On my birthday I have to celebrate my parents … the good, the bad and all of the beauty in between.
Posts Tagged ‘Inspiration’
I still have the dress
Posted in Inspiration, tagged birthdays, celebration, family, Inspiration, Photography on December 9, 2017| Leave a Comment »
winter into spring
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, tagged American history, black history, grief, Inspiration, metaphor, Photography, poetry, prose, slave narratives, slavery, storytelling, trees on December 6, 2017| 1 Comment »
This past year I read quite a few slave narratives by African Americans who were interviewed in the late 1930s to document their childhood experiences and memories of slavery prior to the Civil War. These people, ranging in age from octogenarians to centenarians, were also asked about their feelings toward the people who had formerly owned them. The wide-range of responses highlight the complex relationships that developed between those who enslaved and those who were enslaved within an institutionalized system of slavery as it existed in the United States for well over two centuries.
The following words that I call Winter into Spring were inspired by one man’s memory of the tough times after the Civil War and his continuing close relationship with the family who had previously owned him. In broken English, he conveyed the depth of his feelings using visual metaphors. He spoke only of his personal experience, but I was moved by something that I felt was universal … how people experience grief whatever its source. And so I took this man’s words, tapped into my own personal experiences and observations of others to draft the following. It may be a work in progress …
Winter into Spring
I remember the day, both of their days,
the soil covering them like I no longer could.
What can I say except losing them was like being a tree in the winter wood.
Understood?
Every cold wind, so sharp, blowed my leaves and tore them loose.
They fell to the ground, crumbling to dust, as if to follow those two,
my master and mistress, into their graves below.
I was in a world so dark I could not see.
Naked and alone. Stripped bare like a tree soon to fall.
Then one day I felt whole.
It was a strange day. What day, do you say?
That day it was like Spring, and it come bringing light!
I could see.
Well I guess you could say that little tree it was me.
You asked me how it felt and now I’ve told you.
When they passed I felt done, but the day did come,
though I still sometimes wonder why,
when I finally felt alive again.
###
more samuel west inspired
Posted in Inspiration, tagged architecture, art, beauty, creativity, decorated glass, design, geometric, Inspiration, Photography, samuel west, stained glass on December 5, 2017| Leave a Comment »
One image, a photograph of a window pane, then scaled and scaled again to create a whole new pattern.
coasters
These are currently available at the gift shop located in the Welcome Center at Trinity Church in the City of Boston.
playing with shapes and colors
Posted in Inspiration, tagged art, colors, creativity, design, glass decoration, Inspiration, Mondrian, Photography, samuel west on December 5, 2017| Leave a Comment »
While Mondrian came to mind once I stared at the image on the screen, it was in fact the 19th century glass decorator and stained glass designer Samuel West who inspired this work done in GIMP.
It is a work in progress. Perhaps the first of a coaster set. Maybe the beginning of a larger design for a scarf. We’ll see. Meanwhile here’s a peek at the decorated window found inside Trinity Church that inspired this flight of creative fancy.
before sunrise
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, On the Road, Uncategorized, tagged design, Inspiration, nature, Photography, spider's web, spiders, travel, Tumwater, urban wildlife, Washington State, webs on November 25, 2017| 1 Comment »
a spider’s web by lamplight
black friday & unique gifts
Posted in Inspiration, tagged black friday deals, Inspiration, Photography, shopping, unique gifts on November 24, 2017| Leave a Comment »
It is that time of the year. Major deals online and in-stores. If you’d like to purchase some of the unique items featuring my photography, you can visit the online sites using the links below. Where applicable, coupons for savings are highlighted on each page.
https://www.zazzle.com/imagesbycynthia/collections
https://artofwhere.com/artists/wordsandimagesbycynthia
http://www.blurb.com/user/CStaples
If you’re in the Boston area, you can also find my work in the Trinity Church Welcome Center gift shop which will re-open on Saturday.
Have a good weekend!
branches
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, On the Road, tagged beauty, Branches, Inspiration, Photography, travel, trees, Tumwater, Washington State on November 24, 2017| 1 Comment »
trees outside my window in tumwater, washington
With the exception of politics, you really can find beauty anywhere. These are trees outside my hotel room in Tumwater, WA. The morning light was just starting to appear. That light did fade but I expect it will come back again and probably bring with it rain. It is quite an experience to see bright sun and feel rain drops at the same time.
this thanksgiving a steady rain falls …
Posted in Inspiration, On the Road, tagged art, beauty, blown glass, Dale Chihuly, glass, glass arts, Inspiration, Photography, Thanksgiving travels, travel writing on November 23, 2017| Leave a Comment »
… outside my window in Tumwater, WA and I am thankful to see the beauty that is revealed, from the trees in silhouette through the layers of low-hanging fog, to the amazing range of greens so bright on the trees whether moss, leaves or pine needles. With that said, the steady rain means I am not out in the woods with my camera capturing nature but I have been lucky enough to meander indoors in places like the Museum of Glass in Tacoma and (in between showers) Chihuly’s Bridge of Glass.
feature from The Bridge of Glass
It was an unexpected revelation by family on the West Coast. I entered without expectation and so I think I was even more amazed by what I saw. If you follow my blog, you know I have always been attracted to light streaming through glass but I know little about blown glass. Once long ago I saw Chihuly’s work in Las Vegas. It was a monumental exhibit in one of the major hotels. Almost overwhelming with its complexity, as is the Bridge of Glass as you stop and try to imagine a mind that imagines and then creates such colorful complexity with hot glass.
