November 27, 2013

November 27, 2013

   Click on photos to bring up in full screen.

     A short special post -

    I have had several requests for images of the three sculptures in the Metropolitan Museun of Art in NYC that have special meaning for me. I wake up to the following photographs every morning thanks to the relaxed rules about taking pictures in the Museum. These are mine and to some degree they begin to come close to what I experience when they are directly in front of me in New York. 

   Here is my note from earlier this week on the sculptures that I dearly love:

     "There are several sculptures that have a particular spiritual significence for me, The Madona and Child by Claus deWerve -  c. 1439, one of the great reliefs in my opinion which is The Virgin and Child by Mino daFiesole - c. 1466, and The Bodhisattva Guan Yin from the late 10th. century. These are definate stops where I spend a good amount of time with each sculpture not just to refresh my memory but to stop and receive a sense of renewal from the prayers imbedded in these works as they are from monastaries where they were venerated for many hundreds of years before somehow winding up in this museum. They inspired countless numbers of people over the years and I sense their presence still palpable in these Sacred objects. Essentially I see them not as art objects but as symbols that have the power to evoke a closer relationship with God whose Creative desires have been placed in the hands of those who create for the rest of us something of Real Substance, a tangable connection to God's Very Self."

   I offer the images I have tea with every morning -

The Madona and Child by Claus deWerve -  c. 1439

 The Virgin and Child is by Mino daFiesole - c. 1466

The Bodhisattva Guan Yin from the late 10th. Century, China.

    Guan Yin or Avalokitesvara in Tibet and parts of China is one of the most highly regarded "Saints" in Buddhism. 'Saint' is a rather loose term to define Bodihisattva, as they are "Awakened" individuals, usually dead, who chose to be helpers to those who are still on the Path to Enlightenment by their available presence to those who seek them.

       (Japanese, Kannon, Kanzeon; Chinese –Guan Yin or Kuan Yin or Guanshiyin; Tibetan, Spyan-ras-gzigs; Vietnamese, Quan-am)

   Among the Bodhisattvas, it is Avalokitesvara who has the largest number of forms and is perhaps the most venerated and most popular Buddhist deity. His sex, originally masculine, is sometimes considered feminine in China and Japan, although this discrimination is unsupported by any canonical text. And was often considered in China and Japan as the 'mother of the human race' and, in this respect, worshipped in the form of a woman.

   

Peace until next week,

                    

                            Bill Lagerstrom

   

November 24, 2013

November 24, 2013

   Click on any photo to bring the pictures up in full screen.

   Two weeks ago I was in NYC with my daughter and her husband Rudy for six days where I managed to spend two days in the Metropolitan Museum of Art on 82nd. and Fifth Avenue. There are several sculptures that have a particular spiritual significence for me, The Madona and Child by Claus deWerve - 

c. 1439, one of the great reliefs in my opinion which  The Virgin and Child is by Mino daFiesole - c. 1466, and the Bodhisattva Guan Yin from the late 10th. century. These are definate stops where I spend a good amount of time with each sculpture not just to refresh my memory but to stop and receive a sense of renewal from the prayers imbedded in these works as they are from monastaries where they were venerated for many hundreds of years before somehow winding up in this museum. They inspired countless numbers of people over the years and I sense their presence still palpable in these Sacred objects. Essentially I see them not as art objects but as symbols that have the power to evoke a closer relationship with God whose Creative desires have been placed in the hands of those who create for the rest of us something of Real Substance, a tangable connection to God's Very Self. 

    If you go to the Metropolitan Museum website the three sculptures can be seen there in a rather straightforward view. If you would like to see my photos send me an email and I will delighted to send some along as I have had the privilege to make images closer to my sense of their spiritual value as I interpret it. Here is the museum address:

         http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/42725

   This will take you to the Guan Yin and following the tabs the others can be found. The Museum site is a valuable resource that offers a chance to see online to see the entire collections that are available to the public. Well worth a visit.

   Here are four photos from my visit to the Museum:

    

The Light of Creativity shines through everything.

There's an opening in everything,

that's how the Light gets out.

      I saw electronics on almost everyone in the Museum which for some  seemed to be more the experience they were having than the art works. Above I believe I see an Iphone, a Digital camera and a touchpad of some sort. I sat in the American Wing and instead of taking pictures of the sculptures there I started shooting  people who were using every device made currently to record images. I will show a few after I process them in future weeks. The world is getting more bizzare every few months lately it seems.

