Roque’s Weekly Review for 6/12/2019

June 12, 2019

Photography / Roque's Weekly Review

Well, it’s Wednesday. Thanks for stopping by to check out another update from me. I have more photography to feature this week, but this time I have photos I took during last weekend’s road trip to Asheville, NC. I loaded my car with stuff on a rainy Friday morning to head east. Most of the drive was on a highway, but I decided to take an alternate route once I hit the mountains past Knoxville.

This detour took me through long and winding country roads. I passed through sleepy small towns tucked deep inside hollows and out-of-the-way places. There were aging barns and old wooden homes that seemed to lean toward the sun the way flowers do.

I traveled through 256 miles to celebrate a friend’s birthday. We spent the weekend eating delicious food, singing karaoke, watching Netflix, and having long conversations about life while the rain kept falling outside.

My friend gave me a tour of his lovely flower and vegetable garden along with the private oasis he built for himself behind his house. We had not seen each other in a couple of years. It is always meaningful to reconnect with a good friend. Here are the photos I took from the garden tour he gave me just outside his front door . . .

FEATURED WORK

NEW BLOG POSTS FROM TROPICAL SHADE OF GREEN

Every week on Sundays, I post some new writing on my blog Tropical Shade of Green. The newest post discusses how and why I do all of this writing. If you only read one of my posts, this one is a good one.

You can check it out here:

How I Write

It is always important to me to share my knowledge with others who might be interested. This is the first post (of a series) in which I explain my photography process:

How I Take Photographs (Part One)

Thank you for stopping by. It means the world to me that you have joined me on my personal creative journey through life. I have a lot more that I plan to share.

Keep on enjoying these sunny summer days. Go have a picnic or eat some ice cream.

-Roqué

Roque’s Weekly Review for 6/5/2019

June 5, 2019

Creativity / Culture and Society / Photography / Piano / Roque's Weekly Review

These summer days are so full of light and warmth. I have been taking the time to rest my body and care for myself. I drink plenty of fluids, rest when I am tired, and make time for my cat. I have also been getting acupuncture treatments to help with sinus, allergy, and congestion problems. I want my body to feel rejuvenated.

I also have a good bit of creative work this summer with my photography, film editing, art, and lots of music on my piano, cello, and ukulele.

This week, I wanted to feature a couple of works. Check out something old and something new . . .

Featured Work

A long time ago, I filmed a performance of a song of mine called Tears In Savannah, which came off of my debut album that I released a while back. This set was captured on a small camcorder in low light. It has a vintage look that I do not mind all that much. The aspect ratio is a bit weird, and it has a lot of visual noise due to its low resolution. In any case, it is a snippet of me some years ago with short hair as I was carving my path as a pianist and balladeer. Have a look and a listen.

Enjoy . . .

Up next, here is some photography I took over the last month. Our garden has sprouted gorgeous blooms. I’ve gone biking on Murfreesboro’s greenway. I helped to make flower arrangements for a wedding, and the last photo is of a delicious salad from our garden.

NEWEST BLOG POSTS

Here are two of the latest blog posts from my blog Tropical Shade of Green. If you want to know a little more about what goes on behind the scenes when I take photos, this post is for you . . .

How I Take Photographs (Part One)

I have a summer full of reading ahead. Here is what I have on my summer reading list . . .

Reading Will Save the World: Summer Books for Summer Fun!

There you have it! That does it for this week’s update! I hope you have enjoyed stopping by. There’s more to come over the next few weeks including a lot of new photography and some of my new films.

See you next week!

-Roqué

Roque’s Weekly Review for 05/29/2019

May 29, 2019

Creativity / Reading Will Save the World / Roque's Weekly Review

I am currently on my summer break. For a while, I had planned to take a couple of summer classes, but I decided to give myself some time off instead. My upcoming fall semester will be my last semester as an undergraduate, and I’ll just do all of my work then.

For now, the days have gotten warmer. The afternoons are longer. My cat falls asleep by my side while I read a book. It is a stark contrast to the frenetic schedule I had over the last school year.

FEATURED WORK

This week, I wanted to share some more of my photography from last school year. One of my projects was to tackle a process called light painting. It was incredibly intimidating to even think of doing this, but after a good bit of tinkering around with my camera in the dark, I figured it out, and I am quite happy with the results.

I want to do more light painting in the future. It was super fun!!

