. . . experimented with saturation

The above picture is a close-up crop of one of my photographs taken a few weeks ago while I was exploring Kansas City, Kansas. It's a color photo, but it's all blacks and white and grays, which is good. . .




and then I experimented with saturation on Picasa. I am amazed and I think I can use both shots for inspiration for paintings.


Note there are four pipes pictured in these photos. Reminds me of a conversation I had yesterday with my son Matt. We were picking out shrubs to plant in his front yard. I told him it was conventional wisdom to plant in odd numbers, three or five. Being Matt, he questioned me and conventional wisdom. I said that in art and in nature, odd numbers were more interesting than even numbers. He told me that he didn't like odd numbers; when he played basketball, he would always be nervous if his team was ahead or behind by three points -- he said he felt like someone should make a free three to make it two or four points.


As we were plotting the new configuration of his planting area, I suggested a swooping curved edge. His idea had been to square things off in box-like plantings. I opined that there were no straight lines in nature. While he didn't dispute this, I could see his mind working to come up with an exception to this theory. It has only taken me 27 years to find out that Matt is an orderly, even, box-like person. I would have thought he preferred riots of color and chaos. I wonder what other revelations will come to light about this wonderful son.


Wild Kingdom update: I saw a coyote slink out from under my deck yesterday afternoon not five feet away from me. It really did slink, throwing a frown back over its shoulder at me. I must have disturbed him in the middle of something that I don't want to know about. I'm all for the coyote -- it will be a natural deterent to the bunnies and deer that feast on my garden. (Kind of a natural deterent to me, too.)