RGW Inspiration: Words and Images

I don't know why I posted to the WordlessOnWednesday theme earlier ... I hate not thanking people and being wordless in a post! I'll get to y'all soon enough ... thank you for your kind words ... ;o) Here's some words for you in the meantime. Like I was saying ... ;o) [Remixed base image: by Andrea Pavanello - CC wikimedia]

Change the World; I Dare You ––– There's a Buckminster Fuller quote that says it all to me: "You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete."   Ever since I got on social media, since day one, my whole thrust/purpose/goal/intention ... whatever you want to call it ... has been to change the world. Yes, indeedy.  I know that I sound a bit like a self-deluding airhead when I say such things, but I bought completely an idea that was circulated––that to achieve anything, one has to shoot much farther than the target.   I decided to keep everything that I put out into the world as positive as I could muster for that day. That was to stand in the face of everything that was pulling this world down. Bad news; bad attitudes; bad behavior. I don't tackle all of that stuff head on, I merely change the focus. So maybe I only change the lives of 20, 200 or 2000 in my whole life ... that's...

"The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches but to reveal to him his own." ~ Benjamin Disraeli  Why I mentor others here at G+: A while back, I was searching for my purpose in life. At the time, I was mentoring at an online art community. Over and over again, I would get comments from people such as, "I would love to be an artist, but I have no talent"; "I wish I were gifted, but clearly I wasn't meant to be an artist"… and there was real sadness and disappointment in their commentary. But I knew the truth, that where I started from gave no indication of "talent" in my early years, and that what I had gone through showed me clearly that art was an inherent part of our nature as human beings. Yet this concept was lost in current society and wasn't being nurtured.  There is a lie being perpetuated in society that I call the "myth of talent". The Myth of Talent I have often had people, when I tell t...

L ♡ V E ––– Definition:  *When someone else's happiness means more to you than your own.* … happy Valentine's Day.  …………. ––––– #BreakfastClub  #10000photographersaroundtheworld  #hqspart  #rgwoodpost #inspiration #ValentinesDay2013 #ValentinesDay #love #wedding #weddingphotography

Are you an artist? ––– If you are a photographer and you've ever wondered if you are an artist, I offer you this from Ansel Adams: "Photography is more than a medium for factual communication of ideas. It is a creative art."   Sure, there are photographers that only document what is in front of their lens, and you may well be one of those. So how can you tell if you are an artist? This is what I tell my students:  You are an artist if you wish to create something with your media which communicates more than its component parts.   Now, you become a remarkable artist when you become fluent in the language of how to communicate with the tools of art and move past merely documenting what is in front of your lens.  An artist will use these tools to show us what we have never seen before.   The best artists will show us what we never could have imagined.  This is the stuff that makes your jaw drop, makes you stop in your tracks and makes you say, "Wow!"  I am still a...

This goes under the heading of Things To Do With Your Old Lo-Res Images Turn them into paintings! My first digital camera was a 1.2(whoa!)mp Olympus that I took on one of my trips to Hawaii. I woke up every morning at 4 am and waited for the sun to rise and shot it every single day. My memories of it are better than the shots! Ooh, but there's all kinds of lemonade to be made from lemons -- push around those mini"not so mega"pixels, toss in a sailboat and voilá -- some fun!  …………. ––––– #InspirationalSaturday, with thanks to curators Charlotte Therese Björnström  Mylah Nazario  and Khrystiane Friedli  #PhotoManipulationSaturday with thanks to Josh Adamski  #SurrealArtSaturday with thanks to Mikko Tyllinen & SurrealArtSaturday #PaintItSaturday with thanks to Richard Mabb Celso Carvalho Clare Bambers Rick Leaf k phelps Carol Small Astrid Bartels Milena Ilieva Stefan Kierek Elin Vaeth Photo BTS #BreakfastClub with huge thanks to Gemma Costa and Breakfast Club 10000 PHOTO...

––– Show a Little Kindness ––– A rare verbal image post from me, but I've been encountering so many folks lately that have been using less than favorable words to describe themselves, it had to be said … and loudly. You are the best friend that you have, and you deserve the kindness you bestow upon others.  …………. ––––– #FloralFriday with thanks to Tamara Pruessner #BreakfastClub with huge thanks to Gemma Costa and Breakfast Club 10000 PHOTOGRAPHERS around the World / #10000photographersaroundtheworld  with thanks to Robert SKREINER Macro4All     #rgwoodpost #naturephotography #inspiration #macrophotography #flowerphotography #floralphotography #waterdropsphotography #waterdrop ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ Please feel free to ask me, if you would like this image available for print at robingriggswood.smugmug.com ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀

Never forget those moments you've shared, in true camaraderie, where neither weather nor looming darkness could dissuade you from the pure fun of the moment. Was it the weather that changed later... or the viewpoint? ... ;o) "Catchin' Frogs" a painting by Robin Griggs Wood –– Painting details here:  https://plus.google.com/photos/103698889037599783920/albums/5637588304637072641/5637588362852828610 in celebration of this month's First Friday Art Walk with thanks to Samantha Villenave and Lena Levin  #rgwoodpost #creative   #digitalart #painting #colors #inspiration #fineart #fineartpls #firstfridayartwalk   #waterscapeart