All the Red Soldiers

I use to play with tin soldiers. A surprising revelation from a girly-girl. 

I loved the feel of the cold metal, the shiny uniforms

painted red and blue.

Line them up STRAIGHT, no slouching, no convex/concave lines.

This is perhaps my first memory of 

symmetry.

"...beauty resulting from structure.... objects divided into equal shape, size or length.... repetition of similar parts."

Oxford Dictionary

I haven't thought much about straight lines past those childhood years. (Well, unless cutting a child's bangs STRAIGHT counts.)

I actually like RANDOM. SPONTANEOUS. UNUSUAL.

Then I discovered a special website devoted to photography and writing. 

Kat's   Exploring with a Camera. 

Every few weeks Kat posts an informative article meant to enhance our photographic skills, see things in a new way, be open, spontaneous. 

And this is how I came to think about "things that are similar, equally divided, matching and repetitious."

(The equivalent of my tin soldiers.)

 Being a painter by profession I use many mediums and materials. I would like to think that my studio would have some orderliness, some semblance of uniformity allowing easy access.

Neat and Tidy would be a Magical Word.

Taking a Bird's Eye View of things

I do see symmetry, but in bits and pieces, on my own terms one might say.

Running my hand along the cold limestone, thinking about the similarities in structure but the individuality of each piece.

A carousel can't function without equal parts, each strong and symmetrical. 

But to fly with the crow is also very appealing.

It has been a pleasure to explore this concept with Kat. 

But now it is time to run barefoot 

across the sand 

 every which way.