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Pat Ludwig

@avataristic.bsky.social
371 followers 295 following 328 posts

Handmade art photography using traditional stone tools. NOT AI. All images-words original unless otherwise noted.

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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Complicated Geography (2026)
Complicated Geography (2026) 

Whether in the naming or the intricacies of the land and sea, geography is complicated. This abstract in deep saturated colors with force lines and directional markers is my impression of that complexity.
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Drunken Sunflower (2026)
Drunken Sunflower  (2026)
A surreal image of a sunflower seemingly growing out of control as though drunk. 

Sunflowers
No, nor a fierce hurrah
for what it does without choice,
for following the light
for the same reason the light follows it.

Just a thing rough to the touch, a face
like a thousand ticks turning their backs,
suckling at something you can’t see,
and a body like a tag off the earth

so that my child hands couldn’t tear it out
from the overgrown lot next door.
                           My palms raw with the shock
of quills and spines. Its hold like spite, and ugly

except when seen from a distance—
a whole field of them by the highway,
an 80-mile-per-hour view
                           like a camera’s flash.
All of them like halos
without saints to weigh them down.
- José Antonio Rodríguez
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Legacy (2026)
Legacy  (2026) 

An impressionistic montage of images from the cemetery where my beloved in-laws and my father-in-law's forebears were laid to rest.
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
All Ears (2026) A surreal picture of our grand-dogs Cosmo and Kiaya who have apparently just heard the sound of a can-opener on a can of dog food and are mighty interested.
All Ears  (2026)
A surreal picture of our grand-dogs Cosmo and Kiaya who have apparently just heard the sound of a can-opener on a can of dog food and are mighty interested.
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
End of Summer (2026) A crowded mass of dying flowers and leaves turning as summer ends and the cold months advance. A light outline of bright green pachysandra float above it promising life after death.
End of Summer  (2026) 

A crowded mass of dying flowers and leaves turning  as summer ends and the cold months advance.  A light outline of bright green pachysandra float above it promising life after death.
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Veronica (2026)
Veronica (2026)
A large pink patch of veronica grandiflora surrounded by shrubbery
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Ville Balnéaire (2026)
Ville Balnéaire  (2026)
(Coastal Town)  A beach landscape of a seaside community and town built up on the beach using the stones and reeds and driftwood thrown up by the waves. 

The Baboon is Eating Strawberries

The baboon is eating strawberries
expired on the shelf
of the Ft. Bragg Safeway.
A coastal landscape
with waves
like inexpertly torn tinfoil hangs
above his left shoulder
at the check-in desk
of an abandoned motel.
The ocean itself
is only a sound
through a torn window screen
where some hardscrabble bush
about to flower
is just a smell.
Will something appropriately
random please
happen to convince me
reality is still playing
with a full deck?
- Julien Poirier
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Promised Land (2026) No marigolds in the promised land There's a hole in the ground where they used to grow Any man left on the Rio Grande Is the king of the world, king of the world, as far as I know... - Donald Fagan / Walter Becker
Promised Land  (2026)
An apocalyptic and surreal image of a world on fire. Billowing clouds on fire and a landscape burning.

No marigolds in the promised land
There's a hole in the ground where they used to grow
Any man left on the Rio Grande
Is the king of the world, king of the world, as far as I know...
- Donald Fagan / Walter Becker
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Heart on Fire (2026)
Heart on Fire  (2026) 

A surreal image of a human heart burning in a fireplace giving off heat and a crimson sunflower blossom.
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Emo Emu (2026)
Emo Emu  (2026) 
A self-portrait as an emotional emu sitting with the weight of the world on their shoulders.
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Seventy-Five Glances (2026)
Seventy-Five Glances (2026)

A series of tiny vignettes of moments spent in Reford Gardens in Grand Metis Quebec.  A beautiful many faceted place for growing things and art.
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Chance Hydrangeas (2026)
Chance Hydrangeas  (2026) 

A wave of developing hydrangea blossoms in bright gold, orange, and red as a sketch on its way to be a painting.
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Thought Heave (2026)
Thought Heave  (2026)

An image of El Capitan in winter with the sun blazing of the Eastern face of the mountain.  Fleeting thoughts cause the earth to rise up and echo across the meadow. 

