Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, tagged abstract, art, arts, astronomy, colors, imagination, Inspiration, Photography, seasonings, space images on August 29, 2013| 1 Comment »
Salt, cinnamon, smoky paprika and a few peppercorns. The best part about adding these seasonings into my black sands universe is that every time I reshape things a wonderful aroma arises.
FYI, here’s another cool site for actual space images: http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/archive/top100/
Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, tagged comfort zone, community, creativity, family, good deeds, homelessness, hospitality, Inspiration, memoir, Photography, storytelling, tools on August 27, 2013| Leave a Comment »
This morning I received several different examples in my inbox that referenced the use of creativity. First I received a Daily Reflection courtesy of Alive Now Magazine, a publication in which I’ve had photos appear. Today’s reflection was “Imagine you are giving a party inviting the poor, crippled, lame, and blind in today’s world. How would you need to engage your creativity to offer them your hospitality?” You can read the full reflection here. It was strange to see this reflection about using creativity to offer up hospitality, and then to read this NYTimes article and some other articles highlighting how people are engaging their creativity to devise new strategies for relocating the homeless, and not always in positive ways.
A Rodin Sculpture at Boston MFA
The articles made me mad but the reflection brought to mind my mother. One holiday season she invited to dinner a mentally challenged neighbor. He had no family coming to visit that year and we had plenty of food. But, you see, my mom was a very private person. For others, and maybe even this same man, in the past she had always made up a plate and sent my father or brothers down the street to knock on doors and share some food. I do not know why she invited this man to our house this time. I think she was creative in her approach so that she could do this “good deed” and maintain some sense of privacy that was important to her.
Gerber at the Kitchen Table
The man was invited to sit in what the family considered “Pop’s chair” in the living room. My mom served him the first plate, and my dad served him his refills. After eating, the man watched TV and even took a nap. My younger brother and I were small enough to ask out loud, and too loud, “When is he leaving?” She shushed us but I could tell my mom felt the same way. After he did leave, my mom swore she’d never do such a thing again. She never did the exact same thing again (that I can remember) but she did do other things of a similar nature — good deeds that sometimes exceeded her comfort zone. Deeds done creatively.
Posted in Inspiration, tagged bauble, blue, color, glass, Inspiration, light, Photography, sunlight, sunshine on August 27, 2013| 3 Comments »
I have a friend named Tara who loves all things sparkly. Sometimes she leaves her sparkles behind. On occasion I pick them up, like shells off the beach, to photograph in sunshine. In this case, the light was dappled as it shone through herbs on the kitchen table.
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged fish, fishing, Inspiration, Middlesex Fells Reservation, nature, outdoors, Photography, Spot Pond, water, zen on August 25, 2013| 2 Comments »
I have always appreciated the “zen of fishing.” Placing a line in the water and just reflecting on life as I watch the wind make ripples upon the water. But this time, for the first time, something actually took the bait. It was a little fellow thrown back into the depths. We’ll see what happens next time. 😉
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged colors, ferns, gold, Inspiration, nature, Photography, plants on August 21, 2013| 5 Comments »
It grew in a teacup-sized pot. I was told to keep it in a shady area of the house and I did … but then I’m afraid I tucked it too far into a shadowed corner. I forgot to water it. I miss the fern’s green fronds but it is still quite beautiful with its branching strands of gold.
Posted in Inspiration, tagged astronomy, beauty, colors, creativity, fun, Inspiration, NASA, nightscapes, Photography, stars on August 20, 2013| 13 Comments »
As a child I learned to find Orion’s Belt in the night sky. But the star that mattered to me most was one whose name I still do not know with certainty. It was the bright light visible above the neighbor’s house across the street. Sometimes the speck would become lost in the canopy of the neighbor’s pear tree but inevitably at some point in some season its brightness shone. My mother, who knew far more about the earth than about the heavens, would point it out to me. With a smile, she always called it “Mama’s star.” In the quiet of the night, she would stare up into that sky, at her star, letting her mind roam. I’ve been lucky as an adult to travel the world and see the night skies from many different vantage points, and I feel lucky to live in an age when what I can’t see telescopes can capture beautifully.
By the way, these are not astronomy photographs.
