FACE 2 FACE

I am working on some logo designs and I see the term "face to face" in quite a bit of recent correspondence, so I thought I would try to "logo" that phrase. My first attempt was somewhat hurried and sloppy, but I view it as a prototype, so not a lot of concern with the "literal" result from me. I had the idea of flipping the second "F" (a virtual symbol for the word "face") so that the two Fs would face one another. In hindsight, as I look at that last sentence I hope I haven't confused my impetus for this little project. At this point I felt like I had a starting point. There, I've done it again. 

Anyway, this has led me to the symbol below, where metaphor has once again pushed me down the path of creativity and dragged my faithful muse along with it. The Fs have now gained color, representing the wide range of skin tones seen in our State, not our country, because I feel that there is another post about Maine's relationship to the U.S. coming along. I also felt that it was not appropriate in the current atmosphere of social distancing for the characters in this little scenario to be touching, either literally or virtually.

VIRTUAL MEMORIES

The memories I have of my grandsons are rich and varied, but not "real". They exist in the limited capacity of my mind, and are susceptible to influence from my emotions, so while I cannot trust their accuracy, I can enjoy those memories. 

This image is a still from a composite video I did in Adobe After Effects, and the bright yellow predominant color reminds me of time spent with them at the New Gloucester Fairgrounds, the brightness and warmth of that day, and the joy in their hearts when they were at play. I miss the time spent with them in "reality", where Jen and I would go visit every other weekend, where we could hug them and be in their presence. I know the "virtual" aspects of connecting during quarantine times is not the same, but it is a lot better than nothing. I see and talk and watch them play every day now. I just miss hugging them.

IN THE TANK, LITERALLY

     The septic tank at our house had an issue over the weekend, so my brother David and I got into the reality of modern septic design. The digging wasn't bad as it was mostly gravel fill under a half foot of loam, but the basic job took a couple of days. And then there was the electrical issue with putting in new float switches and rewiring it all. 
     I always enjoy David's attitude, just forging ahead and getting the job done, and he is seldom phased at all by setbacks. We will "sit on it" for a few days before we cover things back up.

VIRTUAL AND VITAL

Ahh, virtual may be a new norm, but the masked faces I see in the sparse public sphere of Maine are not virtual, they are vital. If we are to slow this virus from it's pandemic spread we need to all think of each other and so behave according to that consideration. I've been sewing masks for my family because I am thinking of others in relation to "us". 

This blended, swirling image reminds me that there are faces behind these masks, vital faces that also care about being "in" something that cannot diminish all of us together!

LIVING VIRTUALLY

This is the first post to this blog from my phone, and as I am waiting for the sun to shine before going out to distribute some summer lawn furniture, I find myself appreciating the plants we have inside the house! There is life all around us outside, and with this self-imposed confinement I find myself looking at it all very differently than I did previous to these times. I now feel like I am a part of the life around me, and while I have taken some stewardship steps in the past, I should do more. Goal #1, enjoy the day and everything surrounding me! 

VIRTUAL HOLE

I set up my iPhone to use with my computer as a "document camera", and here's an image I got from the camera after a few minutes of "exploration". I'm always asking students to explore, mostly because it's what I like to do, especially visually. 
How about this... the image is an image of an image of an image, if you get my meaning, so each time it "moves" (virtually) from camera to computer monitor, it is a bit further away and smaller, resulting in the image above. I'm not sure at this point what function it might possess but I do find it intriguing!

VIRTUAL CONNECTIONS

 My grandsons are missing the time we have had with them on a bi-weekly basis for six or seven years now, and the youngest one has started to FaceTime us every day. He met with his classmates for the fist time yesterday and couldn't wait to tell us. He was so excited that he could see and talk to all his friends from school that he had an aura of joy surrounding his image (virtual, not literal) as he talked to us about the experience.

As we work in the new era of "virtual connections", I see more and more of a variety of people that are engaging firstly with increasing connectives, and secondly with a wider variety of occupations and disciplines. This seems a good thing to me as an educator and I hope it continues even after the threat we are now facing is subdued and overcome. Do we really want to go back to "things as usual" or should we move forward keeping what we are now discovering and using as a part of our "systems"?