Thursday, December 13, 2007

Spring Wind Memories



When I was a child I used to love to put my pillow on the window sill and listen to the wind howl over the prairie through out the night. I still love the wind. I love the way it lifts and blows my hair, the way it feels so fresh on my skin. The sound it makes as it whistles around the house and the way the trees bow down to it. I'll be thrilled if you'd leave a comment and tell me about your memories of wind.

17 comments:

Debi said...

Just last night I decided to implement a better time management system where I post on my blog in the mornings and then wait until the evenings to go around commenting.

Then you go and post this beauty! :) I'll be back to say exactly how lovely and provocative I think it is later.

Love you!

Anonymous said...

Memories from many, many moons ago.... of icy cold winds making our cheeks rosy from tobogganing down the hillside behind our barn...and more recent memories of hot humid breezes coming off the ocean as we stretch out in lawnchairs on the beach.

Hannah's Mom said...

The wind... fitting for my name. :) In Ca. where I grew up we had the Santa Ana's. A warm wind. I would stand out side (when my mom would let me) and I remeber the feeling still to this day, the warmth blowing in my face. Oh, I loved it! Then moving to Wy. we had the Chinok winds, another warm wind... I too love the wind!

Artists With Artitude said...

This collage is yet another joy to admire!

The only wind example that comes to my rusty mind is a nasty one. I remember visiting Rima and Zan in Ann Arbor and we were walking in some sub-zero temperatures, when all of a sudden, we crossed a block of tall bldgs, and wham, there was such a gush of wind which hit us smack in our faces that I literally thought my heart had stopped. I have lovelier memories, though, of the salty winds sailing across our faces on the shores of the Mediteranean.

Irene said...

It used to be that the wind made me feel uncomfortable and scared. When it blew hard, it drowned out all the other noises I was trying to hear. I had to stay very alert when I was a child. Now that I am older, I am learning to like the wind, if it isn't too cold. I like the way it whips at my hair and my clothes and the way it makes the dog's ears fly sideways.

Debi said...

I hope for a very long time you keep making these collages. It is another side of my mother that I enjoy getting to know.

I could recount everything in this work that is perfect. Because everything in it is perfect. The girl's face, buried in a pillow, not quite afraid, not quite unafraid. The simple wall with a simple window framing the most fierce wind in the distance. And Our Lady of Guadalupe there, insuring to the viewer -- and the little girl -- it will be all right. Sigh. I love these collages, Mom.

My favorite wind memories? Wind is such a constant for me here in West Texas. It's hard to pick out just one memory. Instead I'll say that my favorite experience of the wind is when it lifts up my hair, swishing it around my face, forcing me into the moment of The Wind.

Bev said...

I notice you liked the wind in the curtains on Debi's blog yesterday.

This looks like a tornado type wind, even though it is a Spring one, but I suppose you get them. Dorothy country!

Because we get quite cold winds in the winter the wind makes me think of staying safe in the house (like the little girl) while the wind whistles outside. We still get winds which make the windows rattle dangerously. Or we do get the winds on the beach at Bridlington that give you the rosy cheeks, even in the Summer! That's why in England we have things called 'wind breaks' for the beach (little fold-up material fences) which keep you a bit warmer when you are sun bathing.
I like the wind and the sound it makes, it is an wild, elemental thing, but I like being warm inside and listening to it best!

Rima said...

What a beautiful, evocative artwork - I love these hues you are using, such a pensive mood.

I don't like the wind - unless it brings salt air with it. I always feel confused and irritated and a little scared if there's a strong wind blowing around me, I don't know why exactly. That's the one thing I hate about living up North, cold winds! But I do love rain... the sounds, the smells, all of it... rain makes me happy.

~Red Tin Heart~ said...

this is wonderful. xoxo nita

dianeclancy said...

Hi Bobbie,

This collage is very moving!! It is so evocative! It reminds me of some of your others too.

Wind ... hmmm ... thinking of a good wind thing ... got bad ones too ... as a teenager, sitting by the ocean at night, holding my knees against my chest, smelling the salt and the ocean breeze bringing thoughts and ideas of freedom and far away places.

~ Diane Clancy
www.dianeclancy.com/blog

Kris Cahill said...

I'm so glad you asked! The question brought up a brilliant memory from when I was a fashion designer and dyed all my own silks. I would hang them outside on a clothesline on the back porch of my studio. Being in Chicago, known as 'The Windy City', my brightly dyed yardage would leap and dance in the wind. My neighbors commented on this every time they saw me, and if they hadn't, I wouldn't have known how beautiful it looked from the street.

Unknown said...

i love going to the ocean in winter when the wind is howling and wild and the surf is dangerous...it brings out my witchy feelings
~sue o'kieffe

Hannah's Mom said...

Bobbie,
Hannah and I went to Wally World last night and the wind was cold and strong. Hannah said, Mommy is this the wind your friend on the internet was talking about? LOL It did make me think of you though as the wind was blowing its harsh coldness against us, except this time it wasn't a bad thing. Our thoughts of you instantly warmed us. It is amazing to me that you all have opened my eyes to those things I really didnt give much thought to before. Thank you dear Bobbie!

Bobbie said...

I love reading these memories about wind. It is interesting that people seem to love or hate it.

Neda, I too remember cold Atlantic winds from my days in New Hampshire where this darling baby was born. It would just almost suck the life out of you.

Windy, you are a soul mate when it comes to loving the wind :) So glad Hannah likes it too.

Sanddollar, Now you have those pleasant winds that invigorate you and like me it is a time when you need a little invigorating..teehee.

Irene, I can just picture Jesker's ears flying about. What a funny picture.

Debi, I hope I can continue making these images because I am having the best time ever doing it. Your encouragement, especially, means a lot to me.

Bev, I didn't know you used wind breaks at the beach in summer. Makes sense...when I lived in New Hampshire where this picture was taken in mid June the air was still chilly on my bare arms. When we went to the beach and swam our bodies would get red as a beet from the cold oean.

Rima, I like the rain too and there might be a "memory" of rain there somewhere. I remember once traveling north from our town in NM and on the way home we had a hail storm that nearly beat our old station wagon to death. It was so scary the thundering of hailstones on the roof of the car.

Deconstruction:
I purchased the little girl on the pillow and the room with window from dreamstime.com (cost=$2), I got the image on the wall from eBay. The storm outside was from NOAH, the US weather service. There are 8 remaining layers in the image now, as some had to be merged to do "stuff" to them. There is 1 layer mask which is used in creating the weather outside behind the window. I used 2 really transparent layers of color to add a dust storm look, instead of using layer adjustments. I think this effect has more potential and I hope to explore it on my next image. The black and white look was created from color images by changing to grayscale then back to RGB color for the effects and the storm. There were numerous other "fiddlings" with the settings to get just the look I wanted.

Debi said...

I like your addition of the "deconstruction" at the end. Shows how much work and thought goes into digital work, and yours in particular. It's not just cut and paste, not by a long shot.

Arizona Mama said...

Haunting post.

Wind is my least favorite of the elements. I always feel unsettled when the wind is whistling outside and I hear things banging around. I don't sleep.

My best wind memory, however, is from when I was about 9 years old. The winds were HUGE, and everyone was hiding in their houses. My parents took us and our dogs out in the street to play in it. It was so fun! We got on our skate boards and roller skates and let the wind push us down the street with no effort at all. There were pieces of people's ROOFS flying around, but I felt very brave and exhilarated.

laurie said...

i like that image very much. (the picture, i mean.)

i am not fond of wind. breeze, yes. wind, no.