The End of 2007

Another year has finally come to an end. Friends have been made and lost, the landscape of many locations around the world changed. Today as I write this I have just finished the last piece of artwork to be created by me this year. Somehow it is fitting that it has both an English theme, the flavor of travel and the feel of techniques of the past.

Captured by a digital camera, this image was converted to black & white and then altered to have the grainy feel of high-speed film. Because of the long exposure time needed to render the flame, ghostly images of people moving about the memorial have made their way into the scene.

As we're a long way from home, travel over the holidays helps to take our minds off not being with family and friends. Thanksgiving was spent in Paris having fine French wine and croissants instead of roast turkey with oyster stuffing and hours watching the Macy's parade. The connection to our temporary home country of England is obvious.

Titled "Ghosts Around the Flame" this is an image of the Princess Diana Memorial in Paris , France at night and as I stated, the last artistic piece I will create in 2007. It is available for purchase at my ImageKind gallery.

I wish everyone a safe and Happy New Year. Leave your bad memories and bad habits in the past where they belong, treat the upcoming year as the new creation that it is; devoid of mistake and folly until we bumble along into it. May God bless each and every one of you.

~James

Fountains at Versailles

Paris. The city of love and lights. Romance is conjured up at the very mention of the name in the minds of most people. The dream trip for young couples in love.

I was fortunate enough to spend the Thanksgiving holiday in Paris and witnessed young couples in love staring deep into each other's eyes. In one instance there was a proposal at the top of the eiffel Tower and in another Paris was where an engaged couple purchased their wedding rings. Love was definately in the air.

Along with the veritable bucketloads of love being flung into the air is the flip-side of love: war. Paris was the scene of revolution, upheaval, plague and the depths of human suffering at the hands of one another in the name of... whatever you mind can come up with.

Just outside of Paris is the palace of Versailles, a spectacular display of planning and workmanship. It very nearly bankrupt the country of France as it was being built. Aside from the intrigue and treachery it was witness to over its lifetime, Versailles is a marvel of engineering at its pinnacle. Engineering on a grand scale no less. I've been in many a village around the world that would fit nicely inside the stone and guilt iron perimeter many times over with room to spare. Impressive for sure.

Many more images are on the way from this trip, I'm working hard at trying to get them out in time for the holiday season. Check back to see if I've made my self-imposed deadline!

~James