forest & kerosene

 

About Our Blog

 

Forest and I, Kerosene, were best friends growing up; 

we share memories of elementary schools & neighbors, 

of families & dinner times, of playing games together, 

sleep-overs & girly stuff. 

We lost contact by high school and years later 

Forest moved to Los Angeles and I moved to Montreal, 

leaving our little neighborhood far behind. 

We found each other through the internet recently 

and there were so many things I was curious about 

and in turn, many things I wanted to share with Forest. 

Being visual people, photos seemed like a great way 

to connect. "A photo is worth a thousand words." 

Then there was the challenge of doing something creative 

of a daily basis ~ it seemed nuts but worth trying. 

See our post on "Make Something 365 & Get Unstuck",

click here. 

With both of us living creative, artistic lives 

~ me in snowy Canada & Forest in sunny California, 

it felt like there was enough contrast & similarity 

to create an interesting blog. 

Although neither of us are photographers, 

and editing a blog together was new ~ we went for it. 

January 19th, 2011 through to January 20th, 2012 

we posted a photo a day.

& some weekly posts after.

Thank you for visiting ~ 

we welcome comments.  

School Photos

 

grade 3

grade 4

brain storming

from emails

 

If we think of "forest & kerosene" as 

firstly "connecting" which is very diverse in theme, 

and secondly, the accomplished 365 challenge. 

Therefore giving ourselves a place to show all sides, 

and hopefully less pressure for perfection 

or beauty in each photo. 

I think a few things could be added to help define this. 

I could write a blurb that explains the original idea, 

put things more into context, and have that 

on top of the column.

And we could create a "page" referring to the original 

365, both in photos and reflection with words. 

daily theme ideas

 

- knick knacks 

- woodgrain

- doorways

- the essence of where we live 

- things we encounter in a usual day 

- subjects beyond our normal sphere 

- city living challenges

- abstract themes, like just doors 

or textures in the house 

sucker for beauty ... in nature, architecture, materials, objects -- whatever

love oddities & kitsch too 

- an aerial view

I hope you'll take a pic of your care one day.  ; D 

We could choose a word a day, or a word a week,

& we could take photos inside or outdoors. 

Words like: lines, fuzzy, gradient, shadow, wood, liquid, multiples, shiny. blue ... 

or have one day a week be designated for contrasting photos 

I think a word a week might open things up for 

deeper exploration & imagery.

Sundays could be photographer's choice,

a totally random photo. 

Thursday ~ wood 

Friday ~ multiples 

Saturday ~ elements 

Sunday ~ completely random photo 

Monday ~ a colour 

I prefer if Mondays are colour days, 

Tuesdays, Weds & Thursdays are word days, 

Fridays are multiples, Saturdays become element days, 

& Sundays are random. 

You suggested elements, I thought we could expand this 

to be "our environment" Saturdays. 

It could include nature, maybe even friends, restaurants, etc 

Make Something 365

 

Why did you decide to do this project?

 

Forest:  I was reunited with a childhood friend via the internet, 

she proposed doing the project. I thought sharing daily snapshots 

would be a fun & creative way to get acquainted again. We get 

a peak into the 'world' the other is living in.

Kerosene:  We were friends in grade school, so to connect as adults 

seemed exciting to me, but I'm curious about the mundane. Living on 

different coasts, both being busy with contracts, family & life, 

the idea to compare daily snapshots on a blog seemed like an easy 

& interesting way to share. As they say, if you want something done, 

ask a busy person. 

How has doing a year long, daily project affected your life?

 

Forest:  I have had mixed feelings about the project. Daily postings 

can be trying. I don't take things lightly (especially creative things) 

and probably put way too much time & thought into my photos & 

comments. So at times it feels like work. It's also a challenge when 

your schedule changes or you're in a completely different time zone. 

However, I have really enjoyed seeing how every once in a while, 

we seem to be on the same wave-length with our subject matter. 

A connection on a different level. 

Kerosene:  A year long project has been a challenge with a lull after 

the first few months, but it's a really great feeling getting close to the end. 

And doing something daily has forced me to loosen up both in subject & 

execution. I had hoped doing this would help us get in touch with our 

individual creative likes & perhaps that will happen upon reflection of 

the year's work. Instead the project has taught me a lot about my friend, 

how easy it is to work with her, to create with her, and her great sense of humor. 

Checking the blog for her photo is so much fun! And it's inspired my other friends 

to do more mundane daily tasks, like flossing teeth.