Struttin' -

"Talkin' With Your Body"

digital collage by Mick Mather

"... the body says what words cannot ..."
- Martha Graham

NEW from the Broad Road Walk -

"The Large Pines"
manipulated digital photographs by Mick Mather
- click image to view full size -

"... beware the pine trees withered branch,
beware the awful avalanche ..."
- Henry Wodsworth Longfellow

Thinking back, moving forward -

"Reflections"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has many, not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some ..."
- Charles Dickens

Out walking -

"Down the Garden Path"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... the path that leads to a loaf of bread,
winds through the swamps of toil,
and the path that leads to a suit of clothes,
goes through a flowerless soil,
and the paths that lead to a loaf of bread,
and the suit of clothes are hard to tread ..."
- Sam Walter Foss

Strut your stuff -

"Steppin' Out"
digital collage by Mick Mather

Here's something old that deserved to be revisited. I never did quite finish this so I pushed it through the usual array at the secret visual laboratory one more time. I was just having a little fun when all of a sudden a left turn followed by an about face seemed to make sense. Enjoy.

The view -

"Hiking Above the Great Lake"
digital collage by Mick Mather

One thing we have in this part of Central New York State is an abundance of water. Be it a puddle, slough, pond, stream, creek, river, canal or lake, there's always something wet within hailing distance. Todays post is reminiscent of some of the walks I've taken over the years mixed with visual memory of some armchair excursions to the Lakes District in the UK. So, get your canteens and walking sticks ... I'll meet you at the trail head.

In a mood -

"A Walk After the Rain"
digital collage by Mick Mather

A penny for all of your thoughts on this one ... and remember, the check is in the mail! Must dash, lot's to do again today.

One foot in front of the other -

"Walking Man II"
digital collage by Mick Mather

At the lunch hour again today, my plan is to walk the Gere's Lock section of the Old Erie Canal from the opposite direction. As I focus on this particular walking art project, today's post seems like it may be in the running for the documentation book cover. Sorry, I'm off again!

A B C's -

"The Reader"
digital collage by Mick Mather

It's that time of year again when the pretty girls are out walking, shopping or engaged with a cup of coffee and a good book at lunch hour. Book reports are due at the end of the week ... what are you reading right now?

Analog locative technology -

"Ritual Patterns of Spring"
digital collage by Mick Mather

Today's post sat around for a while as I considered how I might finish it. As regulars have already realized, I'm afflicted with "Spring Fever" and my thoughts revolve around expressions of renewal and hope for my favorite season. While doing research on locative media projects that involve more new technology than I have a budget for, I regressed to an old analog solution. Laying a dress pattern over a mapped grid seemed to work nicely here ... evidently the ladies agree, they're already walking the route!

NEW from Greymoor Walk -

"To Light the Way Back Home"
digitally manipulated photograph by Mick Mather

"Travelers, there is no path, paths are made by walking."
- Antonio Mochado

While I was out walking -

"Faded Memory of A Once Happy Place"
digital collage by Mick Mather

Today's post is loosely based on an old classic, "Silhouettes", popularized by The Rays or Herman's Hermits, depending upon which decade you prefer. Anyway, it's the opening line of the song, "Took a walk and passed your house late last night", that informs the image here, not the larger theme of mistaking an address as is made clear by the end of the song. Any way I look at it, I seem to encounter walks and walking at almost every turn.

Walking then, as now -

"Coyote Walking the Fences"
digital collage by Mick Mather

Today's post is based on a real event experienced well over a decade ago on a series of walks at Beaver Lake Nature Center in Central New York. While making the 3-mile Lake Loop one late, spring morning I spotted a coyote standing in the middle of the trail, staring at me while holding his ground. Not flinching from my end of the quarter-mile gap that separated us I ran straight for him. Soon enough he turned and hightailed it into the deep woods without so much as a by your leave. As I continue to go back through old files, virtual - hard copy - my memory, I realize just how long the act of walking has informed my artistic life as an unrecognized presence for much of the time. Well, more on this later I bet, I'm still collating data.

Take that one, last step -

"Sandra Out Walking"
digital collage by Mick Mather

Last night I was getting tired, eyes drooping and I was thinking about going to bed. I thought to myself, "Just one more." All of a sudden an image that I was toying with for the fun of it started to click for me. Uh oh, wide awake now, filter this, layer that, turn it and burn it. Hmmm, tweak that old filter I rarely us. It won't work and you can go to bed. What? It looks fine...almost there, diffuse, one more layer, repaint that spot, leave that one go. Yup, this is where it took me and I couldn't be more pleased.