Are you on Pinterest? Follow me!

I'm on Pinterest! Follow me at http://www.pinterest.com/bethwoldphoto/

I love pinterest for so many things, recipes, inspiration, home decor, hairstyle ideas, you name it, it's there. I set up a page for my business, and I'm hoping you'll follow me - that is if you're a fan of my photography(which I'm guessing you are if you're reading my blog)! 

My newest board is examples of my photography in rooms on walls. 

How do you use pinterest? Do you love it? Or not so much?

Animal Art - Learning to draw

Charcoal drawing from my final project in Drawing II

Last year for my New Years Resolution, I decided that I wanted to learn how to paint. My local University does offer painting classes, but to take painting, you first have to take Drawing I and Drawing II. For some reason the idea of drawing classes worried me way more then painting classes. I tend to like abstract paintings (like Rothko!) so I didn't really feel I needed to learn to draw first....

I was seriously apprehensive, but being that I was determined to learn to paint, I decided to push through learning to draw. Anyway, after two semesters of drawing, I think I've learned quite a bit, and turns out I like drawing... a lot! 

Charcoal drawing from my final project in Drawing II

The messier the drawing material the more I liked to. Charcoal, pastels, ink, mixed media. I love it all. I think I'm also starting to develop a style in my drawings. Dark, heavy and expressive! My professor referred to it as "unapologetically confident".

Even though it's such a different a medium then photography, I still chose wildlife and animals as my subject(not really a surprise!). I love the fact that you could make up anything you want in a drawing (I even created a half alligator/half salmon creature for one drawing!) - so different from my photography where I'm entirely dependent on things outside my control. And the act of getting my hands dirty and covered with media was very appealing. I do believe that any artistic endeavor can improve creativity, and hopefully improve my primary creative outlet - photography. 

So while I wasn't able to learn painting last year, with two semesters of drawing instead, I'm now all set to learn painting this year in 2015. 

Mixed Media drawing from my color project in Drawing II

So how are you all doing this year? Did you get your goals accomplished in 2014? Or at least make good progress towards them?

Are you learning anything new and fun? And perhaps surprising yourself?  Let me know in the comments! 

Happy New Year - New Editions

Cougar

Shadow

I wanted to take a couple moments to wish you all a Happy New Year. I hope that the New Year finds you well and healthy. 

We've added two new little additions to the Wold household in September. Cougar was 1 years old and Shadow was 1 1/2 years old when we got them. Both kitties came from the local shelter. I strongly encourage anyone looking for a kitty to go to your local shelter. There's so many kitties that need homes(also please spay and neuter your pets - shelters are overrun with sweet kitties that will never get a chance - they don't need more). Our sweet little kitties had been at the shelter for 2 months(Cougar) and 3 months(Shadow), and I'm not sure how much more time they had left. We did purposely look for kitties that had been overlooked and were running out of time. They both had been city strays when caught. But both are affectionate and love to cuddle and sit on my lap. Shadow still acts a little feral from time to time, but that adds to her charm. Cougar is the "extreme" cuddler and wants to sit with me anytime I'm home - to the point of following me and "demanding" I sit so she can cuddle! 

The last year has been a difficult one for me. In February we found a lump on my darling cat, Marriane. She's been in my life since 1998, and I love her dearly. She was always there for me when I was lonely, sad, or needing a friend. Such a sweet little dear. We did everything we could for her, we had the lump removed, and it turned out to be an extremely aggressive cancer and had already spread. They recommended against chemo, due to her age, and the fact that the cancer probably wouldn't respond. She got multiple tumors and her health started to deteriorate. She was a tough kitty, she did well, longer then the vet had originally expected. But, in July we had to make the decision to not allow her to suffer any longer. The decision was one of the most difficult I've had to make, and I still vacillate between wondering if we did it too soon, and other times thinking we waited to long.  I still cry thinking about it, and am crying writing about it. It's taken me this long to even write about it, and I don't often talk about it as it's still too painful for me. 

I still miss her so much, but Cougar and Shadow are helping me. The first few days we had them were tough, as they reminded me of her constantly. But they both have helped me smile and laugh again after loosing my beautiful Marriane. 

RIP Marriane 

1998-2014

Celebrate International Cheetah Day Dec. 4th!

It's International Cheetah day! Watch the video below and use this link to see how you can help: http://www.internationalcheetahday.org/#HowToHelp

I have great respect for CCF in Namibia and the work they are doing to protect the endangered wild cheetah. I donate 25% of all my proceeds from any cheetah photograph that I sell, to help CCF's efforts.




Cheetahs are listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red list. And have become extinct in 23 countries they used roam. They are at about 10% of the population they were in 1900. 

New Photographs from this Summer - Landscape Photography

Trees in Fog II

I'm  very behind in my image editing this year! I spent some time at Lake Superior, MN, in August of this year, We had a great thick fog while we were there that excited and inspired me. Hope you enjoy them too.

Trees in Fog I

Trees in Fog III

Sunset Fog