Thoughts on Looking into a Thicket

The name of a fact: at home in that leafy world 
chewed on by moths that look like leaves, like bark, 
like owls, like death's heads; there, by eating flowers 
and stones with eyes, in that zoo of second looks, 
there is a spider, Phrynarachne d., 
to whom a million or a billion years 
in the humorless long gut of all the wood 
have taught the art of mimicking a bird turd
- John Ciardi
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
People Talk (2026)
People Talk (2026)

A surreal cartoony image of how when people talk it sometimes devolves into anger and violence.
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Firebirds Are Go! (2026) (Photo collage includes a painting by Boris Vasilievič Zvorykin)
Firebirds Are Go! (2026)
A magnificent orange, red, and yellow fire bird  perched in a tree overhanging a shore on fire. 

(Photo collage includes a painting by Boris Vasilievič Zvorykin)

Fire Bird
The fire bird is
identified again.

Trees blow up
in the forest

where once
their wings and

throats were colors
of forgiveness.

The cottonwood
outlining my window

totters again.
Every year,

the fire bird scorches
what you can’t have.

It is not his beauty
that I regret.

It is the cry
to those that listen

to the bird—
“I burn them now.
Someday, I will find you.”
- Ray González
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Urban Decay #4: Carls Frozen Custard
Urban Decay #4: Carls Frozen Custard 

A series of connected vignettes showing the magnificent decay of Carls Frozen Custard in Fredericksburg, VA. This collage is superimposed on a series of firework displays as fitting this 250th year of our continuance amid the decay.
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Rose of Perturbation (2026)
Rose of Perturbation  (2026)
A surreal pink rose flower in full-bloom showing its feelings of anxiety with a pair of eyes. 

Gravitas
The overweight, overnight parts
that came to me in a dream.

Their clothes no longer fit,
it was this that brought them
to me crying, their faces twitching.

That had to end. No, they said,
it didn’t. So I rolled over to ghosts
that couldn’t dent a pillow.

The clock shed. Night pulled its
burdens into harbor and I woke,
glad for the day, its telltale light,

its flying minute, that genie work,
and the everlasting perturbations
of my people, their glories,

their heavy last words,
and for these, I rose.

- Sarah Miller
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Integrated Nonsense (2026)
Integrated Nonsense  (2026) 

A brightly colored abstract of partial and full rectangles suggesting deep layers of integration, but really just nonsense...
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Self-Inflected Wounds (2026)
Self-Inflected Wounds (2026)
We are often our worst enemies driven to sabotage ourselves out of fear, shame, and self-doubt.  This image of a shed sprouting a tangle of tree branches suggests how destructive this tendency can be.
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Dog Days 250 (2026)
Dog Days 250 (2026)
A meditation on the ridiculous hoopla about America's 250 Anniversary symbolized with fireworks and tall ships.  In the sky above the city a ghostly dog appeared and has stayed visible into the dog days of August.
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Shelter (2026) The fear of conflict, the impossibility of finding shelter as the sky falls down upon you.
Shelter (2026) 
An abstract expression of the fear of conflict, the impossibility of finding shelter as the sky falls down upon you.
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Floral Spray #5 (2026) "It's not the heat, it's the geometry"
Floral Spray #5   (2026) 
A spray of summer blooms in yellow, orange, red, blue, and white and their attendant shapes.

"It's not the heat, it's the geometry"
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Rush Hour (2026) Recurrent nightmare...
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Blue Poppy Energy (2026) #jardindemetis
Blue Poppy Energy  (2026) 
A picture of a Himalayan Blue Poppy and its energy at the Reford Garden in Grand Metis, Quebec. 

Énergie du pavot bleu (2026)

Photo d'un pavot bleu de l'Himalaya et de son énergie au jardin Reford à Grand-Métis, au Québec.

