Front Cover of Silver & Gold SPRING 2015 edition

'Lilacs over Stone Post' by mlh

SILVER & GOLD is an adult (45+) lifestyle magazine 

for the Golden Horseshoe Region of Southern Ontario, Canada

-  (on-line circulation of 10,000; print circulation of 40,000) -

Spring Edition 2015 - front cover photography by yours truly

The Sun Rises over Lake Ontario

Without a doubt one of the never-ending delights of living on one of the Great Lakes of North America is the perpetual daily interaction with a 'straight line' horizon. I've been shooting, painting and interpreting this phenomenon for several decades now. 

Every day, every sunrise, is different. It is a constant reminder of not only the often startling Beauty of the Natural world, but the Majesty. 

The fiery orb of the Sun not only illuminates our world, but heats it. Through photosynthesis, most life, as we know it, survives and thrives. From a distance of 150 million km or 93 million miles away, sun light travels to our home planet, Earth , in a breath-taking 8 minutes and 19 seconds ... 93 MILLION miles in 8:19 minutes .... Wow.

It's relative size is deceptive to the naked eye. If, for example, the Sun was a door, the Earth would be the size of a nickel.

'Awestruck' - oil on board, by m.l.holton (2007)

I remain in awe.

The New Year, 2014

'The Drink Tray' - Photography by MLH

Happy ... yes. 

It's going to be a vvverrrry busy year ....

 stay tuned.

Fine Art America - LINK to Purchase MLH Photo Prints

Click on Photo to Go to my Retail Home Page on Fine Art America.

'Silk & Satin' in EXHIBIT 12 at McMaster Innovation Park, Hamilton. Opens August 1st, 2013

'Silk & Satin' - Photography by m.l.holton

In the spring of this year I launched a new series of photographic 

prints that I'd been working on since the fall.  

'WHITE OUT, Photo Erasures' - by yours truly-

is now available for purchase in book form. 
$40 per copy. (plus S&H)
Contact the artist if interested a copy.

Samples from this series is also available for sale 
via my Fine Art America on-line storefront. 

This above framed print, 'Silk & Satin', is part of the Grand EXHIBIT 12 

at McMaster Innovation Place in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. 

Over 300 items by 100 local artists will be on display for 3 months.  

OPENS: August 1st, 7-9pm.  

IN THE MIP ATRIUM

... Cocktails & Horsey Do'Overs ...

MAP LINK HERE.

Support local living artists. :) 

See you there.

32nd Royal Botanical Gardens' Orchid Show & Sale - Wow!

There is something irrefutably splendid about orchids. Certainly the turn-out over the weekend to the 32nd Royal Botanical Gardens' Annual Orchid Show & Sale attests to our on-going fascination with these exotic long-blooming plants.  I was personally gob-smacked by the variety, and quickly realized I knew NOTHING about them. So, rather then get bogged down in the technical names 'on route', I shot what appealed to me -  ( did a not-so-good  5 minute slideshow of those images ) - and did some background reading on the plants when I got home.

 

For die-hard enthusiasts, join the Royal Botantical Gardens Orchid Society - lots of care-taking tips, and you can learn much more about native Canadian orchids.

A few composite shots follow: orchids truly are a visual (and fragrant) delight ... 

I found the following orchids on the way 'out' via the gift shop. 

At first I was 100% fooled by their beauty .... but wait ...

They are fake. 
But there is no question that the artistry involved in their creation is splendid too.

Here's the slideshow I did: and, in truth, it's not so splendid ... sigh

Something is wrong with the text slides  - and the sound. (Turn DOWN your volume!)

Still, if interested in orchids, you'll love it ...  :) 

A few back-country shots ...

 

In answer to a few queries, I shot all three images FROM MY CAR while going up Centre Road to Carlisle. No 'photoshop' on 2nd image, that's just a good crop. (I don't use Photoshop.)

Capture Oakville 12: Oakville Camera Club

OPENING RECEPTION:  

Friday, November 23rd

7-9pm - FREE

Oakville TOWN HALL

Showing until January 2013. 

