Foto Art Friday – March 24, 2017

Go with the Flow

On a recent cruise, my husband and I took advantage of the opportunity to go snorkeling in the Caribbean.  I caught this image of fish swimming primarily in the same direction.  There is one fish, tho, who seems determined to go his own way, and is swimming against the flow, so to speak.  I am reminded of how there are times when it’s good to strike out on one’s own, and not follow the crowd.  However, I’m also reminded of some advice I heard that suggests sometimes when we are trying to do what seems to be difficult, we just need to sort of go with the flow of things and subtly make our way to our chosen course.  The example given is when one wants to cross a river with a strong current.  Rather than just striking out to cross the river directly, it’s good to let the current carry you, and gently keep moving toward the other shoreline.  You will get across, and save much effort and energy.  So, the reminder for me is to just go with the flow when the Universe seems to want me to go in a different direction than what I had in mind.

Go with the Flow

Enjoy!

This piece is available in prints as well as a variety of other formats via www.fineartamerica.com/profiles/nadine-berg.  

Foto Art Friday – March 17, 2017

Waiting

It seems that we all spend a good portion of our lives waiting for various things – waiting to be old enough to vote, drink, and marry to begin with.  Then, old enough to retire and enjoy life.  Or maybe, waiting for someone to return home or something wonderful to happen.  This piece focuses on that last feeling.  The pier in fog can represent so many things – waiting for it to lift to be able to truly enjoy the day, or waiting for a loved one to return or to visit.  The darker clouds overhead is our worry about the situation. The birds in the distance can remind us of a person who is gone.  A handwritten note received so long ago seems to fade in our memory.  And, still, we wait. 

Waiting

Enjoy!

This piece is available as a print and in a variety of formats at www.fineartamerica.com/profiles/nadine-berg

FotoArtFriday – March 10, 2017

What is Past

The foundational image for this piece, the top portion of an old weather vane and windmill, reminded me of the past.  I thought about how we can learn from the past, and if we don’t, we tend to repeat our same mistakes over and over, until we do learn.  I then came across a quote from Shakespeare – “What is past is prologue”- and thought that if we don’t learn from the past, then it truly is a prologue to what will be our future.  That can be good or bad……it’s up to us.

What is Past

Enjoy!

This piece is available as a print or in a number of different formats by visiting                                                     www.fineartamerica.com/profiles/nadine-berg

Inspirational Images

When at Big Bend National Park, I found some very pretty small flowers blooming in a very unlikely spot – in the ruins of an old, abandoned mine.  It just amazed me to see this delicate little blooms springing up literally from the rocks in the path to and around the mine. I processed the images, and then added some simple and hopefully inspirational words.

Thrive Anywhere

One of the things I found inspirational about these blooms were that they not only survived in these harsh conditions, they actually seemed to thrive in their environment.  A definite lesson for all of us, at one point in our lives or another.

Let your Life Bloom

How many times do we allow our environment or circumstances get in the way of living our life to the fullest?  I know I fall into that trap, and I’m guessing most of us do likewise.  Let’s keep this tiny little flower in mind the next time we feel like giving up!

Enjoy!

Both pieces are available as prints or in a variety of other formats at www.fineartameria.com/profiles/nadine-berg.

Colorful Rock Art

When I think of rock art, being from the Southwest, I can’t help but think of the art drawn on the walls of canyons or caves by ancient people.  This rock art, though, is not made by man, either recent or ancient.  It’s something that Nature has provided.

Ernst Canyon Colorful Art

Recently, as I explored Big Bend National Park, I found this brilliantly colored rock at my feet as I walked through Ernst Canyon.  I was in what is called a tinaja, but the show Nature was putting on wasn’t only on the walls of the canyon – it was on the floor as well.  I loved the colors of the rock, the blend of the lights and darks, pinks and purples, and also how the cracks in the rocks added a sort of dramatic tension to the piece.

Abstract Rock Art

I find this piece to be spectacular in both color and design, and take no credit for either!  Again, I photographed the art at my feet.  The lines, circles and perfect balance of color is something that Nature put there for me to discover, and I’m glad I was looking down at this moment!  It reminds me of a painting or collage of lovely hand-dyed paper that I would be proud to call my own.  Instead, I simply provided the mechanics of capturing this natural abstract art with my camera.

Enjoy!

Both these pieces are available as prints or in other formats at www.fineartamerica.com/profiles/nadine-berg

Foto Art Friday – March 3, 2017

Yesterday’s Picnic

One of the campgrounds at Big Bend National Park, in Texas, has a day-use area that has several picnic tables underneath the cottonwood trees.  As I road my bike past the area, and later rested at one of the tables, I was reminded of times past when we would picnic at similar open areas when I was a child.  I also remembered when my husband and I would picnic along a river, laze about reading, and also ride our bikes, as the mood struck us.  This piece is meant to allow us all to remember the times when our days were full of simple pleasures.

Yesterday’s Picnic

Enjoy!

This piece may be purchased as a print or in a variety of other formats at

www.fineartamerica.com/profiles/nadine-berg

Lone Trees

As we explored one section of the Organ Mountain National Monument, and we walked the beginning of a trail, I noticed some lovely trees, as they stood silhouetted against the clouds that seemed heavy with snow.

Lone Tree

I first noticed this lone trees, branches still bare from winter’s chill.  Spring has not yet reached this small tree’s branches, and they seem to accentuate the chill that still existed in the air with the snow clouds behind it.

Trees on the Ridgeline

As I stepped back from the view of the one lone tree, I was struck by the lines drawn by nature.  There are now a string of 3 trees, some of which are already reflecting green boughs, along a ridgeline of a hill that dips to form part of a small canyon, with the larger mountains in the background forming the other canyon walls.  The intersecting lines of the two mountains in the background with the hill in the foreground seemed to compliment the line of the trees in a way that only nature seems to carelessly perfect.  And, the cold feel to the clouds hanging low offsets the warm golden color of the ground cover in the foreground.

Enjoy!

Foto Art Friday – February 24, 2017

Understanding

I’ve been thinking about understanding, and how somehow, we seem to have a hard time understanding how to understand.  It sounds simple – put yourself in the place that another person is in, and think of how you’d feel.  That’s the simplest way to describe it.  You may not agree with them, but you can, to some degree, understand how they arrived at that opinion or feeling.  This piece is what came to me when I thought about the sometimes difficult act of understanding.  I started with an image I took of a dead tree in the Organ Mountains National Monument.  To me, it represents the bare bones of an idea or opinion.  The written words in the background represent the explanations that somehow never seem to be heard.  The shadows in the piece represent the various reports or opinions about what the base idea is.  Often, they only serve to cloud the issue.  But, still the bare bones of the idea or opinion still remains, standing alone, just waiting for …. understanding.

Understanding

Enjoy!

This piece is available as a print and in other formats at

www.fineartamerica.com/profiles/nadine-berg.