Matthew Laurence December Post

This post is from the 'quotes' sketchbook from Jo McIlroy. This a a favorite quote used during celebrations. Enjoy!

Life really is delicious

Enough said.

Outliers at our house are the NORMAL ones.

Lego mini figs are a big deal at our house.  But I'm not sure why. We get really excited about recognizable characters such as Cowgirls or Mummies, but within minutes they seem to mutate into decapitated unrecognizable aliens.  Pristine mini figs in their unaltered factory state are the true outliers in our house, and they are usually only found in forgotten dark corners or under couch cushions.  

a positive spin

a positive spin

Sandy's theme, "The Hamster Wheel of Life", got me thinking. I first thought about life in general and where we all end up. Then I remembered some really great photos I took at an old country cemetery. But this thinking was a bit negative, so I started thinking about the literal hamster wheel of life. When do we actually ride wheels? I remembered this photo I took at Santa Monica Pier in California. After showing Sandy my art for her book, she said it's the antithesis of the hamster wheel of life...another way to look at things. I googled hamster wheel and found this:

When life's melancholies and loss get to us, we need a spin on a ferris wheel. Hence the title, "a positive spin".

I turned this photo into a faux painting in Photoshop with the Oil Painting tool.

Thinking of Home

Rock Falls Post Office, Illinois

This is a photograph of the post office in my hometown. The nicest people work here. They have known me since I first moved to Japan and my mom started sending me care packages. Since then, they have followed me around the world and back home again.  They are always friendly and helpful. They always give me a smile despite my asking them to weigh everything and give me every option for mailing it. :)  B delivers mail to my mother's house. She is the kind of person who bakes us muffins when times are tough and delivers packages to my mom's door because she can't walk out to the mailbox. Whenever I visit other post offices, I remember why I appreciate the people at the Rock Falls Post Office so much. When I am there, I am reminded that I am at home.

Kelly's theme is "I'm really not wasting time." One way that I like to waste time is by going through the endless number of photos on my computer and picking some to edit. Lately, it seems, I never make time to do that though. Thanks Kelly for giving me a reason to play. I took this photo this summer when I was at home. It is actually five photos of the same thing at different exposures. I used HDR Pro Photoshop to combine the images into one HDR (high dynamic range) image.

Prague CZ

This week I was inspired by Patrick's book, In the Distance, to go back to special place that we both have in common, Prague.  Sifting through our photos with Lisa and Isabelle, we relived those special years, and it made me wonder why don't we do this more often. In trying to capture this in artistic form, I used a fun online tool called shape collage. Thanks, Patrick, for inadvertently nudging us to remember those important moments in the distant past that helped define us who we are today.

Perspective on Singapore

Photography is the art form I'm most comfortable with and that's what I used for Scott's book on Perspective. Living in Singapore sometimes overwhelms me with the numbers of people and lack of space. I make sure to find another perspective on Singapore by looking for the green, open spaces when I need to feel space. So, I took a bike ride from Woodlands to Ang Mo Kio Bishan Park and captured these scenes. (I have to admit that Doug helped me post process the photos to get the vibrant colors that you see.)