#jardindemetis
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Time-Lapse Forest (2026)
Time-Lapse Forest  (2026) 
An image of the forest in bright orange and red and black as seen through a series of overlapping images. 

These Days It's Hard to Tell What's Part of the Act
My doctor's packed the place for years
because he's known for making huge things
sometimes disappear. His routine is predictable,
effortless. Pick a number, any number: he's pointing
to his framed pain scale. He pauses for effect.
The six second sequenced faces are a kid—time-lapsed—
at a magic show gone wrong. Onstage in Vegas
once, the rare white tiger snapped. Inexplicable:
my numbers creeping up each week. My doctor
backs out quickly, as if dragged off in some beast's jaws.
- Jennifer Richter
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Rose of Sharon (2026)
Rose of Sharon  (2026) 

A surreal image of a flowering Rose of Sharon shrub with orange-pink flowers with a dissolving sky behind it showing its scaffolding.
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Gnarly Queen (2026) you were my favorite, a storm of desire burst from me. the inside of a sunset that has set.
Gnarly Queen (2026)

A surreal and abstract image in gold, brown, red and patterned blue. An image of other-wordly desire gone cold.
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Echinaceadrangia (2026) A patch of echinacea in love with a hydrangea. Intimacy ensues in purples and pinks and shades of green.
Echinaceadrangia (2026)

A patch of echinacea in love with a hydrangea.  Intimacy ensues in purples and pinks and shades of green.
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Octopi In The Sky (2026)
Octopi In The Sky  (2026)

An image of the tall ship Mircea being treated to a break in the clouds of another place where the octopi are flying free in the sky.
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Yucca Blanket (2026)
Yucca Blanket (2026)

A blanket of yucca blooms in bright yellows, golds, and brown.
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Lovely As a Cloud (2026)
Lovely as a Cloud (2026)

The dress is from the 1600's and presumed to have been worn by Lady Theophila Harris, a member of the English gentry who attended court during this period. Made from fine silk woven with real silver thread, the dress represents the height of luxury and craftsmanship in 17th-century fashion, when metallic textiles were a powerful symbol of wealth and status. I would have tried to retain the silver threading but it was tarnished to grey due to age.
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
The Azaleas Find a Doorway (2026)
The Azaleas Find a Doorway  (2026) 

The azaleas in orange and red find a doorway where the light slips through.
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Swimmers (2026)
Swimmers  (2026) 

A surreal image of swimmer competing in a chaotic sea of geometric shapes.
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Peonies & Centauria (2026)
Peonies & Centauria  (2026) 

A garden image of some beautiful yellow and gold peonies between a fence and a cluster of bue and purple centauria.
020
Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Modular Worlds (2026) Modular Worlds mashes up 2 fine pieces of landscape art at Jardin de Metis. Each globular world of "Gravity Field" by Terrain Work contains a sunflower defying gravity growing from a portal on the bottom of the globe. The door "Courtesy of Nature"Johan Selbing and Anouk Vogel.
Modular Worlds (2026)

Modular Worlds mashes up 2 brilliant pieces of landscape art at Jardin de Metis. Each globular world of "Gravity Field" by Terrain Work contains a sunflower defying gravity growing from a portal on the bottom of the globe. The doorway is "Courtesy of Nature" by Johan Selbing and Anouk Vogel. Together they portray the natural world surviving human technology and thriving. Exhibition open June 20 to October 4, 2026 @jardinsdemetis
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Curlicue Hosta (2026)
Curlicue Hosta  (2026) 

An image of a bed of curlicue hosta in greens, yellows, and brown.
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Representational Garden (2026)
Representational Garden (2026)

A garden of shapes sprinkled with flowers...

Representation

I have no conscience because I
always chew my pencil. Can we say
white paper
with black lines on it
is like a human body? This question
not to be decided by pointing
at a tree nor yet by a description
of simple pleasures.

Smell of retrieval. Led to expect the wrong
answer. An arsenal without purpose
but why yes please.
There is no touching the black box.
The tree not pointed at lives
in your bringing up the subject
and leaves space for need, falling.

