Grandeur of Thistles

Grandeur of Thistles

I saw images of thistles frequently while in Scotland, and for good reason-- the thistle is actually the national emblem of Scotland.

I like how this humble, resilient weed is celebrated. In fact, there are many myths and symbols devoted to it. (Google it, it is quite interesting!)

Many stylized depictions of thistles, such as this finial from a railing, serve as a good reminder that the common can be exquisite and the everyday full of grandeur. 

Size: (h x w) 16" x 8"

Media: Phototransfer on maple

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Buttressed

This piece contains overlapping images of the flying buttresses of Dunfermline Abbey in Scotland. These exterior elements provide the support for the interior space. To me that is a beautiful, transcendent thought.

Size (h x w): 30" x 20"

Media: Original digital composition on canvas

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Memorialized

While driving toward Iona, Scotland, I randomly pulled over to get a better look at a nearby lake, appropriately named Lake Awe.  I had no idea that just ahead a charming little church, St. Conan’s Kirk, was nestled in the trees with terraces overlooking the lake. 

As I wandered closer, I heard the most glorious sound spilling out from the church-- such amazingly beautiful music! Yet, it was Sunday afternoon, long after church would have let out.  It turns out a Dutch choir had stopped to practice inside the church on their way to a choir competition.

The unexpected surprise in the beauty of the music, the humble charm of the stone church with its lakefront terraces, and the glimmering lake beyond combined into a very moving experience.  I lingered there for a long time. I have tried to capture this experience visually by combining a photo of Lake Awe, shot from one of the terraces, with an image of a locked off side chapel, with light streaming in. Together, they seem to “memorialize” the beauty of that moment.

Size: (h x w) 16" x 24"
Media: Original digital composition on canvas
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Meditation

Meditation. An image of a window opening within the ruins of a Nunnery on the Isle of Iona, Scotland, is combined with a labyrinth that was created in the sand on a secluded little beach.  Together they create a quiet, meditative space of solace.

Size (h x w): 14" x 11" (matted and framed)

Media: original digital print on arches paper

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Symbols

Newly hanging in my studio from my Assisi Thin Places body of work...

Symbols

Mount Subasio, in Assisi, Italy, is said to be a sacred mountain.  On Mount Subasio there is a cave where St. Francis would go to pray and contemplate.  It is called Eremo delle Carceri (Hermitage of St. Francis). 

The whole area near the cave is rich with symbols, from the frescos in the oratory leading to the cave, to sculptures in the hillside, to a variety of crosses, including humble, rough hewn crosses embedded in nature.

I like the mystery of symbols and visual metaphors.  I was especially drawn to the more natural, subtle symbols. I phototransfered two images onto a wood panel.  One image is of an outdoor chapel just down the trail from the cave.  It had an old tree stump with a small cross carved into it and a twig that also looked like a cross.  I fused that image with one of the door that opens to the oratory and cave.  Together they seemed to portray a beauty in subtlety.

Size: (h x w) 24" x 16:
Media: Phototransfer on wood panel (maple)
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Scotland: Full of surprises and inspiration

Photo courtesy of Connie Collins.  St. Margaret's Chapel in Edinburgh Castle.  My first thin place experience in Scotland, despite having arrived that morning after a red-eye flight and being jet-lagged!

Thank you again to all who supported me with my Iona Imagery project.  Special thanks to: Barbara J., Lexi D., Pamela Daum, Tom and Joyce Waalkes, Sharon and Jim Charmley, Fredlee Votaw, Brett and Brenda Woudenberg, Emil Alecusan, Jeff Dreyer, Su Nimon, Robb Hankins, Heidi Beke Harrigan, Marcia Everett, Barb Walker, & Paul and Gail Wetherell-Sack for helping to financially support this project! (And to my husband, Scott, who is not only helping to financially support my project, but who has supported and affirmed my calling as an artist all along the way!).

I am so deeply grateful for all of your help to make this trip and this project possible.  I have over 2,000 photos to work with for this new body of work! 

