So today I learned a new word: “ambedo.” It means a kind of “trance” induced by focusing on “vivid sensory details,” said to be “soaking in the experience of being alive” and “done purely for its own sake.” Thanks to my friend Amy Ouchley for posting that on Facebook!

I actually do it quite a lot, and although I take photographs of many of those details in which I become absorbed, the photography is kind of secondary to the experience of being captivated by those sensory details. Does anyone else see what I see? Can I photograph this in such a way as to grab them by it as I am grabbed?

This coming Saturday, Jan. 8, Ruston Artisans will be open 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. I will be on duty and will install a new show called “#EarthAbstracts” in my co-op space in the gallery’s big back room.

Is it clear why I call these images “#EarthAbstracts”? I hope so. I hope you are stopped for a second to ask, “What exactly am I looking at?” Or perhaps simply to think, “Gee, I didn’t know we had a plant in Louisiana that has a purple edge on the leaf,” or “What might have caused such an interesting pattern in the sand?”

I’m not yet sure how many or which framed prints I’ll be able to fit into my co-op space, but these three will probably be there in sizes range from 10×10 framed up to 20×16 framed. I also will produce a few notecards with some of these images, just to test the market to see if there’s any interest.

#EarthAbstracts will be in my co-op space in the back room at Ruston Artisans for 3 months. The gallery is open Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I will be there this coming Saturday, Jan. 8, and most second Saturdays of the month this year. I’d love to hear your reaction to these images.