Kat Sloma hosts a wonderful practice each month called Photo Heart Connection.

Deepen the connection between your photos and your heart and soul by participating in this monthly review of your images, to find the one that best connects to your heart.

November 2013

“What on earth can you see, it’s dark!” She said

It might even be my Photo Heart Connection this month”

…and so it is. A mediocre picture taken with my phone, a conversation, a bit of magic and a reminder of a lovely afternoon with a very special lady.

There will be some lovely Photo Heart Connections over here on Kat’s blog if you have a moment.

Kat Sloma hosts a wonderful practice each month called Photo Heart Connection.

Deepen the connection between your photos and your heart and soul by participating in this monthly review of your images, to find the one that best connects to your heart.

October 2013

Last week I snapped this picture of my boy when he wasn’t looking.
He was trying on his new suit, faffing with the pocket square. I thought how good he looked.
I put the photo into my ‘October file’ ready to move at the end of the month.

A couple of days ago I was looking for something for a photo prompt ‘Pulling’ and remembered I had this tractor and trailer in the shed. I fetched it out, dusted it down (not very well I notice now) took the shot I wanted and filed the rest of the shots in my ‘October file’ ready to move at the end of the month.

Here we are at the end of the month: I looked through my file for a special photo that speaks to my heart for Kat Sloma’s lovely practice. The suit and the tractor were close to each other.

The tractor was something Ben had on his first birthday, and here he is at 24.

The tractor actually brings back some unhappy memories for me, we were having a very tough time, work, finances, new baby, normal life I suppose. I live to tell the tale, and for me it is told in this storyboard.

Thank you Kat.

Kat Sloma hosts a wonderful practice each month called Photo Heart Connection.

Deepen the connection between your photos and your heart and soul by participating in this monthly review of your images, to find the one that best connects to your heart.

September 2013

This time last year we were at my nieces fabulous wedding.
She had done so many beautiful little touches to make the wedding day sparkle. Not least of which were the flowers.
She had only White Mop Head Hydrangeas, either planted or cut and all in black containers. They were absolutely stunning. And all the crazy old aunts (yes me) were given a plant in a black square box to take home.
The wedding was the day before our wedding anniversary.
A year later we were away in a very beautiful village that has a castle on top of the hill. The woodlands surrounding the castle are heavily planted with Hydrangeas in every shape and colour; they were stunning in such a natural environment.
When I saw this white one, I took the picture with my phone and sent it to my niece with love and happy memories of a wonderful day.
I smiled when I saw (on my computer) the bug on the petal. My niece’s baby is due any day now.

I forgot to post my PHC for August, I hope you won’t mind if I post it today?

August 2013

Yes it’s Gromit. That surprised you didn’t it?

This summer there has been the most wonderful art exhibition in Bristol called Gromit Unleashed.

Led by Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Appeal and Aardman Animations, Gromit Unleashed is a public art exhibition in which giant sculptures of Gromit, decorated by invited artists, have been unleashed on the streets of Bristol and the surrounding area.

At the end of the art trail, the sculptures will be auctioned to raise funds for Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Appeal, the Bristol Children’s Hospital Charity.

There are 80 of these five foot high, beautifully painted Gromits all around the city of Bristol.
One Sunday we decided to go to Clifton so that I could photograph the bridge and we came across Brizzel Gromit. (Brizzel is what Bristolians call their city)

Now I am not usually one to go wandering around an art trail like this but the people gathered around this Gromit were just so friendly, everyone was talking to everyone else, (not very British at all!) taking photos and comparing notes about how many they had seen and where they were. Some people like us were just out for the day. Some people had been around the city on a hop on, hop off bus to find them. One lady had photographed forty of them! and one family had travelled across the country to see them.
There were five in Clifton, inspired, we walked around the town with our own dog and found them.

My hobby has changed me, I am much more confident than I ever was. With my camera I can talk to people in the street, I ask people if I can take their photo and I feel inspired to go on an art trail. I won’t be able to see any more of this one until the whole exhibition comes together in one place later in September.
So my Photo Heart Connection: Brizzel Gromit tells me how much I have grown in confidence and how much fun there is taking in a trail like this. Get out there, make pictures, have fun.

I thought you might like to see my little collection of Gromits.

Kat Sloma host a wonderful practice each month called Photo Heart Connection.

Deepen the connection between your photos and your heart and soul by participating in this monthly review of your images, to find the one that best connects to your heart.

This is mine for July 2013

I bought the most beautiful bouquet of Gerberas from the supermarket. They screamed summer and I wanted some red and yellow colour for the Summer of Colour project I was doing.
They lasted almost a week on their tall and slender stems.
I photographed them daily then they began to bend on withered stems, as they do.
I cut them shorter and brought them to the windowsill in a smaller vase and as the days went by one by one they bent their beautiful heads. But the colours were still so vibrant. I couldn’t let them go.
I got my lovely dark blue glass dish out. I really don’t have room for it in this house but I put it on the kitchen table, filled it with water, cut the stems down to about an inch and floated the Gerbera heads on the water and there they stayed for almost another week.
We worked around the huge bowl on the table because they were so beautiful.

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.” ~Thornton Wilder

Kat Sloma host a wonderful practice each month called Photo Heart Connection.

Deepen the connection between your photos and your heart and soul by participating in this monthly review of your images, to find the one that best connects to your heart.

This is mine for June.

I was out for lunch with a friend at the lovely cafe up at the boat yard in town. After lunch we were walking, talking and looking about in the glorious sunshine.
She was telling me how she and her friends used to play up here when they were children, I had my camera of course, was listening to her and looking around when I saw my picture.

“Oooh! look” I said, “A heart, a heart in the sky”.
“Where?” said my friend looking all around.
“Look, up there, at the boat” I said while pointing wildly at the stern of the boat.
“I can see its anchor” she said.
I made my picture and gave her a hug.