While thinking about various things this morning, my eyes happened to fall upon the bowl of black sand I used for the recent shells photo shoot. I suddenly, desperately wanted to try photographing something else against that sand, especially something red. After deciding that using tomatoes would be bad (since I need them for dinner tonight), I searched and found some unopened tubes of glitter. As I poured them out onto the sand, the sun made them sparkle like stars. And thus the inspiration for this post.
Here’s NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged art, arts, beauty, Blue Hills Reservation, collaboration, collage, collage artist, colors, creativity, fashion, illustration, Inspiration, light, nature, Photography, Zoe Langosy on August 20, 2013| 1 Comment »
work in progress by artist Zoe Langosy with characters Coyote, Columbine and Harlequin
Standing silent in the presence of others, while a friend describes the essence of your work? It can be an illuminating, humbling experience. That is what happened to me as collage artist Zoe Langosy described what she saw in some of my photographs. “There are notes of nostalgia. I am attracted to cut up stuff that has that dark edge. Through her photography Cynthia captures those parts of nature many people don’t see likes cracks in the ice on a frozen pond or the beauty of a dying flower. Her images can make you stop, feel and reflect. In her work, as in my own, there is a reminder that there are two sides to life. That in order to find balance, we sometimes have to suffer. The sun rises but it also sets and as a part of that arc there’s the dark beauty to be found at twilight.” Zoe is currently at work on new pieces for upcoming shows. As always, I’m honored that she has selected one of my images to use in a collage, in this case birch trees photographed near sunset at the Blue Hills Reservation. The sun-touched bark will help to create the light in Harlequin’s outfit.
Harlequin, Columbine and Coyote are recurring characters in Zoe’s portfolio, androgynous, melancholic and hauntingly beautiful. The patchwork of Harlequin’s outfit will also include bits of Japanese paper in dark blue with silver details that reminds Zoe of “a moonlit field at night.” In the end her patchwork will convey a sense that Harlequin is outfitted in nature.
work in progress by artist Zoe Langosy
Learn more about Zoe’s works in progress and upcoming exhibits by following her on Facebook. FYI, she will have several of her original pieces on display during NYC Fashion Week in just a few weeks. Prints of her work (and her father’s) are available on Etsy. Enjoy.
Posted in Inspiration, tagged human voice, Inspiration, musings, oral history, silence, StoryCorps, storytelling, Studs Terkel on August 15, 2013| 2 Comments »
That first time he pulled me over after the library alarm had sounded, I actually put my hands on my hips and said, “Come on! You’ve got to be kidding. I’ve been coming to this library for years. Do you really think I’d steal a book?” All he said was, “This way, ma’am.” Together we walked over to the machine. He had me empty my pack of all books and together we discovered which one I’d improperly demagnetized while doing self checkout. During the whole procedure his face never changed. Aside from the initial pull over, and then a statement about “it’s the rules,” his lips never moved. He could have been a Nubian statue. I became determined to make him smile. Years later, I’ve yet to succeed. Our relationship has progressed. Now when I race by to drop off and pick up books, I make eye contact, smile and wave. He blinks once or twice and then nods in acknowledgement. Sometimes there’s a subtle bow. One day, I’m tempted to dance a jig just to see what he does. Bet he has a great laugh. Meanwhile, my interactions with this guard and others this summer have had me musing about both silence and the human voice. Not sure what will become of such thoughts but they have led me to the following lovely little video. It’s less than 3min long, but if you’d prefer to simply listen to the original recording, click here. Hope you find time to view and/or to listen. Have a good weekend.
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged abstract, colors, Inspiration, landscape, Middlesex Fells Reservation, nature, nature photography, outdoors, Photography, trees on August 14, 2013| 4 Comments »
Posted in Inspiration, Music, tagged arts, crafts, found objects, glass, Inspiration, mysteries, nature, Photography, wind chimes on August 12, 2013| 6 Comments »
Neither of us remembers purchasing it or even receiving it as a gift. So if you did give it to one of us, we both apologize for not remembering. The wind chimes are quite beautiful and the craftsmanship superb.
It surfaced this weekend, found in a bag of “stuff for review,” a bag which then got buried by other bags and dust and such. Someone had carefully wrapped the chimes in a Boston Globe newspaper dated 2008.
It now hangs at the kitchen window. On the inside, not the outside. Just enough wind comes through so that there is the occasional gentle tinkle.
I am tempted to hang it outside on the oak tree. I wonder what the red bird would think? 😉
Words + Images 