The white ground. The waning heat.
I’d like
to say the history of the world.
Or that grammar
milks essence into propositions
of human kindness.

The difficulty here’s not true or false
but that the picture’s in the foreground
and its sense back where the gestures link
so closely to the bone
the words
give notice.
The application is not easy.
- Rosmarie Waldrop
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Paperweight (2026)
Paperweight (2026)
A large boulder standing the forest made up of layers of books, holding down the centuries of decaying human history.  Its good to have a purpose that spans the test of time.  

Paperweight

Every few months or so, I turn into a rock. First, my joints stiffen as if there’s weather coming. Then, I get the urge to read some doorstop novel. Finally, I become a rock. A smallish one, usually. My wife isn’t surprised anymore. She picks me up from the kitchen floor or the driveway and sets me on her desk as a paperweight. It’s nice to have a singular purpose. I’m glad I don’t become a brick or, God forbid, a stone. When I’m a rock, I appreciate so many things I don’t otherwise notice. Silence so intricate it sounds like music. A breeze moving through the room like a dancer stretching her limbs. Eventually, after a few days or weeks, I become a person again. I go back to reading my book; I spend the weekend cleaning leaves from the gutters. But at night, when my wife is asleep, I sneak downstairs and set my hand atop a stack of mail. I wait there, as still as possible, until sunrise. I don’t want to lose my touch.
- Ryan Teitman
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
Forest Spirits Awaken (2026) {Photo collage includes a photo of a sculpture by Ed Elliott)
Forest Spirits Awaken (2026)
A view off rolling hills alive with brightness of Spring where the green energy is enlivening the forest spirits.

{Photo collage includes a photo of a sculpture by Ed Elliott)
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Three Spheres At Dawn (2026) (Photo collage Incorporates botanical paintings by Denise Pelletier)
Three Spheres At Dawn  (2026)
An image of 3 spheres containing ancient trees and forest floating over a wooded landscape at dawn. 

(Photo collage Incorporates botanical paintings by Denise Pelletier)

#avataristic1
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
Iris Virginica (2026)
Iris Virginica (2026)
A bloom of Iris Virginica L. showing its lovely violet color with a spray of gold. d
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Yellow Irises (2026)
Yellow Irises  (2026)

A cluster of yellow irises against a sandy brown wall surrounded by hosta.
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Travel Anxiety (2026)
Travel Anxiety   (2026) 

Travel...its all a blur of distance and the unexpected.   Thoughts fly through the mental miles hoping for an unmovable destination. And instead fly on.
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Sketchy Rocks (2026)
Sketchy Rocks (2026)

A colorful sketch of some beach rocks
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Soft Serve (2026) The body like soft serve, dripping down in the June sun I tried to shoot a thought, but the thought sunk Nothin' to do but scratch words in the dirt and Watch the water roll down - Mike Doughty
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
The Pup Rocks (2026)
The Pup Rocks   (2026) 

A history study of 4 dogs whose relaxing shapes resemble a tumble of beach rocks.
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Forever (2026)
Forever (2026) 

An array of forever knots on a field of blooms, in hopes that the beauty of Spring lasts forever...
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Wipe Out (2026) “While men my age wait for their circle to become complete; I let the waves break over me, lost between this savage baptism of water and blessed forgiveness of rain . . . “ - Lawrence Schulz
Wipe Out (2026)

An abstract image capturing the kinetic force of  the ocean waves upon which we can either ride or fall.  

“While men my age wait for their circle to become complete; I let the waves break over me, lost between this savage baptism of water and blessed forgiveness of rain . . . “
- Lawrence Schulz
020
Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
Grace Runs The Voodoo Down (2026) {Photo collage includes a photo by Robert Mapplethorpe of Grace Jones body-painted by Keith Haring}
Grace Runs The Voodoo Down  (2026)
An image of the iconic Grace Jones dancing in tribal body-paint done by Robert Mapplethorpe 

{Photo collage includes a photo by Robert Mapplethorpe of Grace Jones body-painted by Keith Haring}
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Pat Ludwig @avataristic.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
Anatomy of Spring (2026)
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