Ireland / Scotland # 33-35 (diptych # 214) / picture windows # 70 ~ touch not the cat

Cragganmore Distillery ~ Ballindalloch, Banffshire, Scotland • click to embiggen
Coat of Arms / Cragganmore Distillery ~ Ballindalloch, Banffshire, Scotland • click to embiggen
Gents / Laddies • Conway's ~ Ramelton, Donegal, Ireland • click to embiggen

The first distillery we visited in Scotland was Cragganmore, one of many distilleries in the Speyside region - hence the name Speyside Malts. At the finish of the tour, one is treated, in the office of the founder John Smith, to tastings of various expressions of Cragganmore Malts. And it was in that office that I pictured the Coat of Arms which adorned a wooden cabinet. I was drawn to the weird, to me, motto of "Touch not the cat but a glove" not to mention the wreath-clad guy with a club.

They say that curiosity killed the cat but, since I am not a cat, my curiosity about the Coat of Arms and the motto therein caused me no harm. What I discovered was that the motto is, according to the curator of the Clan Macpherson Museum, that of Clan Macpherson which in turn was a member of Clan Chattan along with Clan Macintosh, et al. Furthermore, an "ungloved" cat - in this case, a Scottish Wildcat, the mascot of Clan Chattan - is one that has its claws extended. Therefore, be forewarned and "Don't mess with us".

Alternately, according to other sources, the motto could be interpreted to mean. "Touch not the cat without a glove." Either way, it would seem that it is best not to mess with the cat.

That settled, the Gents / Ladies signs in the diptych, while not a Coat of Arms, is one of many like-minded (potty humor?) gents / ladies signs found on many Irish pub restroom doors. I like them. I wish I had pictured more of them.

Ireland / Scotland # 30-31 ~ cemeteries

tombstone detail ~ near Inverness, Scotland • click to embiggen
OUR BABIES ~Ardara, Donegal, Ireland • click to embiggen

Ireland / Scotland # 19-22 ~ as easy as 1 2 3

Poisoned Glen ruin ~ Dunlewey, Donegal, Ireland • click to embiggen

figure in dunes ~ Tramore Beach, Donegal, Ireland • click to embiggen

roadside Lady Liberty ~ somewhere in County Donegal, Ireland • click top embiggen

rusty shed roof ~ Ardara, Donegal, Ireland • click to embiggen

On yesterday's entry, it all depends upon how you look at it, John Linn wrote:

"And so, how would you categorize the three included pictures?"(in yesterday's entry)

In reply I would categorize them as follows:

TOP picture (grave yard) - while this picture is not without its merits, framing, organization and visual energy wise - as well as its interesting referent (especially of you like cemeteries) - I would consider it to be more a 'holiday' type picture. However, that written, there is little doubt about what the picture is about.

Middle picture (Whatcha Mc Collum's) - I kind of think of this picture as a transition picture hovering somewhere between 'holiday' and 'fine art'. While there is no doubt what the picture is about, it can raise some interesting questions such as: how can a thing on wheels be home to anything? Then the name itself says or at least tells the viewer something about the owner / proprietor. And, of course, it does exhibit a sense of humor. Is that enough to elevate it to 'fine art'? iMo, I think not.?

Bottom picture (milling around) - to my eye and sensibilities, this picture is knocking quite loudly on the door 'fine art'. Because of all of the disparate visual elements the most certainly uncertainty regarding exactly what the picture is about. An uncertainty most often expressed by viewers of many of my pictures, "Why did you take that picture?" Is it about the tree, the ruin, the stone walls, the people? And what about those people? Are they strangers to one another? Are they together? are they wiring for something to happen? Is there something behind the mound about which we are not privy?

In addition, once again to my eye and sensibilities, there is visual energy all over the place. The eye keeps in motion, careening around from one visual element to another within the frame and where it stops nobody knows. Yet somehow, it all hangs together and I could live with picture on a wall in my house for quite an extended period of time.

And so, to my eye and sensibilities, to be in contention as a 'fine art' picture (mine or those made by others) a picture must pose three questions:

1. Why did the picture maker make this picture? FYI, there may be no easy answer to this question. There even be no answer at all.

2. Is there visual energy in evidence? Does my eye move around within the frame with no obvious place to land?

3. Can I live with it on one of my walls for an very extended period of time and will it still draw me in and still hold my interest over that time (if not forever)?

That's it in a nutshell. No mystery and no arcane / obtuse artspeak. It's as simple as that (according to my eye and sensibilities).

