Wow! One week into MAM. Moving right along. Today is a day for reflection…
Also trying to organize my photos – another Herculean organizing task.
It might be best depending on what you are using to view this post (I use my iPad) to hold it vertically so you can see each photo all at once on your screen instead of having to scroll to see it.
Here goes…
Mist over Sodom PondReflection in a puddle on the East Montpelier trailThis looks like a watercolor but it’s a photo of two leaves floating in a pond with reflection of a tree trunk and blue sky.
At one of my favorite hidden gems of a small pond which abound in central Vermont. I’m not going to tell you where it is. It’s my secret.
Looks to me like the clouds are rising up from the ground.
Seen from my porch.
Super moon whose light is reflected on the corrugated roof of my garage and in the surrounding clouds.Sunset over the Pacific Ocean
At the Adamant quarry.
A massive stone creature rising out of the watery quarry? I did flip this photo on its side so the reflection is vertical, right down the center.Sun reflected in a pond on a cloudy dayWaiting for dark to watch for shooting stars I noticed the setting sun reflected on the trunk of my car.
Now let’s get more urban.
The Empire State Building reflected in a car hood.Reflection of building and dance poster in store window. I especially love the dancer at the very top leaping in the sky. (Sorry I couldn’t get rid of the caption on the photo.)Buildings at almost sunset reflected in the Gowanus Canal, Brooklyn.
Now for something really strange…
Stuffed rabbit holding a rifle and a round of bullets reflected in a storefront in Prague.
This one is not exactly a reflection but sort of so thought I could slip it in. (Could be seen as three reflections.)
Man taking photo of Hilma af Klint painting called “Swans” at the Guggenheim.
Last but not least I always seem to have to slip a selfie into my posts.
M.C. Escher print at the Brooklyn Museum where one could insert oneself into the picture. What fun!
Today I’m reposting a post I made last year. That is because tonight is the start of the Jewish holiday of Purim and I want to mark the occasion. I hope those who saw my post last year won’t mind and maybe even will enjoy seeing it again. Tradition!
Purim is the holiday where we read the biblical story of Esther and how she saved the Jewish people from destruction (once again). It is a joyful holiday with costumes and carousing. I always think of it as a Mardí Gras like celebration in a cold and often gray month. But when Purim arrives I know that Spring is not far behind.
Of course there are aspects of the story I struggle with – concepts of good and evil, capital punishment, the glorifying of revenge; but that is my way of engaging with my religion – to wrestle with the texts and stories, question them, challenge the assumptions; and try to find a way to understand and connect on a deeper spiritual level.
The story is hand scribed in Hebrew on a scroll called a Megillah which is stored in a decorative case. This is the case I made for the Megillah scroll at our synagogue. It uses Yemenite Jewish decorative motifs. The Megillah scroll is taken out once a year in the synagogue on Purim to be read out loud in the original Hebrew and sometimes in English as well.
Below are shadow puppets I made to dramatize the story of Esther. I don’t have a video of the actual puppet play so I am posting still photos of the puppet scenes.
Disclaimer- Some people have objected to my use of stereotypes of good and evil characters and of beauty vs. ugliness. I understand the objection but had decided when creating the shadow play to use traditional imagery and characterizations in my puppet portrayals. The story is supposed to have taken place in Persia around 479 B.C.
Here are Esther and her Uncle Mordechai at the gate to the royal palace.Vashti is the current queenWhen the king summons you, you gotta go. Vashti is dismissed from the court in disgrace for being rebellious (Go Vashti!) and the king looks for a new queen.Ut oh…Why won’t he bow down to me?!Gee, that sounds dangerous!Meanwhile…”How we gonna get rid of this guy Mordechai and all his people?““Hmmmm”, says the kingEsther becomes the new queen and gets to speak with the king. “Touch my scepter” he says, and I will listen to what you have to say.“You’re a liar and a creep!”Guess the plan backfired. Mordechai is honored instead of Haman. A woman throws her slops on Haman’s head. YUK!Mordechai becomes the honored and trusted counselor to the king and the Jews are saved from extermination.
I’ve been thinking about sharing with you two bigger than my usual very short projects. It might help me to get started on them if I tell you about them. But being the last of the big time procrastinators, I’m going to wait another day or two before launching into those.
Speaking of procrastinations, I was chatting (via email) with one of the other MAM artists and she was talking about cleaning out her studio. GULP! Another one of my great procrastinations.
So glad to know that I’m not alone with my studio glut problem, though I have yet to start the clearing process myself.
Here’s an inventory as far as I can make out:
Faded moths, and butterfly wings, shredded bits of birch bark.
Dragonflies, some with wings still on their bodies, others just the wings, no body to be found.
