggestions of things to consider photographing for the blog. If I had seen this truck filled with a pile of fake legs in the back

And then there are these moments of serendipity.

I asked her where she thought the truck was going

Her reply “Probably a dummy store.”

Anna has shown me photos before to be on the blog but I said We’ll know when it is right! Today it is perfect.