   A remarkable Crucifix from a special exhibition on loan to the Met. Here is their blurb:

Hildesheim Cathedral has one of the most complete surviving ensembles of church furnishings and treasures in Europe, with many masterpieces made between 1000 and 1250. As a result, it was designated a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site in 1985. A major renovation of the cathedral provides an opportunity for this extraordinary exhibition of medieval church treasures. Consisting of about fifty works, the exhibition focuses primarily on Bishop Bernward of Hildesheim (960–1022), one of the greatest patrons of the arts in the Middle Ages

A gleeful Mary!

Part of a Madona and Child in the Medieval Collection.

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   I visited my brother and his partner who live just off Bleeker Street in Grenwich Village in Manhattan and as I left around 6PM after it already became dark in this season of short days I was surprised to see the changes to the Street over the years. The Street has become gentrified and now has many high end botiques where Italian bakeries and bread stores used to be when I lived in The Village many years ago. Bleeker street was a busy place then and now I saw very few people on a Friday night which gave the place a rather lonely feeling. However your intrepid visual reporter saw opportunity for images. Here are a few:

I saw something surreal about the girl in red in the doorway,

a memory of something from childhood when young girls 

were dressed in skirts and matching hats. 

Fire Sale

One photograph of the store window as it was, this is not a composite.

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        - The Conversation –

­God took the Spirit aside and said,

"I want you to fly to earth and capture a soul."

The Spirit asked, "Which one ?"

God replied, in a whisper, "wwssshhhwg."

Is it you –

   or is it him or her the Spirit seeks  ?

A good trusted authority told me what God whispered –

   "Everyone. Everyone ……"

                                      Bill Lagerstrom,  July, 2012

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A little humor:

Until next week,

   Peace,  Bill Lagerstrom

                                 

November 15, 2013

Novenber 15, 2013

   Click on any photo to view the images full screen.

   Last week I was in New York City visiting my daughter Bridget and her husband Rudy and their dog Rocky who is a breed known as a 'Morkie," a cross between a Maltese and a Yorkshire terrier. An agressively loving dog who demands and gets as much petting and belly rubbing as he can out of everyone in the room. So here I enter, an alpha grandpa who has no intention of giving up my status as king of the pack while looking at a determined twenty pound living mass of "I am here to be adored and pandered to in every way as royalty needs to be so honored." Well we struck a bargin that made the relationship more two sided than the pooch would have wanted. Let's just say that Rocky got his belly rubbed and I got my space for a few minutes here and there.

    The dog is in truth lovable and almost as good looking as I am. I did enjoy his company and the war of "You will pet me continually!" became a pact of peace where "I will give you a treat, a pet, and you will take a nap or bother someone else." This dog is also a vegetarian, eats carrots, the favorite treat!"

Mr. Rocky Medina of Forest Hills, Borough of Queens, New York City

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    Bridget and myself for the early part of the week played the role of tourist even though between us we have around seventy five years of living in New York City. On Tuesday we went to the Central Park Zoo after a walk up Fifth Avenue dodging the tourists and the always in a rush New Yorkers. At the Zoo I found the most relaxed and serene New Yorker, one of the seals taking a nap and digesting lunch. 

Equinimity in action - so to speak

Fifth Avenue and Fifty Third Street  subway station -

Taken during a non rush hour moment

The hand on the upper right is saying,

"Stop smiling!" 

A rare looking person on the streets of NYC

At the Zoo with expressions ranging from bored to happy.

She listened to her mother when told to go play in traffic.

Fall trees are forever in the forground of buildings,

yet they will always manage to live by their own clock

even in a twenty four hour city.

A sign outside a voting place in one of the most diverse cities in the world.

English, Spanish, Japanese, Korean and Philippine.

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   Mostly photos today and more of New York City next week along with a few more comments and poetry.

   The NYC Subways tried to be more consumer friendly over the years without a lot of practical success. Announcements are made every so often as to when the next train at any station will arrive, usually a few stops away - maybe. This week's cartoon is a reflection of this friendly attitude on the part of the MTA towards riders.

   Peace until next week,

                     Bill Lagerstrom