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Moving On

WizenedWizard has had a good run. I really enjoyed creating this blog and watching it grow and develop over time.

At first, it was mine alone, but gradually others came to visit and a community developed. I "met" many good and interesting people, and the Wizard developed her own identity. There were the gnomes - notably Sigmund and Elizabeth - who could be observed or observers; fact and fiction were portrayed here, and the process got my creative juices flowing. It was fun.

Wiz tried to exit before, and to some extent she did, but I have come back a few times and written things that really aren't in the voice of my wizard personna. In truth, the somewhat fictionalized home in the forest had revealed its truths and told its tales; the game was over.

Recently I posted a couple of photography-related pieces. They tell where my head and heart are presently at, but they just don't fit with what the Wizened Wizard was. Rather than continue to water-down that feisty, sometimes foolish, wizened character who inhabits my woods, my home and my body, I've decided to bring this blog to a close. When winter comes and I can find more time to work on it, I intend to delete those posts which have strayed from "wizardry" and leave the blog in all its proper and appropriate glory. In the meantime...

...I have started another blog, a private one to chronicle my photographic career. This blog is personal and probably of no interest to any of you. It will be a journal and documentation of the role of photography in my life. Pretty boring to anyone but me, but I want to record this journey. And of course I am still posting Shaman's poems and an occasional photo at Shaman and Wizard.

So say goodbye to the gentle wizard. It's been wonderful, and I thank you for reading my many ramblings over the years.

All that's good -

Wiz
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The Art of My Living

Spring flew by, and lots of stuff didn't get done. There are garden beds still unplanted, neglected because there were too many other things to do or it was raining on the days they might have been tended to. My back has its limits now too.

Harvesting was also victimized by time. The asparagus made it into the freezer, but the rhubarb never got canned or frozen, nor did any rhubarb pies emerge from the oven.

On the positive side, all the rain we've had is growing collosal potato plants. Tomatoes look happy too, and corn and soybeans are in, up and doing quite well. All of our wood is cut, the woodshed rearranged and partially filled. Grandson learned to ride a bike.

I "created" an office for myself at work from an ugly space piled high with computer parts and accumulated "stuff" left by previous employees. Some spackling and three coats of limey-yellow paint, a few framed photos, and I now work in a personalized, pleasant - albeit a bit small - space. Downstairs, the reception area and hallways are hung with more photos, my own gallery of sorts.

The push is on to be ready for next week's Arts Fest in Morristown. Last year I bought an Easy-Up booth and five gridwalls to display framed photos. The grids are 6' x 2' and make a sort of back wall. This year I've added three more to give me a three-sided display near the front of the booth. My photo cards will be displayed in a new revolving table-top rack, and I've bought black heavy cotton fabric to make table drapes - if I ever find the time to put them together.

My latest print order arrived Monday, and I've been busy signing, matting and bagging them. WUMB streams music through my computer as I work, and how I enjoy doing this final putting together of my creations!

The Creative Spirit gallery's juried show selected three of my five submissions, one of which you can partially see as the current background to this blog. The show opening was last Friday evening.

What a blessing this old love is.

Spring

So here it is: spring. Actually, it's half-past spring, but the falling snow makes that hard to believe.

Since my last post, the biggest change in my life has been my return to full-time work. That sounds worse than it is because much of what I'm doing is photography and video work. No, it's not very creative stuff, but I do enjoy it. Today I filmed and photographed the H.R. director of a private not-for-profit agency that provides care for developmentally disabled people. It was nice to hear someone talk about the value of the work they do and to listen to him speak proudly of the many people employed by the agency. Kind of nice to know there are folks whose sense of self-worth comes from helping others, not from stock market gains.

With spring (when it REALLY comes), will come some non-work photography. Next week my Toronto chum arrives, and we'll be off "pootin' around the North Country," as she puts it. Then off to Washington, DC for Mr. Wizard's mother's 90th birthday. The last we heard, she had to be let in by the security guard in her building. She'd been out dancing until midnight!

I've had no time for blogging. I'm even way behind in email correspondence, but today, with a few minutes to kill before heading home from the office, I decided it was time to put a more seasonal background photo on the blog.

To any of my "old friends" in Bloggerville who might have been alerted to this post, my warmest greetings and wishes. I hold you in fond memories of fun, games and sometimes pretty serious stuff that we shared when I was blogging regularly.

Happy spring!

Wiz
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Yesterday was the "official" launch of my new website, WizenedEye.com. The issue of the music is still unresolved, but of course there is the "Sound: Off" button to kill it when the visitor becomes REALLY annoyed by the endless repetition.

It is no surprise to either me or Mr. Wizard that we just had a conversation on Flash programming. Yes, I am interested in learning it. So many things to this photography business: building and maintaining websites, establishing and maintaining good gallery relations, participating in shows and sales, submitting photos to juried exhibitions, managing many thousands of image files - and of course actually taking photos.

Heard this on a Canadian TV show called Being Erika. I thought I should write it down somewhere, and why not here? Canada. Such a good country in many ways, especially in the encouragement of the arts.

Courage is not the towering oak that sees storms come and go; it is the fragile blossom that opens in the snow. -- Alice Mackenzie Swaim

No particular reason for this post except to remember the quote.