Snowblind

Snowblind by Jo Bradford

I had a great time with my camera during the recent snow storms.  On one particularly snowy day, my man and I donned our snow gear and hiked out across Bodmin Moor and up to the top of Rough Tor to admire the serene landscape in it's snowy blanket.

It took many more hours than I had anticipated to hike up there, the wind was howling and stung my face painfully.  It was snowing so hard and I was feeling disappointed that there were very little photo opportunities as I couldn't see more than a few feet in front of me.

By the time we were heading downwards and homewards I was seriously losing my enthusiasm.  I was soooo cold and my camera kit was getting heavier with every step......

As we dropped into a sheltered valley, the snow storm and wind abated and it was strangely quiet all of a sudden.  Above the featureless landscape the sky was still heavy with snow when over the rise in front of us these wild moor ponies appeared.  They seemed surprised to see anyone out in that weather, and stood still in a line just long enough for me to pull my cameras out of my pack and take a couple of pictures.  Then they silently turned and disappeared back into the white.  It was a strange dreamlike experience.

And this was the result.

Have a great weekend, and whatever you do, do it with a smile

Jo
xoxo

Dusky Glow

Dusky Glow by Jo Bradford


Between the Dusk of a Summer Night

Between the dusk of a summer night And the dawn of a summer day, We caught at a mood as it passed in flight, And we bade it stoop and stay. And what with the dawn of night began With the dusk of day was done; For that is the way of woman and man, When a hazard has made them one. Arc upon arc, from shade to shine, The World went thundering free; And what was his errand but hers and mine -- The lords of him, I and she? O, it's die we must, but it's live we can, And the marvel of earth and sun Is all for the joy of woman and man And the longing that makes them one. {William Ernest Henley}

Fancy a cuppa?

Happy Saturday - What have you been up to?  My day has been spent repotting my orchids and playing with my cameras and drinking tea and eating lemon drizzle cake (too much lemon drizzle cake!)  I am still having a lot of fun with my 365 goodbyes Polaroid project....

www.365goodbyes.tumblr.com

Bye for now

Jo
xoxo

Winter Wonderland

The snow just keeps on coming!!  We Brits are just not used to getting snow like this down in the southern end of the island.... This is like a Cornwall I have never known, and being the big kid that I am, the novelty of the wintery white landscape has not worn off for me one little bit.

As I look out my window now, there are thick flurries of snowflakes billowing in the gusting South Easterly Gale force winds.  Definitely not a day for venturing too far from home!!

I thought you may like to see a few of my Polaroids from my 365 ways to say goodbye project.

Deciding to use only expired polaroid film and 40 year old cameras is presenting daily difficulties and the occasional near meltdown as I have to undertake late night strip down and repairs to the old kit, but so far so good, I have delivered my first 11 pictures on time and I am enjoying working with a medium that you can't photoshop, or crop or otherwise alter in the post processing stage.  I just scan my daily 'roids, adjust them slightly until they exactly match the original, warts and all, and that's it! Simple :)

Here are 2 of my favourites so far.

You can follow the progress of my "365 Ways to say goodbye" project here at www.365goodbyes.tumblr.com

Snow Days

The Blizzard by Jo Bradford

The UK is uncharacteristically snowy right now, and we live in a very remote part of Cornwall.  Our farmhouse is only accessible by travelling up and down some steep lanes and valleys, so we are pretty much snowed in now, the icy roads have enforced a few stay-at-home days as even the 4x4 is struggling to get up the hills when the roads are sheet ice and haven't been gritted at all.

I don't mind taking "snowdays" too much though, as the cupboards are still full of food and chocolate from christmas and the rayburn in the kitchen makes the whole house cosy, these days the log fire in the lounge is my new best friend.

xoxo

Einstein's Stripes

Stripey Day by Jo Bradford

....

"Once you can accept the universe as being something 

expanding into an infinite nothing which is something, 

wearing stripes (with plaid) is easy."  

~ Albert Einstein

Your Feet

Grass Beneath My Feet by Jo Bradford ... When I cannot look at your face  I look at your feet.......I love your feet only because they walked upon the earth and upon the wind and upon the waters until they found me. ...Excerpt lines from Your Feet ~ Pablo Neruda...  Well, it has been a few weeks since I last shared some Pablo with you :)   xoxo

Dartmoor Snow Story

The Lonely Tree by Jo Bradford

This is a picture I took earlier this year (in February) when we had unusually heavy snowfall for the South West of the UK.

I had a few spots in mind to visit with my camera on Dartmoor, so we set out for a day trip to Devon for a bit of snowy adventure on Dartmoor.

Just getting there turned into an epic drive in itself, the roads were atrocious across Bodmin Moor, but we made it eventually.

We abandoned the 4x4 in the middle of snowy nowhere and began the hike to the top.  This was slow going as I kept sinking into shoulder deep drifts that had filled the ravines and valleys of the moor, my cameras were weighing me down and I didn't bring snow shoes which would have been sensible.

The snow kept coming down and sometimes visibility was so bad I was sure I would never find anything to photograph.... but on previous visits I had made a mental note of a lone tree on a hillside that I wanted to catch in the snow.

I found the tree eventually - here I am looking mighty pleased to have found it in the snow storm.

After a while spent with the lonely tree admiring it with my camera, I was suitably cold and ready for some action.   We carried on upwards until we reached the top

...  And after all that effort and hard slog for my art.... this was the sweetener that made all that trudging along with heavy gear doubly worthwhile.......

