Ending April

By the time I get around to some blog time at night, my brain is a little tipsy mush. So this time, I'll let you invent your own stories for these photos from the past week.

I think you'll agree, I'm less likely to embarrass myself that way...

2012 on the grid

If 2012 has been anything to me, it's been the Year of Instagram.

These last few days of December, Instagrammers have been posting collages of their favourite shots of the year. What can I say? That's right up my alley, so below are my pics of the year. And yes, I know how sad I am that I couldn't select nine photos for just one grid... no, I had to make several. But hey, at least they're themed, right? Mostly themed. Anyway...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Babble, Instagram, and me

A fun thing has happened this week. Mommy Shorts - who also writes in the Toddler section over at the US Babble site - has published an article about ladies who she believes to be 10 of the Best Moms on Instagram.

Ten ladies that were chosen because "they post on a daily basis, take pictures of their kids (but NOT ONLY pictures of their kids!) and most importantly, are really good photographers. They are all selective about the shots they share, and I look forward to each one popping up in my stream."

Of those ten ladies? I was included. If you saw the company I'm with, you'd understand just how immensely flattered I am. This kind of recognition is lovely. I like that my photos are appreciated because I take photos of more than just my kids.

Go and check out the article here, if you haven't seen it already. If you love huge doses of sarcasm (as I do) and am not familiar with Mommy Shorts, then I suggest you visit her here... and if you're on Instagram? Come and say hi to me (@madinla). Don't be shy.

Lines

Like all two year olds, Miss Pie is more than just a little in love with trains right now.

Most mornings begin with her watching an episode of Thomas and Friends. That in itself always seems like a bizarro start to the day because when the Faery was that age and equally enamoured, she also had to watch Thomas... but in Australia, the original (British) version is aired - narrated in beautiful Liverpudlian tones.

I have sweet memories of my youngest brother watching the show, riveted, way back in the 80s - when the stories were narrated by none other then Ringo Starr himself. I think it's why I've always had a soft spot for anyone with a Scouse accent. Here, the show has been dubbed into American accents, and the Fat Controller has been renamed Sir Topham (PC madness, if you ask me). It's... different.

Anyhow, I digress. Yesterday we took the girls to Travel Town - a place we discovered a few months back when we attended a birthday party there. Perched on the edge of Griffith Park, surrounded by hiking and horse trails (oh, and a freeway), it's an outdoor museum, showcasing old steam locomotives. Many of these can be climbed on to investigate. There's a miniature steam train ride, and a plethora of picnic tables with BBQ grills.

For a cheap outing with train-obsessed little ones, you can't go wrong - there's nothing like hearing a little voice repeatedly exclaiming "Wow!". We'll be back.

Open

I'm not sure whether it's because enough readers were generous with their time and clicked away madly on the link in my earlier post, or if the Instacanv.as site was simply going to give me some gallery space in due time... but either way, thank you!

My gallery 'opened' last week. If you're curious, click here to browse.

It almost seems too easy. Really, it amounts to me sitting passively on my butt and letting a third party take care of the business of hosting my chosen images and - if I'm lucky and someone wants to put one of my photos on their wall - organising the canvas printing, shipping and payments.

The photos I've chosen would have otherwise just been sitting on my phone and Instagram account. What else was I going to do with them? Why not take advantage, and do a little role play of being an artist? Have some fun?

So there you have it. Who knows whether anyone will buy one of my images, but I can go to sleep at night, telling myself that my art is on display. What's not to love about that?

The teenaged dreamer in me could not be happier.

Shameless

Like millions of people, as a child I dreamed of being an artist one day. I'd always loved drawing and painting, and even from a young age I was aware of the soothing effects they had on me. I didn't care about being famous; I just wanted to be able to sell some of my art. As a teenager, photography also got its claws into me and I began fantasising about selling my photos one day.

Like millions of people, I didn't exactly follow these dreams. I've always enjoyed doing creative things, but my artistic skills have stayed in the amateur ranks. I have fun with it, and now and then I produce a little something with a 'WOW' factor to it.

If you've been reading my recent posts, you'll know that I've developed somewhat of an addiction to Instagram on my iPhone. This week, Instacanv.as has come to my attention - it's a site which allots space to people to sell some of their Instagram photos on canvases. It's a brilliant idea, but there's a catch: a 'gallery' (a personalised URL) will only open if enough other people visit the URL and request a gallery.

I want in.

Purely for fun. You never know, somewhere amongst the millions of people in this world, someone might see one of my photos and want to hang it on their wall. That would be dream-fulfilling stuff for me.

So, this is where I need you to help. I'll pop a link under the image below, and all you need to do is click. Once the page comes up, simply click on the yellow button to 'Request Gallery Opening'. Easy!