The museum itself, co-founded by Chihuly, certainly contains more of his work but its function is more than to showcase his work. The museum mission is to “to ignite creativity, fuel discovery, and enrich lives through glass and glassmaking.” In part this is done by exhibiting the work of contemporary glass artists like Albert Paley …
and Oiva Toikka…
and Michael E. Taylor.
The museum shop is small and lovey featuring the work of regional artists like Mitzi Kugler’s Sand Hill Crane.
I was really impressed by the live glassmaking and the onsite educational opportunities available to the public and especially for local children of all backgrounds. Highly recommend a visit if you’re in the area. https://museumofglass.org/
The rains are ending it would appear. Soon off to have an early Thanksgiving dinner with friends and family. Wherever you are this day, best wishes to you. 🙂
in addition to stained glass …
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged architecture, art, beauty, Inspiration, landscape, museums, nature, paintings, Photography on November 20, 2017| Leave a Comment »
… the McMullen Musem of Art has three concurrent displays on exhibit this fall through December 10th. Detailed information can be found in this museum press release. What I especially appreciated about the museum itself is its overall architecture that bridges old and new architectural styles and which takes into account the natural landscape as being part of the visitor experience. The floor to ceiling glass walls on each floor present an airy feeling … and that’s before you even realize that there is an amazing roof top deck.
Given that two of the three exhibits focus on nature, landscape, realism and symbolism, it inspired childish delight to walk up the stairs with clear glass all around, seeing the landscape outside, and then to walk into beautifully curated exhibits like that of Alston Conley’s New England Sky …
… and that of Nature’s Mirror: Reality and Symbol in Belgian Landscape.
And in the midst of so much landscape there was the unexpected appearance of man, in this case, The Old Man Blessing, by Belgian painter Leon Frederic.
The area accessed by the public to view art is actually not that large but comes across as quite spacious. Technology, whether a video showing the Belgian landscape of today on the wall, or a tablet with additional stories about the artists of the period, accentuate the visitor experience.
Again, I thank Anulfo Baez for introducing me to this new phase of the McMullen Museum and I look forward to future visits.
Sources and Additional Reading (and Viewing!)
http://www.bc.edu/sites/artmuseum/press/fall-2017.html
http://www.bc.edu/sites/artmuseum/exhibitions/conley/
http://bcheights.com/2017/09/10/mcmullen-hones-natures-mirror-belgian-landscapes/
in the dark, create your own light …
Posted in Inspiration, On the Road, tagged art, beauty, Inspiration, John LaFarge, McMullen Museum, museums, Photography, stained glass, stained glass windows on November 19, 2017| 1 Comment »
… and that is what I feel Anulfo Baez of The Evolving Critic has done with #MuseumswithAnulfo, his commitment to bring … or in my case drag … friends to museums, to catch up, to take respite from the chaos of these times, to see and experience the beauty created in the past and in the present. In my case, I was delighted that Anulfo introduced me to the newly expanded McMullen Museum of Art at Boston College. He pushed me over the edge when he mentioned the museum has a LaFarge window. It’s the first thing you see as you make your entrance.
Of course the piece has a story. It’s an 1889 triptych designed by John LaFarge for the All Souls Unitarian Church in Roxbury, Massachusetts. In the 1920s the church was sold to another denomination and the original donors asked that the window be given to another Unitarian church located in Amherst. In 2013 that church decided to sell the windows in part as part of a planned expansion of the building. The McMullen Museum with the aid of alum William Vareika was able to purchase the windows. Serpentino Stained Glass which restored the window before its installation at Boston College has a great page describing the window’s structure and their restoration efforts.
Of the three figures – St. John, Christ Preaching and St. Paul, LaFarge’s rendering of Paul held my attention most but the whole of course is a masterpiece.
Anulfo, who @evolvingcritic describes himself as a “Self-proclaimed nerd into art, architecture, design, culture and sneakers,” discussed the fact that LaFarge was well known for his experimentation. He understood the science behind the materials he used, whether paint or glass, and how to create the painterly effects he desired.
One thing you always hear about LaFarge is that he painted the head, hands and feet. While the window was undoubtedly meant to be up high on a wall, it is a delight to be able to walk right up to the window in its specially lit display case and see LaFarge’s work up close.
Thanks to Anulfo for making this visit happen!
Learn more …
McMullen Museum of Art at Boston College
http://www.serpentinostainedglass.com/Serpentino_Stained_Glass/John_La_Farge_at_McMullen_Museum.html
Words + Images 