december photo-a-day: the finish line!

So today I'm posting my photos from December 29 (triptych), 30(a message), and 31(resolution).
Thanks for following along - it's been, once again, a great way for me to keep the wheels turning in the winter when I'm not feeling particularly creative.  December was the hardest month I've done yet, maybe because of the natural ebb of energy that happens.  But having some other photographers on board helped - you can see their photos here, here, and here.  2015 is already promising to be an interesting & exciting one - Happy New Year!

triptych - monica lacey 2014

a message 1 - monica lacey 2014

a message 2 - monica lacey 2014

make a wish - monica lacey 2014

day 27 & 28: collection & colour

emerald - monica lacey 2014

a collection of tiny empty things - monica lacey 2014

day 25/26: warmth/tracks

It's been a delightful holiday season, with lots of great socializing & laying around :)

It was also a bit productive as you can see from the second photo (theme:  tracks), which is of the hardware for my new studio doors!  There is still some finishing to be done, staining & I'm going to be putting in rice paper panels in the top half of each door.  Pics when they're finished, I promise.

love love - monica lacey 2014

studio doors - monica lacey 2014

day 23/day 24: monochromatic/landscape

blue tangle - monica lacey 2014

Christmas Eve 2014 - monica lacey 2014

My husband and I have a holiday tradition of going for a hike on Christmas Eve during the day - today was the 4th annual and the first one where we've had bare trails.  How things change.  This day last year we were wading through a few feet of snow!  Happy holidays everyone!

day 22: contrast

A few years ago a friend of mine gave me this amazing antique prosthetic leg because he knows I like old weird stuff.  I'm often struck by how, were I missing a leg, this one would be just my size.

true & false - monica lacey 2014

See what other photographers doing this challenge did for this theme here, here, and here.

day 21: how I feel today

returns the light - monica lacey 2014

This time of year I love getting to see everyone's Christmas lights, but also I love the fact that the wheel of the year turns and the days will start getting longer, bringing the sun back to us.

day 20: self-portrait

self-portrait, december - monica lacey 2014

See other self-portraits here, here, and here.

day 19: angles

shelves or drawers - monica lacey 2014

Today's photo is of an antique letterpress drawer I have - I wanted one for years and then finally scored one and I just don't know what to do with it now.  I love looking at it, maybe that's enough.

See yesterday's post for links to the other photographers :)

day 18: lead/follow

 Today's theme made me think of dancing - so I did some fast spinning and let the camera follow.  This is the result:

spun - monica lacey 2014

For more photos on this theme, go here, here, and here.

day 17: transparent

In the spirit of today's theme, I thought I'd share how I've been feeling - this month is the 6th time I've done a month-long photo-a-day challenge, and I realized yesterday I haven't been putting my full efforts into it.  Partly I think that this time of year is challenging in terms of motivation no matter what you're trying to do, but partly it's just laziness.  So today I shot a little extra & had some fun with the editing.  I found some thin slabs of ice that had frozen to the top of a bucket and placed them around my yard.  All photos monica lacey 2014.

day 16: portrait

devon playing piano - monica lacey 2014

The perks (perils?) of being married to an artist - you wind up with a plethora of drawings, photos, sculptures, etc. made in your likeness because you are usually the model who is available!  Today's photo - my very gracious husband, Devon Ross, as he was playing a gorgeous melody he'd just made up on the piano in my studio.

day 15: reflection

let it play - monica lacey 2014

Today's photo is taken in the reflection on the lid of my record player - the album on there is Rubber Soul :-)
See yesterday's post for links to other photographers doing this project.

day 12, 13, 14

Three in a row for you today since I didn't get to posting the past two days!