WHERE HAVE I BEEN

This past week, I finally had the chance to ride my bicycle on the Murfreesboro greenway. This is one of my favorite activities in warm weather, and Murfreesboro has a picturesque greenway that is largely shaded by trees and runs along a large creek. MaxZine and I loaded up my car with our bikes. We had a fun and leisurely afternoon.

NEW BLOGPOSTS ON TROPICAL SHADE OF GREEN

In case you did not know already, I love to read books. Along with playing piano, it is one of my favorite ways to spend my time. This week on my blog Tropical Shade of Green, I write about the books I am reading this summer as well as recommend a terrific read. Check it out right here:

Reading Will Save the World: Summer Books for Summer Fun!

Also on my blog, I recently shared my thoughts about abortion and clearly stated my feelings on the matter. If this issue is something you have been thinking about, please consider the points I have laid out . . .

Abortion and a Woman’s Prerogative

Well, that is all for this week’s update! Feel free to share any thoughts or questions in the comments below.

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having (or plan to have) a magical and fun-filled summer!

-Roqué

Roque’s Weekly Review for 05/22/19

May 23, 2019

Creativity / Culture and Society / Photography / Roque's Weekly Review / Website Updates

Thanks for swinging by for another weekly update! My life is so different when I’m not in school. I feel like I went from living in a cramped outhouse to a spacial palace in the woods. I’ve been playing lots of music, reading books, napping, cleaning up around the house, and cuddling with my cat.

FEATURED WORK

This week, I want to continue unpacking some of the work I did over the past school year. I want to share one of the short films I made for my Single Cam II class. This is a class that focuses more on film making as opposed to live television operations that use multiple cameras simultaneously.

For this particular film, the objective was to create a sense of place. No music was allowed to be used, and I have decided to keep it this way. Generally, you will be able to access this video from my new Youtube Channel Roqué Music and Films. Please feel free to subscribe to see all of my new video content coming soon.

Now, I present to you . . .

She Cares for Her . . .

WHERE I HAVE BEEN

Yesterday, there was a rally in Nashville, TN, to protest the burgeoning wave of anti-abortion legislation that is sweeping across several states here in America right now. I was there with at least two hundred fellow protesters. Several people spoke out about their experiences with abortion, and it was all incredibly moving.

NEW BLOG POST

Earlier this week, I fired up my blog Tropical Shade of Green for the first time in a while. This new blog post outlines my personal thoughts about abortion. You can read all about it by clicking here . . .

Abortion and a Woman’s Prerogative

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, remember that there is a new blog post whenever you see at least one of my tiny grey elephants.

That’s all for this week. I have much more to come next Wednesday. Thank you all for joining me in my creative journey through life.

-Roqué

PS-Feel free to share your thoughts and feedback in the comments section below.

Roque’s Weekly Review for 05/15/2019

May 15, 2019

Creativity / Photography / Roque's Weekly Review

Yes, it has been a while since my last update, but I am back to a calmer and regular schedule now that my spring semester is done. I severely underestimated how busy I would be. I would like to spend the next few updates unpacking much of the work I did in school for all of you, my dear friends and readers, over the last year.

Here are some highlights from my college work:

  • I produced and directed 8 short films during the spring semester.
  • I took over 2500 photographs for a basic digital photography class in the fall.
  • I learned how to develop film and process photos in a dark room for a black and white photography class in the spring semester.
  • I was part of the inaugural group of students who worked as Student Ambassadors for the Honors College.
  • I finished and defended my Honors Creative Thesis project that was a year in the making.
  • My documentary Embracing the Ephemeral and a short testimonial for the Miriam’s Promise adoption agency that I produced/directed for a class were both featured in the annual First Look showcase for student films at Nashville’s gorgeous Belcourt Theater.

This week, I want to share some of the photos that came out of the digital photography class I took last fall. I enjoyed that class a lot, but my professor made everyone work extremely hard. I took at least 200 to 300 photos for every assignment. It was worth it because I learned so much from the experience.

One of the assignments was portraiture. I found a bunch of different people, and they were all gracious enough to let me take their photos for this class. Here are some of the highlights:

I have more to share over the summer including at least a couple of the films I directed.

Also, my blog will be back in full swing next week.

See you every Wednesday for the newest update from me.

-Roqué

Roque’s Weekly Review for 02/08/2019

February 9, 2019

Creativity / Roque's Weekly Review

Hello to you and to a brand new February in winter. There have been some cold days over the last week. Staying warm and preventing illness has been a big priority. I have some fun stuff to share. So let’s get to it.

College Update and Short Film Feature.

