Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Nature's Paintbrush

South Pasadena is one of the many communities spread out under the large blanket of Los Angeles sky. Most people in the rest of the world think this area's skysapes offer little more than thick smog and bright sunshine -- yeah, we have a lot of those things. But we also have a few whorling, glorious clouds to dazzle when we least expect them.

I snapped this picture after June Gloom drizzled the other day. I was looking southwest on Mission toward the Highland Park section of Los Angeles -- the home of artist (and beloved member of my family) Shanna Galloway. For extraordinary local sky photographs, check out Shanna's delightful new blog VIEW. (You can also visit Shanna's website to see beautiful dry pigment and pastel works on paper inspired by these skies.)

17 comments:

Judy Williams said...

The rich saturation of color is just delicious. I'm such a cloud freak and this certainly does not disappoint.

THIS JUDY COLLINS CLASSIC immediately came to mind.

Those could have as easily been taken in a Texas sky as in California. That connects us somehow. Miss you!

Tash said...

OMG! absolutly fantastic. I like the mention of HP too.

Cafe Observer said...

Shanna's views of the Sky is unbelievable. She makes the most of a limited subject. Lots Of Love (LoL) to her new site!

And, in her spare time, she draws & paints as well!

Halcyon said...

That is a gorgeous sky! Please send some of those clouds our way. :) :)

Jon said...

Beatiful. Looking up, it's so hopeful.

Tuesday Happy Hour said...

What's it like to fly around up there, I wonder.

Virginia said...

Wow, isn't it nice when you have something this glorious to follow bad weather? Great shot LA. I will visit Shanna's blog soon as well.
V

Margaret said...

I feel like I'm looking at heaven.

Ken Mac said...

I am alway stunned by the light in California. WEll captured.

Shanna said...

Thank you, thank you, Laurie!!!

I seldom get that saturated blue in my skies that Judy mentioned. Since I use no landscape reference, I make the most of the zoom feature on my camera. So many trees in the way.

Thank you, Cafe, for your very kind words!

I hope you will all visit me on my blog VIEW. I'm just a click away!

Double "D" said...

A sky for the ages.
The shades of blue are brilliant
the forms of the clouds are gorgeous
and the aerial perspective is awesome.
Beautiful shot Laurie.

Shanna said...

Judy: It was so great to hear that
Judy Collins song!!!
You used the words as a comment on one of my first posts - the sky I called Touch. Let me know how and I'll link it to my site.

TheChieftess said...

FABULOUS PHOTO!!! Love the color, the clouds...very dramatic and peaceful at the same time...one of my favorites so far!!!! And a beautiful seque to Shanna's new blog!!!

Laurie Allee said...

Hi folks,

Thanks for the lovely comments today. I hope everyone takes a few moments to daydream with Shanna's beautiful sky photos!

I was incredibly lucky to snag this shot -- I tend to overexpose skies.

Halcyon, it's so great to see you here! I must get over to catch up on your blog, too.

And Jon, my love, I can't believe I coaxed you into commenting two days in a row!

I appreciate all of the kind words, everyone. Now... do you guys see what Jon and I saw in these clouds: a giant Elmo head? No? I'm telling you, parenting a preschooler warps changes your perspective of EVERYTHING.

:-)

til tomorrow...

Mister Earl said...

I see the Elmo! Or a cat face!

Cafe Observer said...

Jon is commenting on your blog twice in a row? That must be a mistake. LA, "Jon" is probably actually Petrea's "John" who likes to make comments!

Anonymous said...

That's really awesome pics...Nice to see this..

This is pretty interesting...

Thanks for sharing..
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