My optometrist(s) have been watching my cataracts for more than a decade. I’ve been watching how my vision is impacted because of them. It fascinates me. At first the only sign I had a cataract was the very occasional floater, kidney bean in shape, that would cross the path of my vision like a speck of dust in a shaft of sunlight. Years later, when returning from an early morning walk with the full moon directly over head, I asked my husband how many moons he saw. I saw three. There was a solid one. There were also two transparent moons, extending on the upper right and left side of the main moon, like Mickey Mouse ears. The whole thing looked like a Venn diagram. Now any bright light, such as a headlight or traffic light blurs into multiples.
You might think all these visual mirages would be terrifying. Instead, I am fascinated. They can stop me in my tracks as I analyze the shapes, lines, overlaps and colors. For me it is an artist’s dream world. I have the same enchantment during shavasana. This is the final pose at the end of a yoga practice to achieve recovery, peace and meditation. Eyes are closed during shavasana. I will stare at the back of my eyelids, mesmerized by the colors drifting amoeba like through my inner vision.
For several years, I have been thinking about interpreting these visual illusions in my work. This is the impetus for my current WIP (work in progress) titled Rainbow Aura.
What captures your attention enough so you stop what you are doing and truly study to contemplate it?
I am linking up with Nina Marie’s Off the Wall Fridays.
Thanks for the description re: your developing cataracts. I am not there yet, though my optometrist tells me they *are* developing — give ’em another 4-5 years. 🙂 What stops me in my tracks? Skies, and trees against skies. I regularly stop at the side of the road to take photos of those, and last week I found myself running into the house for the camera when the branches of a tree in my yard against the winter sky captivated me as I was filling my bird feeders. It seems I can never get enough of those views.
Aren’t skies wonderful, especially when bare branches are silhouetted against them? We have our bikes on trainers facing over an estuary. Being the early risers that we are, we hop on the bikes before the sunrises. At first everything is pitch black, except for a few neighborhood lights and stars. However, as the ride continues, the sky lightens, and if we are lucky we are treated to a sunrise. There are quite a few bare trees in the vista. Since the bikes are on the second floor and our property is 50 feet up from the ground across the street, it is like looking up at the trees, only without the neck strain.