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@danielsroka
Breakaway
I often explore how one part of nature can suggest another quite distant from itself. I found this vibrant red maple leaf far inland, but I saw in it the surging energy of the ocean. By balancing its sharp details, rising like mist, with the soft swells of vivid color, I created an image of the surf just before it crashes against the shore.
Discover more of my art with a similar color and style.
Breakaway was originally published on Daniel Sroka Fine Art Blog
some leaves of autumn 2018
Autumn is my busiest time for creating new art. My days are a cycle of collecting leaves as they fall, studying them in my studio, then photographing them. Watching the motion of the falling leaves, I see more than just pretty colors. I see the dancing flame of a candle, a curl of smoke, or waves cresting on the ocean. The leaves of autumn are full of life and energy.
some leaves of autumn 2018 was originally published on Daniel Sroka Fine Art Blog
Forthright
Leaves, as you might guess, are my favorite subject to work with. But every autumn I worry if I will burn out, and not be able to find anything to photograph. But every year, come October, I am inspired again and again. In this case, it was the rich color of this leaf that caught my eye, like a dark red wine spilling on a tablecloth.
Forthright was originally published on Daniel Sroka Fine Art Blog
Radiance
This abstract leaf seems to be ablaze with the heat of summer.
Radiance was originally published on Daniel Sroka Fine Art Blog
A baby marigold
Our kids gave their mother a marigold for Mother’s Day years ago, and each fall we harvest the seeds and replant them in the spring.
A baby marigold was originally published on Daniel Sroka Fine Art Blog
Time to discover
This is one of those photographs that takes time to discover. I had to live with it for over a year and a half to really begin to see its potential. Always on the verge of throwing it away, something kept encouraging me to hang on to it. Until last week, when I finally saw what I wanted it to be.
Time to discover was originally published on Daniel Sroka Fine Art Blog
Coaxing spring to last
In our yard we have crabapple trees and forsythia bushes. For one week each spring, they burst out into colors that are bright, energetic and full of life. But they last just a short time, quickly wilting, and by the end of the week, the fallen petals litter the ground beneath the trees. So while I have the chance I get to work, and try to coax the spring to last a little longer.
See all of my Spring Flowers collection.
Coaxing spring to last was originally published on Daniel Sroka Fine Art Blog
More colors of autumn
A little over a week ago, the first leaves began to turn color. And today, a chilled rain is knocking the last of the leaves from the trees. What a short season! But before the rain, I was able to collect a large number of leaves — interesting, compelling personalities — to photograph over the coming months of winter. I am continuing my exploration of the colors of autumn. Here’s a sneak preview:
More colors of autumn was originally published on Daniel Sroka Open Studio
Autumn colors
Fall is here, which means more leaves to collect and work with! I have started a new art project this month, exploring the colors of autumn. A lot of my recent new work worked with very neutral colors and tones, so it is refreshing to play with a full palette of color again. A lot of the leaves I work with were found while waiting for the school bus with my kids. It’s amazing what you can find right at your feet. I’ve just begun, but here is a quick sample of this latest work:
Autumn colors was originally published on Daniel Sroka Open Studio
A note of thanks
It’s been a long while since I posted anything here, for a number of reasons - chiefly that there’s been a great deal going on in my personal life and I haven’t particularly felt the energy or drive needed to write lengthy diatribes on here. This isn’t going to be a long post either but I do believe it’s important to take stock now and then.
It’s amazing how quickly you come to take things for granted in life. Things that would have seemed unimaginably brilliant in years gone by - festival appearances to happy crowds, international travel, actually having a career as a musician - somehow they all get pushed to the background by a mixture of anxieties and distractions. If you’re particularly prone to being affected by anxiety, as I am, it can sometimes be hard to focus on the positive things. (Incidentally I’m aware of the irony of a relentlessly anxious and pessimistic person writing well-received songs of positivity, optimism and achievement - that’s the human brain for you, I’d suggest.)
Anyway. To counter my occasional myopia there is one moment during shows where I try to take stock and reflect on my surroundings. It’s towards the end of Theme From PSB, when I’m holding the sample of Edward Murrow’s “this instrument can teach…” line. I’m pretty sure if you watch the one song from Glastonbury 2014 that the Beeb captured before their systems failed you’ll see me doing exactly that.
