at the beach >> looking down

as much as I look up when I walk around towns and cities I also look down at the beach , not just to avoid the (dog mess), have to say I have in recent years that is much less of a problem than it used to be.
you see the most amazing things. this was just one day in late winter at a beach very near where I live in cornwall.

the last of the winter storms had brought up a lot of kelp as well as man-made stuff.
as is clear much of the material is harmful and will take years to breakdown.
I do like the way the colours work but feel guilty for it.

any way I thought I would share the pictures.
for more information about what can be done to help with keeping our beaches clean
check some of these links.

http://www.sas.org.uk/pr/
http://www.surfrider.org
http://www.mcga.gov.uk/
http://www.satobsys.co.uk/CSeas/

too texty >> more images >> surf sites

I have realised the last few blogs have become a bit 'wordy' I don't mean in a precocious way just too much text to get a real feel perhaps?

on the back of some lengthy email conversations I had today with the deputy editor of a soon to be launched extreme sports/lifestyle cornwall based magazine. surfing and surf literature, writing have been foremost in my thoughts. further still I have to think a bit about a surf related proposal on offer?

until then I thought a much better way to end the day was to give you a brief tour around some good surf related websites, using and containing some great images as well as good writing. check their websites for more.

from left to right surfgirl, a1surf, kneeboard surfing uk, and bottom kneeboard surfing usa.

sky >> I like big sky >> art?

I have always been interested in the weather especilly the effect it has on the sky and the sea. tonight we had a really excellent sky I watched too long and actually forgot to take pictures, well until it was a bit late but still you get the idea from the images posted. the one on the right is taken standing on my front door step.
it is such a shame I am often so disappointed when I search for good landscape/skyscape pictures across world of digital land to use in project with my students. so many the web sites you come across tend to be too text happy and if not just want to sell you an art print!

art print I am really unhappy with that term it is almost suggesting that the photo prints they art selling are art just because they are pretty. tell you what a simple look through any number of flickr accounts (of supposed amateurs) will show you more 'art' and a some (most) of them you can download and use for free, obviously following creative commons rules.
I like creative commons I know on this blog I withold the use of my work for others to make money from I think that is fair enough, however on my flickr I will happily allow (use as long as it is credited) to make as much money as they can.

I had to post this last image (sunday afternoon on the A30 near bodmin) just because I love the neat arrangement of safety cones, but it is an image it isn't art is it?

special note: I do realise that art is a definition I am not really feel qualified to make. having never considered my self an artist I do feel qualified to make judgment on what I see, and think about what I am looking at.

going a bit botanical >> sunlight

it was nice to come home to find amongst the bank statements and my orange mobile bill a brown envelope containing a copy of 'digital diversity' a catalogue published for the exhibition of 'digital botanical illustrations' by niki simpson in collaboration with peter barnes at the botanishches museum berlin-dahlem, berlin.

it was sent to me by davidthedesigner, of celsuis (thanks david) as I was one of 5 winners of his great friday givaway competition last week. david mentioned when I contacted him earlier in the week that my interest in flowers was blossoming! (I think he must be correct) a coincidence perhaps? but before I went into my house to collect the post this afternoon, I spent a good 40 minutes taking the photos that accompany this blog.

I was scrambling around in the front garden because the sun was shining across the plants. I spent most of the time lying on the wet muddy grass desperately trying to get the right amount of sunlight to shine through to show the greenness of the different plants (it was good fun!).
as I mentioned before I have never really been that interested in flowers and never referenced them in any design work previously but I can't seem to get enough of them at the moment, well as far as images and photos anyway.
I must be getting in touch with my flowery / green / botanical side!

photography >> surfing

I am going to make this a short post returning to a passion that I have. I must have taken hundreds and hundreds of pictures of the ocean and surfing and the beach. I never can quite capture the
way it was.

rob machado

joe curren

as with most things there are people who provide inspiration perhaps aspiration but whatever the reason I just like their work for no other than because I do.

paul kennedy

it is not the just technical quality of the photos/imagery but the feeling they project. some day I will be able to capture it but until then I will (as is so often said) 'just keep looking'.

late again >> dress it up >> coffee >> colour

I have been giving myself a deadline to get this blog finished by 12 o'clock midnight each day as I have my surf forecast site to do and other work stuff as well. I am writing this is for Thursday so I missed it once again, hey just checked the clock and I made it.
nice day if a bit long, no real work done whatsoever another day in the city (with ben and carol). as you can see I have not been using a real camera just the mobile. do you believe the quality is in the photographer or the photographer and the camera? I think I need all the help I can get so I will try to use a better camera when ever possible. I have been looking up and walking slowly as usual and noticing that is matters so much how things are dressed up. maybe it's country wide I am not a McDonald's fan but the branding / I-D for one of the branches has changed / changing it's not my area if specialty so I might be way out of date. I think it is still selling the same stuff, I didn't go in but it looks nice especially the chairs. Starbucks has a better image and is a comfortable environment very soft sofas even space to work sometimes, sells fair trade coffee and usually my coffee stop of choice. however today I took a risk and tried a different (coffee) cafe. not somewhere I would like to think to be aimed at people like me but I found out the coffee was really very good indeed, can you guess the cafe just from the colours outside (the last picture) hardly difficult but still. after so many years of looking (up) at colours shapes and stuff, working in the industry, even currently teaching business and enterprise trying to get students interested in the importance of colour in selling an image, product or service is not easy. unless you are one of us many people don't seem to realise or care what is happening to them every day.

nice day but

I had such good things planned for today, we went to the beach had sometime playing in the sand even contemplated going for a surf (surf was a bit small). I had even decided on a kind of design theme to show you. I documented the day with a new camera I have been testing for work since Friday, but you have guessed it the camera has gone wrong so all the pictures are waiting to be retrieved and all I can show you is one taken on my phone!

memories of art school came back as fresh as ever after reading the Cow Gum story on davidthedesigners blog. some 27 years have passed since leaving as a fresh faced rather unrealistic designer but something like that on david's blog happily brought it back.

I hardly ever promote music but I was contacted by the reels and have to say I am happy to put up a link to them as I think they are worth it, 'Emergency' is my current favourite.

not designing / thinking / looking enough

just a short one today I have been a bit busy with other stuff but still I seem to be getting drawn in to looking at surf sites and surfers and photographers blogs only to then trace back who is designing the stuff I am drawn to and like, I always think if I like a lot then I am not designing / looking / thinking enough. do you know that is probably true. all the same I do have to mention these people clark-studios as I just like what they do and it is very different to the minimalist stuff I am usually so drawn to.