   In the Fine Art category -  

...  'Paint by Pixels' ... 

by yours truly 

The Oakville Camera Club hosts the 6th Annual Photography Exhibition, Capture Oakville 2012 * bringing together artists and art lovers from all over the GTA. 90 images will hang in the North Atrium of Oakville's Town Hall. Entrance is free and Open to the public. Oakville's Melissa Bel is playing live! Drinks are $4. Catering is complimentary.  Join us to celebrate local photographers and the town of Oakville *

Date: Friday, November 23rd, 2012

Address: 1225 Trafalgar Road

Time: 7:00pm

Update, Nov.24th: Great OPENING!! Lots of variety!

 Update Dec 3rd, 2012: 
Thrilled to have my image selected  
by the Town of Oakville  
for the Spring/Summer 2013 edition of 
their Parks &aRecreation Guide. 
25,000 copies will be distributed ...  woohoo ... :)
 Coming soon!

Country Roaming: Fall Shots 2012

 Misty Morn ...

 Burlington Skyway Bridge from Kerncliff Park

 Harvest Time 

 Back Steps

 

 Miller's Wheel 

 

 Autumn Reflections on Rocks in Stream 

 

 Bronte Creek - South End

 

 Salmon Fishing, Bronte Creek

 Bird Habitat

 Milkweed Landscape

... hey, contented pigs napping in the autumn sun ... 

ENJOY  the Fall... :)

New Pen & Photo Series: 'White Out'

'Garden Portal' - by m.l.holton
Very excited by this new work - 'The White Out Series: 2012' 

A quixotic photographic journey into gardens.
Available at the end of October. 

More images coming soon ... 

If you like, and want to learn/see more, 

please add yourself to my 'newsletter'.

HERE.

My New Digs: Hamilton Beach Strip

 ... ok, THIS I can get used to ...

 Beach strip runs for miles in both directions on western end of Lake Ontario

 Mockingbird perched on driftwood stump, just above a Yucca plant bloom/bud.

 The 'vib' here is very unique. 

It FEELS like a cross between the Toronto Islands, Mexico, Malibu & the French Riviera. No guff.

 One 'negative' feature is these massive hydro towers that run the length of the beach strip.

This hydro power is coming from Niagara Falls.

 Second 'negative' is this REALITY.

 Still, these sandy walkway vignettes beguile & ever entice .. 

 This water bowl has been filled with fresh water and 

left beside the boardwalk for those walking their dogs ... 

How cool, thoughtful & 'community minded' is that??? 

 Clearly, Beach residents love this area ...

With daily views like this - it's no great wonder.

Yup, methinks I'm going to enjoy this new home & location, 

very much.

This is it, my new pad ... And so begins a 'new location' chapter.

Royal Jubilee Celebration at Paletta Lakefront Park & Mansion: Hats & Hillmans

 A bit of a muggy & gray day at the Paletta Lakefront Park & Mansion for the Strawberry Social in honour of HRH Queen Elizabeth. A vintage hat collection that spans 60 years of HRH reign is on display upstairs, and, for the car buffs, vintage British automobiles grace the circular drive - from the humble Hillman Minx to the mighty Triumph Stag. A proper piper piped by the lake for added atmosphere.

... my favourite shot from this little outing ...

Cootes Paradise & Our Timely Transition - Part 1 & 2

Keeping my hand in on the writing, I recently produced a review of early native cultures at Cootes Paradise at the western-most tip of Lake Ontario, one of the Great Lakes in central Canada.

For the writing part, consider 'this review', over on my writing blog at canadada.wordpress.com. And for the visuals, a few samples follow.

All and all, it was a fun & interesting assignment to try to IMAGINE this inland wetlands area WITHOUT the current & intrusive industrialization now so pervasive along its shoreline. Clearly, the 'balance' is way off-kilter. It continuously begs the question: is our on-going destruction of Nature really the net result of all our 'progress'?

Aside from perpetually pondering this, I did find some wonderful 'hidden' sites with a few very engaging characters ...  Enjoy.

Early village settlements around natural waterways confirm the 

500 year transition from nomadic 'hunter-gatherers' to sedentary horticulturalists.

(Graphs, above & below, courtesy of David G.Smith, archeologist University of Toronto.)

 Muskrat: in case you're wondering. A common food source 300 years ago, as in, 'muskrat stew'.

Wet your appetite? 

Head on over to the 

 article ... HERE

and just published on 

RaiseTheHammer.com