Category Archives: art

Bird’s Eye View of Gary, South Dakota

DJI Mini 2 | Joyce Meyer | Two images merged and edited in Photoshop and Topaz

Drone photography has caught my interest and I’ve debated whether it’s worth getting a Part 107 Drone License. So far, I’ve been shy and stealthy when flying the tiny DJI Mini 2 drone for recreational purposes only. Research tells me that anyone wanting to sell aerial photography, monitor their farming operations with a drone, or do any other business related work with a drone must have a Part 107 license. Hmmm…?

Canby Area Arts Council Kiln Reveal Part 1

Shape clay into a vessel; It is the space within that makes it useful… Therefore benefit comes from what is there; Usefulness from what is not there. ~Laozi

Joyce Meyer | Canby Area Arts Council | Filmed with a DJI Pocket 2

Check out the bisque firing results of the Canby Area Arts Council “Play with Clay” workshops. The classes were held on Saturday, August 7, 2021, in Canby Central Park, Canby, MN. This is one of two kiln loads so the groups were very productive. Next step will be glazing the pieces on Saturday, August 21, 2021 and they will again be fired.

Winter Beauty

Image and haiku poetry by Joyce Meyer

2020. It is what it is.

2020 life and travel plans may have changed, but that doesn’t mean life stops – it merely adjusts itself.

What a great opportunity to supervise the grandkids’ remote learning program:

Excitement filled the air as we stealth traveled to the mountains of Colorado. Cooler with food and wine-check, hand sanitizer-check, rubber gloves-check, multiple face masks-check, GoPro camera that I need to learn to use-check. A few days in Colorado provided wonderful adventures:

I had fun dressing up for Trunk & Treat in our local community. The kids seemed excited to catch candy from the chute and spooky music added to the fun!
Randy spent many hours working on converting this granary to a pottery studio.
Our pandemic chickens have added personality to the yard. (Along with a few other “treats.”

Another goal has been learning to use GoPro features like time-lapse:

…and time-warp. I am quite awkward in my attempts and have a lot to learn:

Here’s to looking back at 2020 knowing we played it as well as we could.

Game on 2021…

Take a Hike

Hiking through a tunnel along the Camino de Santiago. Image by Joyce Meyer. Edited in Topaz.

Winter arrived way too early in Minnesota this year and we are still in the midst of a pandemic. I guess I’ll just have to rely on one of the many lessons learned while hiking… embrace the suck.

Laundry Day

A woman deep in thought while doing laundry in Porto, Portugal. I stare at this image while my own load of laundry finishes whirring in the machine, ready to hang up and dry.

Laundry day… same but different.

Laundry day in Porto, Portugal. Image by Joyce Meyer.

To have canceled or cancelled? That is the question.

Canceled or cancelled is the past tense of the verb to cancel. Both spellings are correct; Americans favor canceled (one L), while cancelled (two Ls) is preferred in British English and other dialects. However, there is only one correct spelling of the word cancellation, no matter where you are.

www.grammarly.com › blog › canceled-vs-cancelled

The Canby Area Arts Council looks forward to rescheduling this event in the future. Stay safe, everyone!

Foxy

Hey, animal lovers! Elizabeth Meyer Art is having a winter sale for pet portraits! 15 percent off ALL commissions submitted now through the end of February. Submit an order through her website—ElizabethMeyerArt.com—or email her at elizabethmeyerart@gmail.com. 🐩🐈🐄

Gate City to the West

People in small towns, much more than in cities, share a destiny. ~Richard Russo

Gary, South Dakota

Gary, SD is a small community (population 224) nicknamed “Gate City to the West” located along the SD/MN border.

Background image photography and edit by Joyce Meyer. Canon 5D Mark 3 with a 70-200, 2.8 Canon IS L lens, cropped and sized in Photoshop to fit the 11 x 17 inch poster format with Impressionistic painting effect added using Topaz Studio.

Kudos to graphic designer, Diane Swenson, Canby Print Shop, Canby, MN, for her stellar design work on the 2019 Gary Rodeo poster (which features my image as the background). Canby, MN is a small, southwestern Minnesota town of just 1700 people located 14 miles east of Gary, South Dakota. Our communities may be lacking in size, but we know how to get things done.

You’ll find the Gary Rodeo grounds located on the northwest edge of Gary, SD, in a natural setting with the quaint prairie community of Gary, SD, as its backdrop.

Maybe it’s time for you to take a little trip and experience the life in Gary, South Dakota!

Oh, Paris… What a loss.

My daughter calls with urgency in her voice,“Notre Dame Cathedral is on fire!” I quickly turn the TV on to see the tragic flames as the spire goes down. Immediately, I feel grateful that our trip to hike the Camino de Santiago in northern Spain involved a flight to and from Paris, France. Having a couple of days extra before flying home we decided to hit some of the sights of Paris which included one of the most famous buildings in the world, Notre Dame Cathedral.

The building of the cathedral was completed over the course of 200 years; it was started in 1163 during the reign of King Louis VII and was completed in 1345.

In its history, Notre Dame has endured destruction and subsequent restoration in many periods. However, much of the facade and interior still are true to the original designs. In the 16th century, both the Huguenots and the French king vandalized and changed a lot of the cathedral’s contents. A lot of the features on the cathedral’s exterior were removed because they were considered to be idolatrous, and tombs and stained glass windows were destroyed in the name of modernization. The cathedral was converted into a storage warehouse for food, during the French Revolution, and the heads of many of Notre Dame’s statues were removed.

The Cathedral was at one time in a stage of total disrepair and close to the point of being demolished, but was later saved by Napoleon who himself was crowned Emperor in 1804 inside the Cathedral.

Between 1845 and 1870, a first attempt at restoration took place. A good portion of the previous century’s damage done to the cathedral was repaired, and new additions were built. Most recently, a new restoration program was started in 1991 and has gone on for 20 years with a focus on cleaning up facade’s and sculptures. ~notredamecathedralparis.com

Today’s event has caused quite a step backwards, I’d say…

Below are some of the images I was able to capture during our visit in 2014:

This Notre Dame beggar (Gypsy?) working the line will need to find a new location. Maybe, she’ll try her luck at Sacre Coeur.