In every art form, specific connections can be made between real life and the given medium. A connection is a great way to get an artist fired up to pick up a camera, grab a paintbrush, ignite the welder or head to the studio. Some connections are triggered by thoughts, words, emotions, feelings, an incident that occurs, etc. I often make a connection when a specific word pops into my head and think, “How can I capture that word in a still photograph?” As I walked to the mailbox today, I glanced at each neighbor’s landscaping. Upon seeing a section of yard, immediately the word abstract crossed my mind when I looked more closely at a specific section of each garden....