Some Sunflower Snapshots

I have been following Katie Lloyd's 31 days to releasing your inner artist.  I've spent so much of my life thinking of myself as anything but an artist--the literal one, the one good at math, the geek...it is taking me time to accept that in photography I might just be an artist.  It has definitely always been a "creative outlet" and now more so than ever, but art?  That is really hard for my mind to wrap around.  I really dislike reading posts about how you can learn all the technical stuff but an artistic eye cannot be taught.  But there is still a lot of the technical side of photography for me to learn before my photos start being judged solely for lack of art.  Anyway, that is just a thought I'm mulling over.  Am I an artist?  Do I have what it takes?  Does it matter?

In the meantime, I'm reading all I can to learn more and taking a lot of pictures to get better...I certainly haven't maxed out my potential yet.  And Katie challenged us to find inspiration in what we have around the house since we cannot always go out to capture beauty.  I feel like it is almost cheating to participate since over half of my pictures are taken at home...and are of the same subject that is with me everywhere.  But it is true that my daughter inspires me...to be more active, to be more creative, to have more fun, to be a better mother, to be a better example...each and every day.

She also makes me laugh and laugh and laugh so I'm also linking to Simplicity's Photo Challenge: Laugh Out Loud.  (Simplicity is hosting 31 Days of Inspiring Photography for the month of October.)

Here is where she tells me that this rock is her "pecial rock...it's precious to me."

This is right after I told her that she could not go into the house and bring her stuffed animal into the wet yard.  "She's my baby!  It's dry!  Daddy said I could!"  Ummmm, still no.  (Yes, this makes me laugh.)

Here is where she decided to change her clean boots for the boots the boys had left out only to discover a spider web in one of them.  "Get it out, Mommy."   No.

"Push me, Mommy!"  No...again.

"I could have climbed up the slide better if you'd helped me put on those other boots."  No, I don't think so...but I will give you a hand.  It seems like these stories are more about me saying no than laughing out loud, but I assure you that her sheer enthusiasm, determination, persistence, and overall energy can usually crack us up.  She is a real joy to be around.

As my 7 year old said yesterday, "Mommy, was I as funny as Sunflower when I was her age?"  Ummmm, sorry, but no.  He came into his funny a few years later.   His idea is that if Sunflower is ever homeless she could make money by going around and making people laugh.