Pods of poppy flowers that have long since shed their tiny seeds all over my drawing table.
Milkweed pods, some dried and empty, others with their silky seed parachutes floating through the room.
Desiccated amphibian road kill (frogs and salamanders).
Molted garter snake skins (often found in my woodpile).
Buds, branches and leaves of shrubs and trees, dried, some with insect holes, some a bit crumbly.
Various fungi.
Mouse skulls, deer teeth, pieces of crushed turtle shell.
Stones and shells of different colors, shapes and sizes.
Shards of broken glass and pottery.
Starfish and seahorses.
Paper wasp nests.
Egg shells and one whole egg that I don’t know where it came from and don’t dare open and hope it doesn’t ever break.
Cecropia and Promethea moth cocoons and their pupae.
A slice of dried kiwi.
Abandoned nuts and bolts, pieces of rusted car parts.
Feathers of course.
Not to mention bits of cloth, ribbon, paper, plastic, beads, buttons, empty toilet paper rolls, tissue boxes, mint tins, chewing tobacco tins (found on the road, not mine) and boxes boxes, boxes.
🎵“These are a few of my favorite things.”🎵
All waiting patiently (or not) to be made into…something – an assemblage? A puppet? A crankie? Or thrown into trash or recycling. (Yes, some of it Ruth you need to throw out.)
Luckily it hasn’t spilled out into the rest of the house yet…Well, some of it has, but in fairly orderly fashion.
Well this one took me all day. Today I’m doing Shakespeare. My father loved to quote Shakespeare to my brother and me – mostly advice: “Never a lender nor a borrower be…” Polonius in Hamlet. Or an opinion: “How much sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child.” Poor King Lear. Or an order: “Stand not upon the order of your going but go at once.” Lady Macbeth.
So when I designed my parents’ gravestone I put a quote from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night on it:
If music be the food of love, play on….My father would smile if he knew.
Many years ago I visited the Cloisters in New York. I loved the unicorn tapestries but what fascinated me most was a walnut shell with an exquisite tiny sculpture inside it. I’ve never forgotten it.
Awhile back I acquired a perfect walnut shell and I’ve been meaning to put something beautiful inside it. Well I still haven’t, but the shell reminded me of another Shakespeare quote. It is one that I don’t remember my father ever declaiming but it’s one of my favorites. So here it is in three photo montages. Oh, it’s from Hamlet.
Some days are like this. I feel for all the lost souls…and for myself.
I found ‘em one day on a street corner in the rain. Knocked on the door of a house nearby that had children’s toys in their front yard. A man opened the door and gave me a puzzled look. Nope, not theirs. So I took ‘em home. That was months ago. We get along just fine but thought there must be the perfect home waiting for ‘em somewhere.
Meant to post this a long time ago, but well, here it is now.
Back home. SNOW SNOW SNOW! Well it is still winter…not that Spring deters the snow gods here in VT.
Today’s theme is “Zen and the Art of Wildlife Tracking”. Some of us older folks (that’s most of us here I fear) may remember “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” by Robert M. Persig ? Or the movie “Karate Kid” – the Zen of car washing? So many things can be “Zen” though some activities do seem to lend themselves to it more easily than others.
I have been taking a Wildlife Tracking workshop through the North Branch Nature Center in Montpelier. Tracking requires a slow pace, attention to detail and an open mind that I find to be incredibly restorative. Like hunting, fishing, wildlife photography or plein air art, one needs to be quiet and observant; willing to just be and be open to whatever may arise. Maybe something awesome will come your way. Or maybe you will experience awe just being there in the woods and fields. A Zen practice indeed.
Well here I am again, participating in the March Arts Marathon, color coordinated as always…
CHEERS!
My March “Book of Days” starts with a visit to my hometown- NYC
View from my brother’s apartment window.
At a vintage clothing store on the lower east side – The owner had the same last name as me and went to the same elementary school and Jr. High. Small town New York!
Nothing I love more than trying on hats.
But what function could this one possibly serve, I mean really!?
Waiting for the ferry on a cloudy day –
Someone didn’t want their photo taken…or perhaps they were just being a politician on a soapbox mouthing off and I caught them at just the right moment.
I’ve been having fun experimenting with photo collage/montage. Here’s one from the above photos –
Gal in a gull’s gullet. Photographers beware! You never know when you might get swallowed up. Well luckily he spat me out and now I’m on the train on my way back home.
It’s been so long I bet you’ve forgotten all about my blog but I haven’t. By the grace of G-d…Hineni. I am here. Went to a sounding improvisation by Evan Premo. The theme was “I am me”. I was inspired by the session to make a photo montage on that theme. Here it is:
coppsky 