ColeDesign Studio

I was in Meaford yesterday, right in the middle of The Invasion of the Scarecrows — part of the Meaford Scarecrow Project.

And what an invasion it was.

Scarecrows everywhere…..Hanging from trees, dangling from telephone poles, perched on balconies and appearing in the most unexpected places. They really got into it!!!!!

The whole town seemed to have joined in. They were clearly having a lot of fun in Meaford.

And then I met her.

She had a slightly crazy look in her eyes, but also seemed completely full of love and peace.

Hard to believe she was from the scarecrow family.

She seemed pretty easy-going (for a scarecrow). . .

I came across this little psychiatric help booth on my walk yesterday.

Five cents!!!
The doctor is out.

Naturally, I stepped in.

I’m not sure what I was going to confess, but I thought it best to rehearse before the doctor came back.

“Doctor, I have a problem…”

I keep taking pictures of things that speak to me.

I see beauty everywhere.

And apparently, I have started having conversations with roadside signs.

I think I may need the five-cent appointment.

But first, I need to know when the doctor is in. 😏. ?

of beauty . This tree leaped at me while I walked through St. James Cemetary this morning.
Don’t know why I’m so drawn to trees lately - but this one was ‘lit up’ by the sun. It called me to capture its trunk while the sun spot lit its branches as they split to move off in separate directions.
Shadows are a large part of a tree photo for me. They tell the complete story.
In this photo these shadows are the more interesting part of this tree - In the space between the shadow reflections -the negative spaces - are really the important bits. And they are lit up!
Like the Leonard Cohen song - the crack in the sidewalk is where the light comes in…. this is similar. Here it is the space amid the shadows - filled with light!
I was surprised to find me there. Too. There is a reflection of myself capturing it all- right there! in the ‘negative space.‘ Escher style.
In the spaces between the shadows, which are filled with light.
These bursts of light present as opportunities.- Perhaps new opportunities or new perceptions.
A learning to see the spaces between. …Not as emptiness, but possibility. The tree, its shadows, and ...the light inside the shadows. - like the Leonard Cohen quote abou the crack letting the light in.

Especially in the picture and in this setting... amid gravestones and shadows- the light getting in feels especially present. And, there is my own shadow!! which makes it a different sort of picture….it”s a record of me noticing.
My own call to action? -
Noticing the light in the spaces of my own week - no need to fill them. Just a need to stand in it long enough to notice what the light makes visible. I love this beautiful message.

My daughter Samantha understood this long before I had the words for it. About 35 years ago, she coined the phrase for the very first postcard for my first design company, Caper Interior Productions:

“You don’t just sit on it. You live in it.”

She couldn’t have been more ahead of her time—or more perfectly in tune with my philosophy of design.

In one of these photographs, Sam is lying on that very sofa with my dog, Cooper. Thirty-five years later. It’s a beautiful example of what she meant: furniture isn’t meant to be admired from a distance. It’s meant to hold our lives—the naps, the laughter, the companionship, the quiet moments, and the memories.

To me, that is beauty in design: thoughtful, useful, soulful, and lived in.

Beauty isn’t something you finish creating.

What is your beauty in Design?

It’s something you live into.

My daughter Samantha understood this long before I had the words for it. About 35 years ago - she coined the phrase for the very first postcard for my first design company, Caper Interior Productions:

“You don’t just sit on it. You live in it.”

She couldn’t have been more ahead of her time—or more perfectly in tune with my philosophy of design.

In one of these photographs, Sam is lying on that very sofa with my dog, Cooper. Thirty-five years later. It’s a beautiful example of what she meant: furniture isn’t meant to be admired from a distance. It’s meant to hold our lives—the naps, the laughter, the companionship, the quiet moments, and the memories.

To me, that is beauty in design: thoughtful, useful, soulful, and lived in. Tell me what is YOUR beauty in design??

Beauty isn’t something you finish creating.

It’s something you live into.

The sky is an impossible blue. The city is glowing with life - window by window. Each light a story. Each building filed with lives u folding.

… and for a brief moment. Everyone who looked up must have shared the same wonder : the extraordinary calm after the storm .
me your beauty. Whaat brings you joy. Moments of mindfulness.

project.

From beginning to end. What a ride!!! Historic storm of September 2026.

My grandson Aaron went in search of the moon this evening. This is us looking upward in awe and appreciation. Our little adventure shows us in the shadows cast against the landscape in the shadow of the moon. Good night moon. 🌖. Good night trees🌲 good night road and good night 🌌 sky. Good night stars ⭐️ twinkling bright. Good night to the hushed starry night. ’sbeautyadventure