Spring Senior Photos!

Sweet Spring Senior - Images by Cassie Tedder

Spring vs. Winter

Why dogwoods take up the majority of my posts, I am not sure. Maybe they like their picture taken?! I do think they are easily one of the loveliest spring blooms. It is funny though- instead of posting pictures of our very first snow we got today, I post spring pictures. Oh well...I love spring. Winter, you will have some posts to shine in too, I promise!

Walk through "Walden Pond" & Spring Reminisced

A friend took my husband and I to a beautiful lake and nature preserve near our house for the first time this spring and it could not have been a more perfect time to witness it in all its beauty. I knew it would be serene and lovely, as it has been referred to as our very own "Walden Pond"...but as we followed the path deep into the woods, not only was it worthy of its praise, but wild flowers (in their very brief yet spectacular bloom) blanketed the entire forest ground. Deer, completely undaunted by our being there, quietly nibbled on them as we made our way around the lake. This made for one of my very favorite moments in nature. I greatly anticipated editing them, and was finally able to do it today. I so enjoyed it all, I couldn't wait another moment to share them!

In addition, I have so many spring pictures that I have yet to post, but here is a preview of what I've been working on...with many more to come : )

 

 

I am also excited to say that all of these are now available for prints if anyone is interested : ) 

the dogwood and other spring blooms

 I didn't grow up around the dogwood and saw it for the first time two years ago. Seeing its gorgeous blooms everywhere around Nashville has been a great delight. I definitely have fallen in love this tree!

 

Found some lovely water-dropped tulips, a classical and beautiful representation of spring.

 

 

 

Oh how I love Spring!

Ahhh, glorious spring, how I love thee!!! I have been overwhelmed with joy over all the blooms here in Nashville this spring. For a week I felt submerged in this strange land with strikingly white fluffly trees everywhere. It felt like I was in a winter wonderland because they resembled snow so much. But it wasn't cold and so much new greeness accompanied the white trees' debut. I suppose this is what it would be like to have warm snow if there was such a thing. Anyways, these new signs of life juxtaposed with the white snowy-looking trees made for a strange yet glorious display!

I also have the most lovely drive to work everyday and it has become more and more lovely as the days progress. New trees are always budding and I have been blessed by their arrival. I get to witness their transformation each day as they reach their height of outstanding beauty. They come near falling over due to the weight of so many colorful blossoms. It is almost ethereal driving along the rolling hills dotted by beautiful mansions and grand estates dressed up by the wondrous lawns, forest woods and lots and lots of trees...and therefore dreamlike amounts of beautiful spring flowers everywhere.

Not only does my drive invigorate and inspire me, but there is plenty to take in at our house and everywhere else it seems. We even came home to a little surprise the other day. Amidst all the beauty of the spring flowers and green life, this was like the icing on the cake for me and my husband....a robin decided to start making a nest in the tree right next to our living room window! We are so excited to see little baby birds peeping their heads out of the nest soon declaring their arrival and new life in the world. Sigh. Such a fun time in the year-so much renewal, life and lush beauty to behold!

 

I am fortuate to have my camera back just in time...thank goodness! I have already captured some beautiful images and am working on some of my favorite overlays yet! I'm so excited to share them soon!

 

"Recovering an artist....is a tricky, messy, exciting, liberating, scary and frustrating job.  I never realized this until I actually began thinking of what it would be like to really become an artist. I could hardly believe how many emotions went in to actually making the decision to do it. Fortunately, I've found great consolation, instruction and help from the book, The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron-"A Course in Discovering and Recovering Your Creative Self". I am only on week 5 of the 12 week study, but it has already altered my life in a very positive way.

I now know why it is so hard for me (and many others) to actually fulfill a passion or dream. So many obstacles lie in the way. Well, I have been realizing my greatest obstacle- it's not a traumatizing experience or horrible memory (which I'm very thankful for) ......its me. I am my greatest critique, antagonist, doubter, procrastinator...you name it. 

In The Artist's Way, Julia guides the artist through a process of recovering themselves- recognizing and dealing with our struggles (outside and internal), our self-sabotage, our dreams, and our true potential.  Today's topic caught me off-guard...although I am not surprised by that. 

Here is powerful quote from the lesson. "If we learn to think of receiving God's good as being an act of worship-cooperating with God's plan to manifest goodness in our lives- we can begin to let go of having to sabotage ourselves." 

Wham! I felt like, yet again, she hit it on the head. I definitely am really working through and towards truly believing that God intends for my greatest good. in addition, being able to accept the full meaning of His grace, receiving His overwhelming love, unmerited....that is indeed a life-long journey. Especially when I was beginning to really think about being an artist, I really struggled to accept that God could be honored by my being an artist. I had to let go of the concept that God wants me to do something really meaningful, hard, and completely self-sacrificing...and that definitely could not be art! But upon hearing again and again that this is a great gift from God, I couldn't help but give into the fact that this could really be what God made me for.

Well for those reading, I highly recommend The Artist's Way...as we are all creative beings, all have dreams and things getting in the way. Some of our obstacles can't be removed, but I have experienced so much more freedom not only as an artist, but as a wife, daughter, sister and friend.  I can't say that I agree with everything she says, but for the most part, it I think it is a very helpful and powerful wealth of information.

As always, here are some of the things I've been doing this week. I am continuing to play with overlaying photographs and just letting the editing process go in all kinds of interesting directions. Unfortunately, my hard drive broke this week, and most of my recent edits are on there  :  (
But there will be many more of these to come as soon as I can retrieve those pictures.