Light Dances

Light dances when you're on a motorcycle.  Ever noticed that?

After my personal victory of actually riding a motorcycle for the first time, I figured I'd earned the opportunity to decide which way we went home.  Having ditched the helmet for my second ride because it got in the way of me being able to see around me, we set off down Westlake Drive, a windy, hilly road that I've driven thousands of times.

Coming up a hill beside the house I grew up in, the world shifted.  Curves that I know like the back of my hand took on a whole new appearance.  Trees I had never noticed showed shapes that I had never seen before. Colors became deeper and more vibrant. Light and shadows danced in patterns that were foreign and tantalizing.  Awareness of the shifting universe fought for attention with my not-quite-unease on the bike.  We made it home before I was ready. 

I knew then that I was entranced and wanted more.

Bitsy Gets on the Bike

I'm the last person you would ever expect to find on a motorcycle.  Allow me to explain: My friends call me Bitsy.  I went to prep school.  My luggage is monogrammed.  I wear pearls and seersucker, skirts and heels.  I practice yoga and row.   I love the outdoors; I rock climb and camp and hike and sail. But I'm a bit risk averse and no one would expect me to be placing my life in someone else's hands at 60 plus miles per hour.

So what made me decide to climb on the back of a 1,100 pound motorcycle? Well, I fell for a biker.  Not a weekend rider who only goes out when the weather's nice and drives a BMW the rest of the time. Nope, Daddy's little debutante fell in love with an honest-to-God, jeans-and-leather jacket wearing, ride-to-live, corporate-job-doesn't-disguise-it biker. Who'd have thought it?

After visiting with a former coach/old friend and her husband (both bikers) while on vacation, I came to the uncomfortable realization that the biker and the bike are a package deal. Asking a biker to give up his bike would be like asking him to stop breathing.  Recognizing that, I knew that I had to find out if I could embrace the bike if our budding relationship was to continue.  So, I plucked up my courage and instructed my beau to pick me up for our first post-vacation dinner date.  

"Sure thing sweetie, I'll meet you at your place and we'll take your car."
"No, honey, I meant that you should pick me up."  
"On the bike?" was his incredulous response.
"Yes."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes." 
"You don't have to do this."
"I know.  Just pick me up, ok?"

The appointed hour arrived.  My internal pep talk: "It's a short ride to the restaurant and back, that's all.  You can do that.  You can handle anything for ten minutes.  He's worth it, and you have to KNOW that you can do this. Just get on the bike."  Praying for courage and strength, wearing Sperrys and go-to-hell green chinos (no jeans or biker boots in this WASP's closet), I got on the back of a motorcycle for the first time.  

Terrified that I would fall forward and knock both of us off the bike, instantly becoming greasy spots on the road, I held on very tightly to the frame of the seat.  And somewhere out on 360, overlooking the St. Stephen's campus (my alma mater), that terror faded and I let go.  We arrived for dinner unscathed, though both a bit flushed.  Me because I'd overcome my fear of the bike, him because it sparked a hope that maybe, just maybe, this girl he was unexpectedly falling for would understand the part of him that lives for the freedom of a bike on an open road.

Emotivity, n. a state of feeling

As humans, we exist in a constant state of feeling.  We feel by touch.  We feel through our consciousness, experiencing emotions, sentiments, and desires.  We come to awareness and form impressions through feelings.  We often shape our opinions in response to feelings.

What feelings do we seek? Where, when, and how do we enter a heightened emotivity? These questions have been asked throughout the ages, but I can only answer for myself.

Peace, light, and love- these are the things which I desire above all others, that inspire my creative process, and that I share with others.  I'm an artist and photographer; I see the world in the context of colors and light. The paintings I compose are full of texture and color, driven by emotions.  

Where does one find peace, light, and love in this life?  I happen to find them on the back of a motorcycle. The freedom of riding gives me peace and space to explore emotions and thoughts.  Light presents itself in unique and shifting ways when seen from a motorcycle.  And this is something that I share with someone I love very deeply; a man who loves me, inspires me, encourages me, and gives me the freedom to be myself.  It's a gift beyond words. 

River Road on the banks of the Guadalupe River, Sattler, Texas

I seek to create from this place of peace, light, and love.  Since painting is a bit tricky at sixty miles an hour, I use my camera. Photographs taken from the back of the motorcycle, from the state of feeling in which they were taken, will be presented here.  These images are not staged, aside from my asking to slow down a touch from time to time.  I plan to do very little editing, though I can't resist a good black and white.  All images presented here are taken from the back of a motorcycle (unless otherwise stated).  I look forward to your responses and feedback as I write and photograph my journey.