The reason I choose that particular moment is because it was during that sample, in my first ever gig as PSB in The Selkirk pub, that I finally plucked up the courage to look up at the crowd. It was a free show and I was shocked to see the room very full, and seemingly full of happy faces. I was so instantly terrified that I promptly looked straight back down again and carried on trying not to be awful.
Over the past two nights I held down that sample and looked out upon the space shuttle Enterprise and a happy and, dare I say, reverent crowd in New York City, a city I’ve always loved and held to be the epitome of a certain kind of brash, daring cool. We were playing a set filled with songs full of optimism and achievement, of faith in technology, progress and the human race. We were the first band ever to perform in the space shuttle pavilion on board the USA Intrepid. Some of the people directly involved in the songs - or their descendents - have been in touch to tell us how much they love what we’ve done and how much they appreciate their stories still being told.
In short, even in my tired, jet-lagged and generally anxious brain, it was a moment to savour and reflect on.
We go from New York to play at Jodrell Bank for Bluedot festival - from the wings of a space shuttle to one of the most important radio telescopes in the world. These gigs and the current success we have won’t last forever (trust me, you haven’t heard the demos for album 3), but as I’ve said, it’s important to take stock every now and then. We all have so much to be grateful for, even in times of hardship.
Thanks for all the support folks. It really is appreciated, in ways I can never fully articulate.
Lots of love
JW
It was great to see PSB perform in the US, and in such perfect surroundings. My 12 year old son, who introduced me to your music, was sad he couldn't attend. Maybe next time, an all ages show? Thank you for your music!
new art celebrates the colors and energy of spring
See my new art collection celebrating spring.
Spring in the northeast is an explosion of delicate, temporary color. Flowers like the forsythia, or blooms on a crabapple tree, come for a very brief but intense time. Suddenly, the world is full of color. And a few short days later, it is gone.
This past month, I worked on preserving this color, working quickly to capture their energy before it faded. I created a new collection of 20 photographs that showcase the yellows of forsythia, the pinks of crabapple, and the purples of crocuses. If you are working on a project that could use the color and vitalty of spring, please give me a call.
new art celebrates the colors and energy of spring was originally published on Daniel Sroka Open Studio
an interplay of form and texture
The seed pods from maple trees are a favorite subject of mine to photograph. This is partly because they contain a wonderful interplay with form and texture: the sleek, aerodynamic shape of the seed, combined with its intricate, vein-like texture. But honestly, my love of these seeds also goes back to childhood, and the simple fun of tossing these “helicopters” into the air to watch them slowly, carefully return to the ground.
an interplay of form and texture was originally published on Daniel Sroka Fine Art
more abstractions of melting ice
This is a continuation of a series of photographs I took last winter. I took these after one of our nasty nor’easters back in February, after the storm finally passed and the ice began to melt.
more abstractions of melting ice was originally published on Daniel Sroka Open Studio
variations on a summer leaf
I have been working for several days with this single leaf that I found. It’s the middle of summer, hot and dry, and the trees are starting to give up some of their leaves in resignation. These leaves have a particular quality to them, since they dried at the height of their growth. They are still green in the center, but have dried to an orange hue on the outside edges. Really interesting colors and patterns to work with. The background textures and colors come from other leaves from the same tree, just out of focus.
variations on a summer leaf was originally published on Daniel Sroka Open Studio
inspirit - abstracts of a leaf
Even the stillness of a fallen leaf contains motion, energy, and life. The shapes and patterns that emerge as it dries form a portrait of its life: the movement of the tree in the wind; the leaf’s final flight down to the ground.
inspirit – abstracts of a leaf was originally published on Daniel Sroka Open Studio
scorpion from a leaf
I was photographing this leaf, peering through the camera and playing my music loud, when I nearly jumped out of my skin. While exploring the leaf’s shape, this curled tip came into view, and looked so much like a scorpion’s stinger I leapt back from my camera several feet! You see, I got stung by a scorption while on a safari vacation years ago. My finger felt like it had gotten smashed with a hammer, and for several days my arm was numb and tingly, as if I was hitting my funny bone over and over. Naturally, I have been jumpy around scorpions ever since. But at least that memory helped create a pretty cool photograph.
scorpion from a leaf was originally published on Daniel Sroka Open Studio
abstractions of melting ice
With winter finally gone (fingers crossed), I feel safe to share a few of my latest melting ice abstractions. I took these after one of our nasty nor’easters back in February.
abstractions of melting ice was originally published on Daniel Sroka Open Studio