I completed and turned in my first film project for the spring semester. This one was tricky to film, but I am happy with how this turned out. This week, instead of my usual photography feature, I thought I’d share this little film with you.

For starters, the assignment was a 5X5. This means that the complete film had to have only five shots, and each shot needed to be only five seconds long. The film had to convey some sort of feeling like anger, sadness, joy, or anything else. You can argue that several feelings could apply to the film I made, but there was one particular feeling I was going for.

This was filmed over two chilly afternoons at an outdoor location last month. MaxZine gladly agreed to act in it. I do not want to give anything away by saying more.

Without further ado, here you go . . .

My blog Tropical Shade of Green

The current post that is up on my blog is the second installment of my observations of light. You can read it by going here:


Observations of Light, Part 2

Life In General

On a personal note, I’ve been keeping a tight routine outside of my school responsibilities. Every day, I practice on the piano, cello, and ukulele. I’ve also been writing in my journal a lot as well as getting regular exercise. I do not want school to take over my whole life like it has in previous semesters. I try to make a monument out of every day and build something for myself that I love. Art and self-care keep me at ease.

So, that’s my update for this week. There is a lot coming down the pipeline from me.

Stay tuned.

-Roqué

Roque’s Weekly Review for 1/31/2019

January 30, 2019

Roque's Weekly Review

It has been another full week in my life. Between classes, projects, and playing music every day, there is a lot of joy in my world. I hope all is well with you. Now, on with my update . . .

  1. College Check-in

One of my classes this semester involves analog black and white photography. I have borrowed a vintage Minolta SLR camera from a friend, and this last week, I developed photos in a dark room for the first time in my life. There’s something very zen about the whole developing process as you slowly see a photo you have taken magically come to life on a piece of photo paper. The slow and graceful reveal of an image inside of a tube of some sort of clear mystery liquid is a thing of beauty. I’ll be doing a lot of this over the next couple of months.

In another class, we got to poke around with the new, state-of-the-art (and very expensive) C100 Canon cameras that my department has acquired for student use. These things look like spaceships with all kinds of buttons and lights that take really good footage. These machines are very sophisticated, and I will have access to them for my projects. I won’t know what to do with myself.

2. Photography Feature: Amy Potter

One of the artists I got to photograph last November was Amy Potter. She is a local architectural ceramics artist, yoga instructor, and martial artist. This was my first time visiting her home studio, and she was incredibly down-to-earth and friendly. It was mesmerizing watching her transform what looked like a glob of mud and clay into the body of a gorgeous ceramic vessel. It was almost as if she was conjuring a shapeless form and spirit into life. She made it look very easy, but I could tell that there was a great deal of skill and a developed instinct involved in this process.

She had all kinds of beautiful mugs, fermentation vessels, and sinks for my eyes to behold. I got to have a glimpse of someone who is deeply engaged in her art and local community while lovingly raising her son and building a life on her own terms.

She has recently launched her new website where you can see more photos of her unique and often custom pieces. You can see more of her work by clicking here:

www.amypotter.com

Special thanks to Amy Potter for having me. It was marvelous getting to see her conjure more beauty into the world. Here are the photos I took:

3. My Blog Tropical Shade of Green

I have just published the second installment in my Observations of Light series. This is one of a few creative writing posts I am publishing on my blog this year. Take a gander at the link below:

Observations of Light, Part 2

That’s all the news for this week!! Thank you again for following along on my strange and circuitous journey. There is SO MUCH MORE in store!

-Roqué

Roque’s Weekly Review for 1/23/2019

January 24, 2019

Roque's Weekly Review

Hello! It’s that time of week again! Time to check in about what is new with me.

  1. College Check-in

I am in the second week of school right now. I have met all of my professors, and I have a good sense of what lies ahead. This spring semester, I am taking two production classes that will have several film projects, a black and white photography class, and a lab for astronomy. In addition to this, I am completing a big creative project that has been in the works for a very long time. (More on that later.) There will be a mountain of work to be done in the next twelve weeks. I just hope the weather will cooperate.

2. Photography Feature: William Kooienga

One of the most memorable places I got to photograph last year was the home and studio space of artist William Kooienga. He is a self-taught artist who carves various structures out of wood. The kind of work he does combines an organic aesthetic with uniquely geometric and stylized forms. Some of his work took my breath away. The meticulous attention to detail and the sense of scale and scope of his work is astonishing. The pictures I took when I visited him last month convey more than my words ever will. Without further ado, feast your eyes on this . . .

