So I have been a bad blogger lately – that is, not even being one! I have been taking photos. Some of these photos are tied up on undeveloped film, but others I have taken and shared with Instagram. Now the use of Instagram can be debated as a source of “art” and “inspiration.” Personally, I see two ends of the spectrum. The main end has laymen using Instagram like Facebook to share photos of every day life with friends. The other end is fine artists/photographers using Instagram as a tool in their business to take and share images.

Over the past month or so, I have used Instagram a few times to share images from travels. This first image is from visiting with relatives for Christmas. My uncle’s dog got surgery in her hind leg and had to wear the cone so she would not lick the wound too much. Poor thing. I like this image for some reason.

There is a fantastic Chihuly exhibit in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts right now. The museum is in Richmond, Virginia. I high recommend going there to see it sometime if you have not. There are several rooms of very elaborate colorful glass sculptures. The time it took to create each piece and assemble just astounds me. I can relate to Chihuly’s love of glass and color. I always fawn over stained glass windows. I think illuminated colorful glass is one of the most amazing art forms. There is a great sense of delicacy and care that goes into glass sculpture. You really have to understand the mechanics of glass blowing and color theory. I think it also plays to my visual senses that are so obviously a huge part of my life. Light, color, shapes, composition all play a huge role in photography as well.

These first two images are ones that I took looking up into a glass ceiling that was covered in colorful glass pieces with light shining through. It was really fun and whimsical. Chihuly incorporated sea life sculptures and the colorful reflections on the walls mimicked the wavy light forms you see on the bottom of a pool.

I have also visited Washington, D.C. this month. I found myself with a three-day weekend and decided to go visit friends there. This first image below is an accidental image that I took on my iPod Touch. I have no idea why there is such a blue cast. Instagram requires you crop your images to square. I am not sure if I like the full image or the cropped version better. But I do like the subtle shapes and color variations.

Taking the Metro was a must. Easily the best way to get from place to place, especially from an apartment in Arlington to DC places like the Mall and the Zoo. One of my friends and I went to the National Gallery of Art to see the older galleries as well as the contemporary galleries. There is a no-photos-allowed Liechtenstein exhibit in the contemporary wing. It was very cool to see so much of his work in person. He was a clever artist that held up a mirror to society. One of the rooms had a few of his paintings that were modern stylized versions of historically famous paintings. I will admit that I really like Liechtenstein’s work.