Quiet confidence

I found this quote in a painting blog and I think it's a quote from the actress Amy Poehler. I then wrote it in my own journal because I liked the quiet confidence it has.

In case you can't read my writing, she says, "Care about the work you do, but not about the result. Care about how good you are, but not how good people think you are."

Basically she's saying, work at your art and care about improving, but don't rely on external validation for your sense of self-esteem.

Here's a photo I took of some toothbrushes. The response from certain people is, "Now WHO would photograph toothbrushes?" But I really like this photo! And I know WHY, which is important. I like the bold colors, the bizarre subject matter, the unusual composition, the repeating pattern, and the absurd wiggly movement of the brushes, almost a dental conga line!

So my point is to always be improving your work. You want to be the best you can be. And if you think your work is good, is the best you can do, then don't worry about what anybody else thinks.

©Carol Leigh
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Abstracts anywhere . . .

In my quest to show we can create unusual abstract images no matter where we are and no matter what's in front of us, I offer you this.

Looking like a pastel mountain range, these toothbrush handles were a perfect subject. I just lined them up, put something colorful in the background, and emphasized their translucence. Voila! Art and dental hygiene in the same day! ©Carol Leigh

Beauty in the ordinary

I sent each of my macro students this year a set of toothbrushes to photograph, encouraging them to look at them in a slightly different way than simply topped with toothpaste en route to their mouth. It's always fun to see what they come up with.

In the first shot, I concentrated on the handle shapes, making them look like little translucent hills.

In the second shot, shallow depth of field turned the handles in the background into soft sweeps of color.

The more straightforward third shot consists of a simple repeating pattern.

Dental hygiene ... who knew it could be so pretty? ©Carol Leigh