observations – Journey to Imagination

Tag: observations

Elmer Sparks, Part 1: Spreading Happiness through Photography

Posted on August 27, 2018August 23, 2018 by Laura

Only one photographer ever got my husband to smile for a portrait. Just one. And a genuine smile, not a fake smile-through-your-teeth “can we get this over with?” kind of smile. That man is Elmer Sparks. That was the year he took portraits of every family in our church for...Read More

People Watching #3

Posted on August 23, 2018August 20, 2018 by Laura

Have you done any people watching lately? The first time we looked at Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks. Last time we examined a 1930s Charles Walton photograph. Today’s picture is a different flavor altogether. Aside from knowing that a picture is worth 1000 words, a picture evokes 1000 stories. If I showed...Read More

The Compulsion to Tell A Story: The Dog Ate My Glasses

Posted on June 7, 2018April 23, 2018 by Laura

My husband Tim tells the story of when he was in 4th grade playing baseball with the neighbors. He had brand new glasses and was afraid of breaking them. He set them in a “safe place” in the grass nearby. A dog was snooping around. After he got up to...Read More

Monday Metaphor Musings #1: Web

Posted on May 14, 2018May 14, 2018 by Laura

What comes to mind when you think of the word web? I teach writing students how to brainstorm ideas on paper, using a webbing technique that some call clustering. Many teachers use this. The rules are simple: start with a word, phrase, or concept in the middle of the page,...Read More

In the schoolyard: R.I.P. Here lies imagination

Posted on March 19, 2018April 23, 2018 by Laura

“My legs have hiccups.” That’s how my daughter described muscle twitches at age three. “There a melted rainbow on that truck.” That’s her four-year-old description of a colorful array of fuzzy, blended images. “It’s the same sky over Milwaukee as in Michigan. God just spreads it over us all like...Read More