civilized ku # 2982 ~ koi pond

koi pond ~ Plattsbubrgh, NY • click to embiggen

civilized ku # 2980-81 / diptych # 166 ~ Tibetan Thangka art

Tsering Phuntsok ~ Plattsburgh, NY • click to embiggen
Thangka scroll / detail ~ Plattsburgh, NY • click to embiggen
Thangka paints ~ Plattsburgh, NY • click to embiggen

As I mentioned in yesterday's entry, the wife and I had dinner - a small private affair at the home of the President of SUNY Plattsburgh (college) - with a couple notable Tibetans, most interestingly the Tibetan artist, Tsering Phuntsok. The dinner followed an exhibit of Tsering Phuntsok's art which is featured in The Festival of Tibetan Art & Culture at SUNY Plattsburgh. The exhibition is in honor of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama who celebrates his 80th birthday this year.

Tsering Phuntsok is a warm and welcoming individual and he shared much information about his art and life. He fled Tibet after the Chinese excursion (invasion?) into Tibet and eventually landed in the US where he continues to practice his mastery of Thangka painting - Thangka is a Tibetan Buddhist painting on cotton, or silk appliqué, usually depicting a Buddhist deity, scene, or mandala.

Tsering Phuntsok also demonstrated / explained some the techniques employed his painting. Things such using a brush made of 2 hairs from a cat's neck to paint the ultra-fine detail in his work. He uses traditional Tibetan paints which he makes from natural elements crushed to a fine powder and mixed with water. Many of his paintings are completed over 2 years (working in his spare time).

Needless to write, the exhibit and the dinner were an unexpected delight.

civilized ku # 2978 ~ ninety percent of making pictures is half mental*

Park Avenue street corner ~ Rochester, NY • click to embiggen

It seemed rather appropriate, on the day after his death, to post one of Yogi Berra's famous Yogi Berra-isms. One which, although it was not intended to be about picture making, is nevertheless quite apt.

You can observe a lot by just watching. ~ Yogi Berra-ism

•my adaptation of Berra's statement, "Ninety percent of the game is half mental"

ku # 1322 / kitchen sink # 29 ~ all good things must come to and end

lifting morning fog ~ Newcomb, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
morning dishes ~ Newcomb, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

Woke up this morning to lifting fog, dirty dishes, no dog, no cat and no wife.

The dog and cat are back at home and the wife is arriving this afternoon for our last day and night at Rist Camp. We are leaving early tomorrow morning (a day early) to drive to Rochester for my 50 year High School Class Reunion.

One thing which stood out at Rist Camp this year was a validation of the adage, Time flies when you're having fun. It seems like only yesterday that we arrived for our 5 week stay.

Today's Artspeak Gobbledygook - I use semiotic constructions and visual quotes of canonized art historical moments to remix photographic imagery into new content. ~ found on the internet

tourist picture / civilized ku # 2975 / ku(ish) # 1321 ~ a nap and some choices

Rist Camp cat nap ~ Newcomb, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
Rist Camp buffet top ~ Newcomb, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
choices ~ Hudson River / Newcomb, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

When paddling onto the Hudson River (above Newcomb) from Lake Harris, one encounters a sign indicating 2 choices. Turn right to reach New York City or left to Mt. Marcy.

One can not actually reach Mt. Marcy but you can get very close, get out of the canoe and hike to the top of Marcy - the highest peak (5,343 ft.) in the Adirondacks. The highest water source of the Hudson River is Lake Tear of the Clouds which is located about 1,000 ft below the summit of Marcy.

On the other hand, you can actually reach the river terminus at Battery Park in lower Manhattan. It would be a long paddle - 315 miles - requiring more time than I have on my hands at this particular moment.

ku # 1320 / civilized ku # 2974 / kitchen sink # 28 ~ watching the world drift by

head of a dead dragon ~ along the Hudson River / Newcomb, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
Summer butt-bumping jumping fun ~ Newcomb, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
Rist Camp sink ~ Newcomb, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

I have been quite negligent in posting entries. I chalk it up to being away from it all, just relaxing and letting it all go.

ku # 1316 / diptych # 162 / triptych # 22 (ku # 1317-19) ~ the unbearable lightness of light

stand of trees ~ Newcomb, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
libations / tree fungus w pine cones ~ Newcomb, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
it's never quite the same ~ Newcomb, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

I suspect that people who, in their daily routine, normally would not pay too much attention to light would find it nearly impossible to ignore "the light" at a place like Rist Camp.

I have often written that, in my picture making, I rarely "chase the light". That more often than not, I only make pictures which feature "the light" when it chases me. Which does not mean that I don't appreciate "the light" when I see it. However, I will not always make a picture featuring "the light" when I see it. To the contrary, I often deliberately avoid making a picture of "the light" because I have absolutely no interest in making yet another cliché picture of it.

Re: "the light", George Eastman, the man who put a camera in the hand of any everyday person who wanted one and made picture making easy (you push the button, we do the rest) said:

Light makes photography. Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography.

With that statement, it could be reasonably postulated that Eastman was advocating "chasing the light". On the other hand, no one knew more about the "mechanics" of light striking a light-sensitive surface than Eastman and his legion of research and development cadre. For him and them, knowing about light was their key to photography.

In any event, at Rist Camp "the light" is chasing me minute to minute, or so it seems.

FYI, George Eastman also said:

The world is moving, and a company that contents itself with present accomplishments soon falls behind.

George must be spinning like a top high-speed drill press in his grave.

civilized ku # 2972-3 / ku # 1316 ~ a night on the town

barVino / bar • bartender ~ North Creek, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
Hudson River cairnine ~ North Creek, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
heading back to Rist Camp ~ North Creek, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

Yesterday evening, after a day of lounging about, the wife and I decided that neither of us wanted to make dinner. So, by unanimous consent, we drove off to North Creek for a meal at barVino. That's always a sumptuous treat.

With the meal I had 2 glasses of Ommagang Rare Vos (see tap in bar/ bartender picture). An absolutely delightful Belgian-style (brewed in NY State) Amber Ale.

On the drive out of North Creek, we stopped so I could picture the Hudson River. Much to our surprise, there, in the river, was another of those previously discovered local cairnines - visible on a rock in the lower right quadrant of the picture. They're turning up everywhere.

Heading back to the car, I made a picture of the road, albeit just because I could.