This is day 12, theme was B&W:

holidaystuff - monica lacey 2014

And then day 13 was repetition - this is of a shelf of my sketchbooks, I'm pretty partial to a specific kind of Moleskine...these days I go through one about every 4 months.

fill the space you have - monica lacey 2014

Today's theme is out of place - yes, that's a tiny pig & shark, hanging out.

friends 4 lyfe - monica lacey 2014

See more photos by others participating in this photo-a-day project here, here, & here.

day 11: before and after

hoping for numbers - monica lacey 2014

see yesterday's post for links to the other photogs :)

day 10: an animal

Today's theme is a treat because I happen to have the most adorable cat - his name is Johnny, and he's wonderful.  He's wearing a sweater because he's had some allergy issues where he gets really itchy and the sweater keeps him from scratching himself too hard.  He also seems to enjoy looking so dapper.  He likes to sit on my studio work table while I work - usually on top of any fabric or paper I put on the table.

johnny - monica lacey 2014

See other photos on this theme here, here, here, and here.

day 9: water

As the caption says below, these shots were taken with my underwater Pentax camera, in water in my kitchen sink.  I have had such a great time with this camera, and even made a short underwater film with it!

At my house we've gotten on the City of Charlottetown's water metering system, designed both to help you see your usage & conserve water, and to help you save money.  As much as my husband and I try to be pretty careful about the water we use, the amount of litres we use daily is pretty alarming, especially if you imagine carrying it.  Seeing those numbers on paper is a great motivator for us for using even less water.  If you live here & you're not on a meter, check it out at the link above, or check out the metering options where you live!  

For more photos, go here, here, and here.

kitchen sink portraits - monica lacey 2014

day 8: broken

broken - monica lacey -2014

day 7: soft focus

indoor clouds - monica lacey 2014

Today's shot is of a painting of mine - a little last minute to get it posted today, but it still turned out kind of cool :)

See some other photographers' takes on this them here, here, & here.

day 6: inside

It's a rainy, but warm day, quiet, a bit grey.  It's also the National Day of Action and Remembrance on Violence Against Women.  Hard to say how much things have changed since those women were shot in Montreal on this day 25 years ago...it's a good thing there are folks out there who are tirelessly working for change regardless of how it is sometimes one step forward, two steps back.  A good day for reflection - this is what I came up with for inside:

looking-glass flowers - monica lacey 2014

See yesterday's post for links to the other photographers doing this challenge :)

day 5: close-up

mini daffodils - monica lacey 2014

The daffodils in the photo above are actually miniatures, and the little bottle is only about 2 inches high, to give you an idea of scale.  Check out other photos on the theme of close-up by Celine Gorham, Alana Sprague, Tony Gallant, and Heather Idt.

Johnny, my studio cat, was very interested in my macro setting :)

day 4: diptych

For today's theme I was inspired by the work of this photographer, Oyvind Hjelmen - I see his work and I wish I had done it, it really gets to me with its dreamy beauty.  So that's what I was after with this diptych.

there and not there - monica lacey 2014

day 3: the view from here

It's a grey, rainy day in Charlottetown - perfect for puttering around in the studio, but not as nice for capturing the view.  That is until I started playing with the depth of field - look all the colours in those raindrops!  See more photos on this theme here, here, this page, and also here.

rainy day in the studio - monica lacey 2014

rainy day in the studio 2 - monica lacey 2014

day 2: light

the lightness of... - monica lacey 2014

I like using themes that have multiple meanings, and for today's theme I thought I'd tackle both.  I invited amateurs & pros alike to join me for December's photo-a-day - you can see photos by Heather Idt here, Alana Sprague here, and Tony Gallant here.

To see more of my artwork, photography, and other projects, visit www.monicalacey.com

Thanks for following along!

december photo-a-day project day 1: hands

prepping the page - monica lacey 2014

As an artist, my hands are my most important tools aside from my eyes & my mind.  I love them & don't take them for granted!  Today marks the start of a new photo-a-day session for the month of December - there are 5 other photographers joining me, so I'll be posting their links as well as they send me their sites.  Happy to be shooting every day again, it's such good practice & nice to get into the flow!