Speaking of Small: Sister Corita's Little Window

Figures from the world over came to Sister Corita for art classes during her prime in the '60's. Luckily she taught at Immaculate Heart College, just down the street from my parents' home.  My mom enjoyed her classes, and I tagged along a few times.  

You can see her work here:  Sister Corita images. Her images were so popular one was made into a postage stamp.

I recall in particular a lesson where we cut a small window in stiff paper to help us search for an appealing segment to blow-up into an abstract image:

Soon after we moved to New Mexico, I wanted to paint abstract paintings but had no clue how to begin -- I felt I needed help with composition.  I noticed that, as Sister Corita had taught, if I looked closely at small details in nature, I could scale up with my macro lens.  As it turned out, the photos themselves became my focus for several years -- nature offered wonders I could never paint.  Abstract painting would have to wait.

           

There were all sorts of old treasures lying around on the property when we moved.  The fun of macro photography is hearing people speculate about what they are seeing.  Several thought the photo above was a satellite image of a lake.  Actually it was an old metal bucket, rusting to pieces.  Its crumbling left an intriguing window into its dark interior.   

And sometimes nature supplies her own special window.