Before ... and After

Wild Stallion, Jaffa, Israel, November 2012, Nikon D600 with FX 50mm lens, 
1/15 sec @ f1.8, ISO 1600, 0 EV, no flash © Steven Crisp  [Click on the photo to enlarge]

Now that is some impressive graffiti.  Certainly a talented artist made this mural on the side of a concrete bulding.  And I love how the artist ignored the depth and material changes in his "canvas".  I think it is really impressive.

Now if you take a look at the photo below, you will see what the building looks like without the mural/grafitti.

Now you might think this is a "Before and After" comparison, and it is.  However, the second shot is the "after".  Yes, for some reason, the building owner (I assume) decided to paint over the mural with this really attractive grey paint ;-)

Now I don't begrudge the owner doing whatever he thinks is needed.  Nor am I lamenting the loss of that great Wild Stallion mural/grafitti.  No, my point is that you must not assume things will always remain as they are.  Everything is impermanent.

That's not good or bad, it just is what it is.  So seize the day, and make your art while you still can.   Tomorrow, who knows?  Your mural may be lost, but everyone who has seen it will be the better for it.  And now look what you have -- another blank canvas.  What more could an artist hope for?

Day 30: Got Paint?

Got Paint?, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, September 2007,

Nikon D40, 35mm focal length equiv. 39mm, Exposure 1/125 sec @ f5.6, ISO 200, no flash, exposure bias -1.0

© Steven Crisp [Click on the photo to enlarge]

Got an ugly building?  Got paint?  Look at that transformation!

Do you have anything that needs a little sprucing up in your life?

This just shows the power of a little creative energy (OK, and some talent too).

Go ahead.  Paint a mural in your mind.  Recreate anything you don't like, and make it beautiful.  And you have the talent to transform yourself.

• Donation: United Cerebral Palsy Association of Greater Cleveland, to help this CrowdRise member reach her goal, as mentioned by Carlo.
• Exercise:  First run since my encounter with the pavement in Tel Aviv.  3.4 miles (30 mins), and harder than it should have been.

Painting with my pixels

Painting with pixels, Harz Mountains, Werigerode, Germany, October 2010,
Panasonic DMC-ZS7, Focal length 5mm, Exposure 1/30 sec @ f3.4, ISO 800, no flash,
heavily post-processed with iPhoto, © Steven Crisp  [Click on the photo to enlarge]

What is creativity?

Creativity is a spiritual spark. It results in the creation of something where there was nothing before.

That's magical stuff. An offering, if you like, to the world.

So much of our lives are spent as middle men ... moving papers from this pile to that ... or regurgitating other people's ideas and original thoughts.

There's not much heart in that.

So it is time to reclaim some space for creativity. It may not be much of an offer, but all that matters is that is your offer, from the heart.

And I hope to find that space, each day, to be able to create (or at least capture) just a little bit of beauty from this most amazing world.