The Call of the Wild...

Now showing at Textures Craftworks: 

The Nature of Things:

wildlife photography by

Mark Williams - the Greenbelt Guy. 

Featured through April 15, 2013.

 

_______________________________________________

I am so honoured to have the opportunity to display my nature photography, The Nature of Things, in the window display at Texture's Craftworks from March 25th to April 15th.  The photo greeting cards have been well received and are selling steady this past year I have been a member.  The display has given me a chance to showcase digital photo plaques and framed photography of a number of my favourite nature shots, some in large format.

 

 

My photography comes under the moniker Greenbelt Guy (www.greenbeltguy.ca) because I started shooting digital photography about 6 years ago up and down the greenbelt region of Ontario and the Niagara Biosphere covering an area from Tobermory over to Beaverton and down through the Hamilton/Niagara region.  The diversity and beauty of the wildlife and flora in this area is vast and exciting.  Waterfalls, Conservation Areas, Rivers, Parks and Forests are encouraging the return of many animals and birds.  Osprey, Eagles, Woodpeckers and Owls are but a few of the birds finding their home in Southern Ontario.

 

 

I try to find a story in each picture that the viewer can see and feel drawn in to or at the very least, show a part of wildlife that we normally don't get to see close-up.  Colours, shapes, textures and movement that needs to be capture a moment in time then displayed to the audience.

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These three pictures are my favourites and went to inspire my logo:

 

  

"I am a photographer by nature" (tm)

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How I got started ...

A Yellow Warbler first introduced me to nature photography.

A few years back, I left for my lunch hour, parking the car at a nearby ravine from where I was employed. There was a small stream running through it. While I was having lunch in the car and enjoying the solitude, this yellow beauty landed on my driver-side mirror, seemingly unaware of me in the car, the window was up. He would tap on the mirror with his beak or sometimes fly head first into the mirror. Wondering if he was looking for a mate or defending territory, I was curious and intrigued by this little yellow bird's tenacity. The following day I purchase my first digital camera, a Kodak with 10x Optical Zoom.

I returned to the same spot for several days and so did the Yellow Warbler entertaining me with his aeronautics and one-sided love affair with his image in the mirror. I snapped many pictures, but this one in particular (above) became my favourite as I managed to get this beautiful bird in mid-song as designated by the focused upper beak and the vibrating lower beak.

-Mark Williams - a.k.a. The Greenbelt Guy 

Time Marches On

 

Here we are, in March already!  March is the third month of the year, and comes from Latin Martius, the first month of the earliest Roman calendar. It was named for Mars, the Roman god of war who was also regarded as a guardian of agriculture. His month was the beginning of the season for farming.

We have been busy at Textures preparing for the coming spring. Days are getting longer now, and we are looking forward to warmer weather ahead.  How about you?

 

Some things you might not know about March:

-birthstones are aquamarine and bloodstone, which symbolize courage

-it's flower is the Daffodil
-zodiac signs for the month of March are Pisces and Aries



-it is National Craft Month
-it is Epilepsy Awareness Month in Canada
-came in like a lamb in Hamilton this year

Special days in March:
8- International Women's Day
10- Daylight Saving Time begins

 

 

 

 

14- Pi Day
15- Ides of March
17- St. Patrick's Day

 

 

 



 

19- St. Joseph's Day
20- First Day of Spring

 

 

 

 

23- Earth Hour, 8 p.m.
24- Palm Sunday
25-Apr.2- Passover
28- Maundy Thursday
29- Good Friday

 

31- Easter

 

 

 

 

***************************************************

 

Now showing at Textures:

-through March 24:  Cattitudes - You will be feline groovy with this show of all

                                                               things cat-related

 

 

*Note:  these knitted hats are made with a hand-spun blend of mohair and cat hair by Lynn Therrien.

 



 

-starting March 25: The Nature of Things- photography by Mark Williams

 

 

 

***************************************************

Artist Profile- Tracey Brailsford

Sundara Studios is the workshop of jewellery designer Tracey Brailsford. Based in Hamilton, Ontario, Tracey has studied art and design at both the University of Guelph and Mohawk College. Her creativity and sense of whimsy combine beautifully with her meticulous workmanship to produce fun and fabulous hand-made adornments that are one of a kind.

 

Tracey’s career in jewellery design began several years ago when she created a necklace for her best friend as a Christmas gift. The necklace garnered so much attention that soon after Sundara Studios was born, and has been evolving and growing steadily ever since.  Encouraged further by classes in silversmithing, she continues to expand her repertoire of techniques and choice of media.  At present, Tracey is working primarily in Precious Metal Clay, an ingenious medium which allows maximum creativity and produces pure silver with components reclaimed from industry.  What a beautiful way to recycle!

 

“After my kids skip off to school each day, I squirrel away in my studio, gleefully banging, twisting, rolling, cutting, bending, molding and drilling. I am banging shape and texture into metal, twisting tendrils of metal, filing away its stark edges and embellishing its bland surfaces, bending and molding it, drilling life into it. I love my job!”

 

Trivia:  Sundara is Hindi for “beautiful”

***************************************************

So, will March go out like a lion? Time will tell...