Instacanv.as/madinla

I have no idea what kind of numbers are involved, or how popular one has to be in this cyber world... but it's worth a try, right?

Time to pimp myself out and make this happen. Excuse me while I head over to Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest. If you're feeling generous, multiple clicks would make me love you even more. 

Thank you!

Wordless Wednesday - Fluff

As us teachers like to refer to filler activities in place of a more

substantial lesson, here's some visual 'fluff' - taken recently. 

Sometimes, I have fun pretending to get arty farty...

Linking up with: and then she snapped

Wordless Wednesday: Recent Randomness

For once, I'm going to shut up and let the photos do the talking.

Semi Wordless Wednesday: Instagramming

I suppose I could tap into my (long ago) Fine Arts studies and write a lengthy discourse about the popularity - and ease - of the Instagram app on iPhones, versus the more complicated science art of SLR photography... but I'll spare you.

I'm new to the world of Instagram, but am currently addicted. Who knows whether it's just a passing phase for me? I'm simply enjoying leaving the home less often with a heavy camera. Lazy? Yep. I do love my camera, but sometimes it's not a bad thing to take a little break from what we love.

Anyhow, if you happen to be on Instagram too and a) want to follow one more person and b) help me build my list of followers into the double digits (Wow, how impressive would that be?) I can be found as @madinla.

Linking up with and then she snapped: Wordless Wednesday but with words.

(Click here)

A thousand feelings

When it comes to the old adage a picture is worth a thousand words I often wonder what the number is for feelings that an image can elicit.

The spare time I've had these last few days have been spent organising a stack of photos I finally had printed back in May, into newly-purchased photo albums. Because I can be pedantic about dates and correct sequences, I had to check every single one of these photos with the information on iPhotos.

Somehow - between May and now - this large stack of photos had been rifled through and mixed up. Badly. Did I mention that some of these photos date as far back as early 2008? That's a shite load of photos to be sorting, and each day ended with a headache.

That's at least three and a half years of photos.

Three and a half years of my life, captured, in images.

The oldest photos in the stack were, in some ways, the hardest to look at. That year was all kinds of fucked up for us.

We moved house. A close family member attempted suicide, and of course there was fall out from that. We also had to urgently find day care for the Faery (in an area with long waiting lists), while trying not to miss out on badly needed days of work. Our computer died. Then, J was made redundant (without a payout). I had to switch to working full time while he looked for a job, knowing that my salary would never be able to cover all we needed.

All kinds of fucked up.

Looking through the photos from that period, I had strong physical reactions. Seeing the faded hallway carpet patterns, I could smell the rising damp and mouldy ceilings of our first winter - in what turned out to be a hideously drafty house that we'd moved into.

Seeing the golden sunset glow on the bricks of the back of the house, and the large frangipani tree in the back corner of the yard, I can taste the wine we sipped at once we'd put the Faery to bed. An end of working-week treat.

Seeing the front door open, I'm reminded of the strong winds that barrelled through it and also down the side passage of the house - winds that came up one side of the hill that this house was perched on, bitter in winter but blowing my washing dry in no time.

Seeing photos of the Faery playing on the painted kitchen floorboards, I felt the urge to scrape the white flecks of paint that stuck to the soles of my feet in those first few weeks there - a result of the landlord's cheap DIY before we moved in.

Seeing the light green kitchen walls, I can smell the cooking I did. I also feel the walls' stickiness - from lack of adequate ventilation (no extraction fan above the stove). I can also taste the distinct worry that comes with not having enough money. Not knowing when things would improve. A tight feeling in the pit of my stomach. All. The. Time.

This period was only three years ago, and I can feel it so clearly... but it also feels further back in time. We got through it, and so much else has happened - starting with another move, then another baby, a fantastic job for J (after several false starts with some shitty companies), and that job being the reason for our biggest move of all.

The photos from the newer chapter have a shiny glow to them in comparison, even though everything was printed at the same time. It's purely my perception.

Moving to a new city, a new country... things tend to have a shine for a while. The shine of newness. Adventure. Plus, the feeling of relief that we aren't in the position we were only a few years ago. We didn't run away, but anyone who knows us well understands that we needed a fresh start, and a chance to maybe even get ahead one day. With the industry that J had been employed in, if we'd stayed in Sydney, I'm pretty sure we'd still be stuck on Struggle Street today.

Things are a little less shiny now, but it's still good. There's hope, and one day we'll return to Sydney - winners, not losers.

This has been my headspace over the last few days. Reflective, and grateful that the stomach-churning anxiety of that time is gone (mostly, because I'll always find something to fret about).

I'll never underestimate the impact a photo can have.