3. My Blog Tropical Shade of Green

As mentioned in a previous update, I will be blogging less during the school semester due to my busier schedule. This month, I am featuring my creative writing with a piece exploring the qualities of light on a cloudy and rainy day. I will post the next observation of light next week. Until then, feel free to read the first installment if you have not done so already:

Observations of Light, Part 1

Well, that’s it for this update. I hope you are all staying healthy and doing something you love and enjoy.

Until next week, be kind and be generous.

-Roqué

Roque’s Weekly Review for 1/16/2019

January 16, 2019

Roque's Weekly Review

As I write this update, I am in the thick of my first week back at school. This semester will be a logistical balancing act between all of my class work, an independent film project due at the end of March, music-making, and all of the other important parts of my life (time with loved ones, friends, family, my cat, and for myself to regroup and rest along the way).

Starting next week, I’ll be including a weekly school check-in to update all of you folks on what I am working on and how I am doing.

Now, on with this week’s new stuff from me.

  1. Photography Feature: Sandor Katz and Food Fermentation

One of the places I visited last month was the kitchen of Sandor Katz. He is one of the world’s leading experts in food fermentation. He has written numerous books on the topic and travels all over the world to give talks and workshops.

I would highly recommend that everyone visit Sandor in his kitchen. My time with him was truly delightful. He talked with a great deal of warmth and candor. I saw firsthand some of the food that he works with. Unfortunately, I was too focused on taking photos to ask if I could taste what he made.

A highlight was the unveiling of what looked like some sort of gooey animal brain from a large jar. As it turned out, it was a head of fermented cabbage, but nonetheless, it was pretty fun to geek out on.

Special thanks to Sandor for having me. I can understand why people travel great distances to hear him speak. He has a way of engaging a listener with his disarming and sweet demeanor, and he has such a wealth of knowledge. The love he has for his work is undeniable.

Here are some of the photos I shot:

2. My Blog Tropical Shade of Green

My latest post is the first in a series about light. This particular one is a meditation on the presence of light on a rainy and overcast day. I am sharing more of my creative writing this year. You can read this post here:

Observations of Light, Part 1

3. Thank you to all Unpaid Government Employees

As of this update, the stand-off in Washington DC between our president and the Democrats in Congress has lasted well over three weeks. I just wanted to thank and commend the men and women all over the country who are still doing their important jobs despite not getting paid for their work. This includes folks who run our national parks and museums, air traffic controllers, TSA agents at airports, and a whole slew of other federal workers.

I hope some resolution happens soon so that you can feed your families and maintain a good living.

That’s all for my weekly update. I will feature more photos next week, and I will be getting a lot of work done at school in the meantime.

Be kind and be generous,

-Roqué

Roque’s Weekly Review for 1/9/2019

January 10, 2019

Creativity / Intention / Roque's Weekly Review

Well, another week has passed, and there are roughly 51 more to go for the year. Considering all that may or may not happen in my life over the next 12 months, I am going to take it all one day at a time. That is all I can do because all we have is the day ahead of us. There are no real guarantees beyond that despite our best well-laid plans.

School starts back up for me next week, and I am preparing for the changes in my life that will bring. I will spend some time every day this year doing some kind of creative work both school-related and otherwise. Creativity brings me great joy.

Now let’s proceed with the update.

1. Photography Feature: Leopard and his house building.

This week, I wanted to feature photographs I took while visiting my friend Leopard while he built a cottage behind his house near Short Mountain. In addition to building houses, he is also a talented musician, a Qigong instructor, a knitter, an actor, and vinyl DJ (among various other skills). It was fun seeing him work hard on this project. Building a house is incredibly labor intensive and can take a very long time. I have a lot of respect for people who can do this kind of work. It takes a great deal of skill, experience, patience, and problem-solving to do it well.

Check out the photos here:

2. My Blog Tropical Shade of Green

This year, in addition to my musing on my blog about creativity, simplicity, art, music, and the environment, I have decided to feature some of my own creative writing.

This month, I will be posting my writings about light. Yup, light. You can check out the first installment by clicking HERE.

3. Thank you for the love.

Lastly, I wanted to say thank you for all of the love, kind wishes, and condolences that poured in last week when we had to put our dog PJ to rest. Burying her after so many years was not easy, but within our community of friends, it felt very comforting to feel supported.That’s this week’s update. We have had some warm weather here in Middle Tennessee during the last week, but winter will finally flex her muscles in the next few days. I will stay warm, drink soothing beverages, and cuddle with my cat.

Thank you for joining me on my journey.

See you next week.

-Roqué