Pow Wow dancer

The girl in the photo danced at every opportunity and so beautifully. It is good to see the younger people keeping up with their traditions. Every visit to a pow wow I learn more and more about the original inhabitants of the United States. I sit and chat with whomever is open for a little talk. This year I sat next to the lady who decorates the most beautiful walking sticks with peyote stitch and her friend told me about the history of her people. She was in her late 70's and had to go to boarding school and only speak English. The children were not allowed to speak their own tongue. She introduced me to the docent who teaches Quechan to the childeren now. My English is better than my Dutch, but I am very happy that it is good enough to read, write and speak and that I learned the history of my little country. I can't imagine what it would be like if someone said, "you have to disown your heritage". Even as a child, growing up in South Africa, I was still aware that I was Dutch. However, I am not Dutch enough to be really Dutch, neither English enough, nor South African enough nor American enough, to be any of those either. I am just me, I suppose, and quite happy with it.

Here is a picture of the dancing girl's face.

Pow Wow

The weather is improving. Come to think of it, the weather needs no improvement here. It is always lovely in the winter. Still, the mornings are no longer chilly now, which they can be and the birds are singing loudly in chorus. It makes the heart soar. 
I can't believe that I haven't written on my blog for so long. Last year I was very active around this time, painting, drawing and posting. More recently I have returned to Facebook, writing a manuscript and working on my camper. I also discovered Pinterest, which I enjoy and feel that I learn all kinds of things. Some people think it's an enormous 'time-waster', just like Facebook, but you see some amazing photography and art, and if I didn't 'Pin', I would never have known this:

Now I know that it has a name.

Pow Wow photography

Cropped, not shopped. I mainly used a 55-200mm lens at the pow wow, which eliminates the background nicely. I like using this lens when doing portraits too.

Strong Hearts Pow Wow

I have been going to Pow Wows in the years that I have lived in the SouthWest and find it endlessly fascinating. A few years ago, I was there with a 7 year-old friend. The lady sitting next to me said that she was Havapai, and asked what my young companion was. Without thinking, I said, "He's a cutie-pie". She looked me in the eyes for a moment, and then we both started laughing.

Pow Wow Shopping

Often in photography, a background can make or break an otherwise good picture. It is the same when collaging or painting. Recently, backgrounds have been my focus, whether making them on paper, Yupo or in Photoshop. This photo didn't have a very distracting background, but I worked on it  a little anyway with 'brushes' and then 'smudged' the subject, which brought out the light on his profile.

Pow Wow photography

Children always make good subjects. They can be totally oblivious of their surroundings when playing. 

Shopping again

Dishes not done. Nothing for lunch. Appointment at 2 and it's 12:48. But I am happier with my Photoshop efforts. My own photo made at the Sedona Pow Wow, a neutral background in beige/tan, and brushes. Getting a little closer to where I want to be. 

I have always liked this photo, but the wall was distracting, although not as distracting as a pole growing out of someone's head in a otherwise good shot.
Photoshop is a nice way of using photos that didn't make the mark for whatever reason - my mark, that is. 

Blogging

I see a lot of blogs. I love reading them. Whether it's about art, craft, techniques, photography, dogs, cooking, you name it, I love it. Then at times, you start wondering why you visit certain ones more often than others. I am speaking solely for myself when I say 'people'. It's the person behind the blog that captures you, not the knitted mittens, but what they say about those mittens.

If you blog about one particular subject, then you are going to attract the demographic that is interested in that topic. This doesn't make it easier on bloggers, like me, who like so many things and I always go back to why I started to blog in the first place when I wonder why I do it at all.

I live far away from my family and many of my friends. In a way I thought they would enjoy seeing what I was up to. You know, the way you show a visiting friend your latest sketch or mittens, for that matter. Some visit regularly but some have never seen it. I forget that there are people who haven't been pounding away at a computer for years, the way I have. They are perfectly happy that they are able to email and have no further interest, and that is fine.

So, in short, I write the blog for myself, and if I can share with someone, then that is an extra perk. (It's like keeping a photo album, that you only show to visitors).

My brother once said to me, when I indicated that I wasn't interested in computers all too much, that I would be smart if I did a couple of courses, because computers were not going to go away.

They didn't, and they guided me to the BLOG, and to the pleasure of blogging.

These are the things (I think) I have learned along the way:

1. Blogging is a lonely business, therefore comments and reactions are fun and you make new friends by commenting.

2. Be yourself in your blog and post your own work, or link back if it is by someone else.

3. There is a blog etiquette. People appreciate your comments; they often email you, and if you become a follower of their blog, they often follow yours. 

4. Blog frequently but not too frequently. Three blogs a week is what I go for, besides you need time to think and come up with something original.

5. Make it clear in a post what it's about. Don't upload a mixed bag of things. The reader soon moves on if it gets confusing. Rambling doesn't work well either. Don't make your blogs too long (like this one is sure to be).

6. Join a group of like-minded souls. Place a button on your blog, so others can find it. My hits went up from around 50 to around 100 a day in the last months since I joined two groups.

7. Never be afraid to comment. I have received lovely chatty emails from some of my Blog-Idols, making it even more fun to follow their blog.

8. A no-brainer is to always be polite on a blog, not to discuss anyone else, unless it's in glowing colors and do not whine.

9. I get the most hits on my blog from Google Images, 'Paper cuts', so I just head paper cut posts headers as 'Paper Cut'. 30% of my hits come from Paper Cuts Images. I don't know where people find my stories but 'Poppies, Poppies will put them to sleep', has a little reader base all of its own as do some of my other little essays, which lately, I having been keeping as short as I can - less is more, sort of thing.

10. The more active you are as a blogger, blog reader and commenter the more your reader-base will grow. 

....and know when to stop.

The above image was made with a black and white photo I made at a Pow Wow and using 'brushes' in Photoshop. I am on a learning curve.

Listening to: "Belgrave Square" by Anne Perry.  

 

The 12th mystery in the beloved Inspector and Charlotte Pitt Victorian mystery series. When a moneylender named William Weems is murdered, there is discreet rejoicing among those whose meager earnings he devoured. But the plot thickens when Inspector Pitt finds a list of London's distinguished gentlemen in Weems' office.

Not quite into it.