Ireland / Scotland # 16-18 ~ it all depends upon how you look at it

grave yard ~ Ardara, County Donegal, Ireland • click to embiggen

Whatchta Mc Collum's ~ Ardara, County Donegal, Ireland • click to embiggen

milling around ~ on the road to Glencolmcille, County Donegal, Ireland • click to embiggen

When I am finished making final pictures from Ireland and Scotland, I will have over 225 'final' pictures. Some of which are holiday pictures, some of which are more than that. My intent is to edit the pictures down to 60 selects to be printed in a book. Although, I am also giving thought to creating 2 books - one comprised of 'holiday' type pictures, one comprised of (dare I write?) 'fine art' type pictures.

What, you might ask, is the difference between the two types? Good question and one about which I have been pondering.

To my eye and sensibilities, the difference is along the lines of what one chooses to put within the frame of a picture. In the case of 'holiday' pictures, the content is about an specific object (people, places, things) - the replication / representation of a singular referent and everything about those pictures is aimed at drawing the viewers attention directly to, as Joel Meyerwitz states, "the copy of an object in space."

Hopefully, in the making of a 'holiday' picture, the picture maker is attuned to light, framing, et al in the cause of making a visually pleasing picture. If that attention to picture making detail is linked to an object of some interest, the picture maker will have a pleasing 'holiday' picture which can hold the viewer's eye for for more than just a passing glance. I have made my fair share of such pictures.

When I attempt to make 'fine art' pictures, while there is usually a singular object which has prick my eye and sensibilities but I am also drawn to its tenuous relationship to other unrelated things. Relationships which create a visual tension - I think of it as visual energy - which can cause 'vibrations' in the viewer's eye and sensibilities.

In other words, my pictures are about more than the singular object of my attention. They are also about light, color, shapes, and tonal qualities and the visual energy created by their tacit yet tenuous interaction / relationship. I want the viewer's eye and thought to careen around the 2-dimensional surface of the print, held in check only by the frame I have imposed upon the scene. Although, that written, the viewer's thoughts may try to break out of the frame in order to consider what might lie beyond.

For certain, a 'holiday' type picture is a much easier 'read' that is a 'fine art' type picture. Especially so if the viewer's sensibilities are not attuned - consciously or not - to those qualities which cause a picture to 'sing'.

civilized ku # 4004-06 (ku-ish) ~ hockey trip with a twist

Kingston Bay / looking toward Plymouth ~ Duxbury, MA. • click to embiggen

shoreline foliage ~ Kingston Bay / Duxbury, MA. • click to embiggen

Hugo / striped bass ~ Kingston Bay / off Duxbury, MA.

Our own cottage. Salt Water fishing. Neither are normally part of a hockey tournament trip. However, on this trip to Kingston, MA. - Cape Cod / 35 miles south of Boston - thanks to one wing of the wife's extended family, we have own cottage (some might call it a house) next to the that family's house on Cape Cod and Hugo's gets to take an early AM fishing expedition, with our host as as fishing guide, aboard the family's boat. Add to that the fact that all our meals are prepared by our hostess and all I can ask is, "Why aren't all hockey trips like this?"

civilized ku # 4003 ~ mosquito in repose

mosquito hawk ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

As much as it pains me to write it, I may end up creating the new blog on a latest and greatest Squarespace template. It pains me inasmuch as I feel as thought I have been manipulated - problems / compromises galore on this current platform / template. Makes feel like I am rewarding bad behavior.

In any event, I have set up a few items and made a blog entry on a demo basis. You can check it out HERE. It may ask you to enter the site by clicking on Visitor Access and it might take you to the site home page (very much under construction). If so, just click on BLOG (in the upper right) to get to the blog.

Comments welcome and appreciated - here or there.

FYI, even more picture updates on markhobsonblog as well as a text entry (click on urinal picture to read).

Ireland / Scotland # 16 ~ miles to go before I sleep

Chas. McHugh / Nancy's ~ Ardara, County Donegal, Ireland • click to embiggen

I returned from Ireland / Scotland with approximately 1200 picture files. I had absolutely no idea that I had made that many pictures.

To date I have processed 404 files. Eventually I'll work my way through the lot of them and then I can start on the edit.

FYI, even more updates on markhobsonblog

Ireland / Scotland # 15 ~ more's the pity

An Port / "Ghost Village" ~ near Glencolmcille / County Donegal, Ireland • click to embiggen

While in Ireland and Scotland, I made only a couple pano pictures. After merging 5 individual pictures to create this pano, I regret not having made more.

FYI, more updates on markhobsonblog