Strapping on the snowboard and making fresh tracks all the way down :)

Here's to all of us who are already dreaming of more snow on Dartmoor this winter.

xoxo

Snowflakes

Powder Dreams by Jo Bradford

...

Out of the bosom of the Air.
Out of the cloud-folds of her garments shaken,
Over the woodlands brown and bare,
Over the harvest-fields forsaken,
Silent and soft and slow
Descends the snow.

Even as our cloudy fancies take
Suddenly shape in some divine expression,
Even as the troubled heart doth make
In the white countenance confession,
The troubled sky reveals
The grief it feels.

This is the poem of the air,
Slowly in silent syllables recorded;
This is the secret of despair,
Long in its cloudy bosom hoarded,
Now whispered and revealed
To wood and field.
~ Snowflakes ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Powder Days by Jo Bradford

South Point Style

South Point by Jo Bradford

----------

I found this picture in my Barbados file a few weeks ago, and just remembered to upload it this morning.   (Now for sale on Etsy and Dawanda).  What I find most striking is how similar the colours are to the Silver Sea Subtleties Pictures I took in Cornwall last week.... posted a few posts below this one {scroll down to see what I mean}.

I have been making Midnight excursions on to the frosty Moor this week with some old cameras and a very warm coat.   More on this later.....

Jo x

Green Island Studios Calendar is here!!

It’s that time of year again!


Time is fast running out to get your hands on my 2010 calendar.  Themed around my most popular series “By The Seaside” these little works of art come in a loose leaf format.  

12 unbound sheets each with a beautifully printed 5”x5” artwork with the month printed  underneath, the page measures 5″×7” overall.

Every calendar print is hand signed by me and stamped on the back.

These unbound artworks are perfect for sticking to your noticeboard, fridge, desktop or wall, use magnets or hang them up with clips, pegs, ribbon or whatever you have lurking in your stash drawer.  They work well in small desktop frames or easels, of which there are many to choose from on Etsy, take a browse round and see what you find...

And at the end of each month you can trim off the calendar section, leaving you with 12 beautiful prints from Green Island Studios, ready to frame, hang or give away as gifts.  (If you can bear to part with them)

The calendar sheets arrive gift wrapped in coloured paper and tied with a decorative ribbon.  They can be sent direct to your friends and family as gifts if you wish, and I can include a personal message, so just let me know at checkout 

Here is the list of 5x5 artworks you will receive in your 2010 Calendar.

January - "Blue Beach Days 2"

February - "”White Horses"

March - "Sun Showers"

April - "Cumulus"

May - "Lighthouse Lane"

June - "Riviera"

July - "Sea Pinks"

August - "Immersion"

September - "Golden"

October - "Afternoon Social"

November - "Meeting Place"

December - ”White Water, Green Sea"

European buyers...visit my gallery HERE 

America & the rest of the world... visit my gallery HERE

I hope you had a good November folks 

Jo 

xoxo

Silvery Seas

I have just spent 10 days away from home and my studio, working with the media on a military exercise on Salisbury Plain.  I got so used to sleeping outdoors and being in the fresh air all day that I am actually missing it now that I am home, even though we lived through some unbelievably bad weather, gale force winds and a lot of rain.  While I was on the exercise, I missed the sea of course.  It seemed strange not to have my daily outing to the shoreline with a camera in hand.

First thing I did when I awoke at home after my trip, was to head down to the seashore and drink it all in.  I took an old Argus 75 TLR camera that I have modified to make these TtV photos and an old bellows style polaroid land camera from the 1950's too.  The silvery sea and grey day did nothing to dampen my pleasure at being back where I belong {sigh}

It's good to be home  :)

Gift of the Day

From one bird to another by Jo Bradford

...

It was passed from one bird to another,

the whole gift of the day.

The day went from flute to flute,

went dressed in vegetation,

in flights which opened a tunnel

through the wind would pass

to where birds were breaking open

the dense blue air -

and there, night came in.

Excerpt from Bird ~ Pablo Neruda

Gift of the day by Jo Bradford

...

You will already know from this blog, that I enjoy Neruda immensely, and simply can't resist an opportunity to use his poems for inspiration - the poem bird supplied the inspiration and the titles for these two new pictures. Thanks Pablo xx

Walking The Dog

Copyright Jo Bradford 2009

...

So, as you can tell by the infrequency of my posting at the moment, I am pretty rushed off my feet workwise. When things get hectic it can be too easy to forget to get out of the darkroom, stay away from the computer and just get some fresh air and exercise. That's when I am always glad to see the waggy tail and expectant expression in Charlie's big brown eyes. I am lucky to have not just the seaside on my doorstep, but also an amazing old woods and the moors within a 10 minute drive, so when it comes to walking the dog, I am spoilt for choice. Charlie loves splashing round in the river and he never tires of charging around in the trees at the local fir tree plantation.

These pictures were made on recent excursions with my furry friend :)

Bliss Mention

It's 'Roid week over on Flickr and I have been enjoying the bi-annual opportunity to participate and share with all the other PolaNerds around the world - there is some truly beautiful work there this year.....

I was really pleased today to realise that Mrs French over at Bliss picked one of my polaroids to feature in her post about "Roid Week.  {Thank you Mrs French}  :)

Jo x