See Shells

Cyr has been collecting egg shells for a while, with the intent of using them in a still life.  In a speedy shoot this afternoon, we drove up Skyliner to a deep patch of snow with the eggs and the following props:

• gold embroidery floss
• an old fashioned scale
• paper cranes made by her friend Kate out of tea bags
• old photos of her grandmother
• tiny fake apples
• a rosery
• some greenery
• a wishbone from a Christmas game hen

Unfortunately, Cyr had to rush to work before we could look at the outcome of this silly little shoot.  I am enjoying being her assistant these days.  I have been keeping a Moleskin in my pocket (thanks mom and dad) when we go "on location" in order to write down the flood of ideas that come up.  Sometimes, I get a little, well, cheesy.  What if we wrote fortunes for the eggs, like fortune cookies?  What if we took a marker and colored the cracked edges?  What about this heart-shaped confetti I brought?  One idea leads to another, to another, to another, to another.  Not all are successful, but that's part of it.  I may not be spending much time with scissors or brush in hand lately, but ideas are fermenting.

It is interesting to view another person's creative process, observing the value systems in an artist's inner eye: Cyr composes her shots from a complex place, one that has immediacy, like juggling.  She thinks in black and white, in color, and in light (as I'm sure many of my photographer friends do) all at once; sometimes I feel like I am getting a tutorial in image making by accompanying her.