The Tortoise and the Serval

Most of the time, there’s an overwhelming amount of “stuff” in my head.  It’s always busy in there, with ideas for projects, words for posts and poems, thoughts of what to do and when to do it and whether it’s logistically possible.  I love thinking – I love knowledge and curiosity and ideas – but sometimes it’s a little too busy.  It’s exhausting.

People say that the home is the place you retreat to, a place of release.  It seems that, for me, that means a place of elegant simplicity.

This isn’t my wall, and the frames I bought are black, but this image a great example of exactly what I intend to do with these two photos by Sharon Montrose.  Simple frames, big mattes, stark contrasts.  They speak, and they do it so directly.  I received one for Christmas, and one for my birthday, and they’re finally matted and framed.

I love art that stands on its own, that demands you focus on what is instead of what might be.  I can see that straightforwardness in all of Montrose’s photos; her desire to capture the truth and elegance of each of the animals she works with is stunning to me.

It makes me stop, stand still, and be quiet a moment…which, for me, is all too rare.

You can buy the tortoise print here, and the serval here.  Some of my other favorites are below.

Babboon Profile

Gray Goose No. 2

Bunny No. 1

Lemurs

Macaw

Sharon Montrose is a photographer and author, lists her prints on Etsy and her website, and has this to say about herself:

“I love my job.  I’ve had the same best friend for 24 years.  I Google everything.  I’m always cold.  I ride my bike.  My favorite band is Rush.  My favorite photographer is Sally Mann.  I could eat french fries at every meal.  Sometimes I still feel like I’m twelve.  I have a weird obsession with William Randolph Hearst.  My favorite childhood memory is when I was four and my brother was six, my brother dressed up as Gene Simmons and Ace Freely of Kiss, make-up and all.”

Tags: animals, art, design, housewares, interior design, photographs, photography, simplicity

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