My trip to Scotland was productive and full of meaningful surprises and inspiration.  I went to Scotland with the distinct mission of trying to capture the essence of thin places* on the Isle of Iona. What I didn't anticipate was that I would stumble upon thin places in other areas of Scotland as well, not just on Iona.  A pleasant surprise indeed!

This new body of work created with imagery from Scotland will be entitled Traces.  I have been pondering the idea of traces a lot.  Thin places seem to have a spiritual residue, a trace left from the past.  I like the idea that the past seeps viscerally into the present in these places of sacred thinness and beauty.  It inspires and intrigues me -- and I want to portray my experiences of these spiritual traces in my new work.  Wish me luck!


*Thin places are times or places where the veil between the Divine and human is thinner or more permeable, allowing for a deeper sense of God's presence.

Visions

This piece is entitled Visions and was created with imagery I captured while in Assisi, Italy working on my Thin Places project. It was created by fusing two photos.  One image is of a fresco from the exterior of the Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels, located just outside of Assisi.  The other is of a medieval alleyway winding through the town.  I like how the images work together to create the sense of a vision unfolding ahead.  It conveys a trace of a thin place.  This glimmer of the unknown-- that which is just beyond-- continues to draw me in.

I am very excited to continue my work exploring thin places.  I will be traveling to Scotland May 30-June 8 to capture imagery to create a new body of work that portrays thin places.  I am particularly interested in Iona, which is a very small island in Scotland that is considered a thin place.  I am very eager to explore and experience this place!

But I wouldn't be doing this without the amazing support and encouragement of so many people! I am grateful for those who really "get" this project and want to see it succeed.  A friend recently wrote me: "This is an exciting part of your art journey, life journey too... enjoy/share/create/teach... but most of all = GROW! "   Thanks, my friend, I plan to!

For more information about my upcoming project, visit my Iona Imagery Kickstarter page!

Size: (h x w) 20" x 16"
Media: Digital Photography
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Distance

The background image of this piece was taken on top of Mount Subasio in Assisi, Italy.  This mountain, where Saint Francis used to retreat to a cave to pray, is considered by locals as sacred. One pamphlet notes that Mount Subasio has been shaped by “the religious paths that have been moulding these landscapes for centuries...”  It seemed like a good explanation of this thin place.

I layered an image of an arched doorway (from the hilltop fortress Rocca Maggiore) over the photo from Mount Subasio.  I wanted to offer a glimpse of this landscape that has been moulded into a beautiful thin place.

This piece is part of my Thin Places body of work created as a result of an artist residency in Assisi, Italy.

Size: (h x w) 30" x 20"

Media: original digital photography on canvas

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Pilgrim

This piece features the Oratorio dei Pellegrini or the Pilgrim’s Oratory located in Assisi, Italy.  It has historically “offered rest and restoration to pilgrims,” as one pamphlet says.   Although I never had a chance to enter this place of prayer/worship while in Assisi, I kept circling back to it, admiring the exterior frescoes and slyly peeking through the thick glass doors from behind the velvet curtains.  It was always locked.  I took this shot from across the street.  It is my reflection in the glass doors--the reflection of a pilgrim.  It seemed fitting to combine this photo with one that showcased Assisi, the place of the pilgrimage to explore thin places.  

Pilgrim is part of my Thin Places body of work.

Size: (h x w) 20" x 16" framed

Medium: original digital photograph

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Grateful

As I scurry around this week finishing up the last installment of Thin Places artwork and looking back over this past year, I am reminded of how very thankful I am to have had the opportunity to go on the artist residency in Assisi to work on this project.  At the end of this project I have particularly enjoyed revisiting my photos, my stash of mementos, and my journal entries that so vividly remind me of the "thinness" I experienced.  I have been moved and inspired far beyond my expectations.

Many thanks to all of you who have affirmed and supported me through this adventure.  I am deeply grateful!

At this point, I am not sure if my Thin Places body of work will be exhibited again locally, so if you are in the area, please come to the opening reception for the show on Friday, January 11 from 5-9 pm at the Market Street Art Spot in Minerva.