Your Preference?

I enjoy doing candid portraits using little posing or direction. The Creatives Pot Luck certainly had plenty of opportunities. Not sure whether I prefer the color or monochrome here. Each has its merits. Which do you prefer?           

Creatives Pot Luck Dinner - The Conversation And Art Begin

People began to drift in. More food set out. Eddies of people and conversation forming and reforming. I got a kick out of drifting from one to another, landing each time in a new mini society. I'm terrible at remembering names. The woman in green, center top, was Heather, I think. She came with the man on frame left whose name I didn't get. Same for the woman with the expressive face on the right.

Some people came with art materials. Heather and her friend brought a violin, more about which later.       

Creatives' Pot Luck - Before The Crowd

My friend Lohr Barclay, director of Artica, organized a pot luck dinner and social event at his home Thursday for Artica participants, friends and hangers on. Since I am now the official Visual Archivist, I fell into the latter category.

I don't know all the details but there is a long traditional bar downstairs, which says something about its former use. Lohr and his SO Connie live upstairs. I got there at opening time to deliver food and bev before the crowd arrived. This man introduced himself as John but, if I understood correctly, his name is Jean. Americans just can't pronounce it correctly. He is from the French Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe. Heaven knows how he ended up here. I tried out some of my weak French on him. He was very kind about my efforts.

Lots of pix from this event. I'll be working through them more or less chronologically.                 

City Daily Photo February Theme Day - White

I had to dip back into the archives for this one. Views of the dirty ice that surrounds us would be boring and even I wouldn't stoop to shooting a carton of eggs. This is from my nephew's graduation from West Point last May. These are the underclass men and women in the stands with a junior officer scream at them. I asked my nephew why he was doing that. He said that in his opinion junior officers think it's fun.         

Antifreeze

From the Loop Ice Carnival. There were many ice sculptures up and down Delmar Boulevard, several of them about alcoholic beverages.

Of course, the bottle itself it ice. Is a super frozen shot of vodka what you need to warm up in our recent frigid weather? I've read that drinking alcohol is a really bad idea in the cold. It causes the blood vessels around your skin and muscles to dilate, radiating heat away from your body.