April 6, 2015

April 6, 2015

All photos are mine unless otherwise noted.

To see full screen click on any image.


   On Saturday Lee and I took a fast trip to the Colby Museum in Waterville Maine and the sixth through the eighth images were taken there. The last images were taken at an iron bridge just off the street where the best bread in the State of Maine can be found, a small store called Universal Bread.  If you are ever in Waterville stop by early, before one PM else there might not be any loaves left. The address is 19 Temple Street. Here is the baker's Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Universal-Bread-Bakers/1479879418900808

   Have a listen as you look at the bread page above -

    https://app.box.com/s/tim2uikiiiv2y7ago0qc

                   ---------------------------------------------------------------------

   On Saturday Spring leaped into sight for the first time this year and this man responded - winter's books on the ground and not on his feet.

Then Sunday arrived ......

Icebergs on the Penobscot River just north of Bangor.

No, this is not the arctic, just Maine in Spring only for a few months we hope.

   Down the road from the icebergs we hit one of a bunch of snow squalls and stopped to take a few images of these horses waiting on a change in the weather.

The snow squalls hit suddenly,

   warnings were not considered in this fast paced age;

   such is the mindset of weather these days.

The horses were both frisky and resigned,

   moods shifting one second the next,

   matching the sudden shifts

   of the prevailing atmospheric winds.

And, so it is with our internal weather systems,

   sunny and warm in disposition one minute,

   stormy, cold, wind blowing the next –

   one's equanimity battered yet again.

Experience tells us to buy and have on hand

    all manner of storm protection – an umbrella at least –

And then, a beautiful Spring day arrives.

Winter's sentries are sent home – furloughed,

   until Mother Nature, still irate, is not finished

   with Her tirades for this Season …

Still, I know, that even She will settle in after a while.

                                                        Bill Lagerstrom, 2015

   Did you know that those from Maine who move to Florida for the Winter are referred to as 'Snowbacks ?" Well some snowbacks stay here all year as witnessed by the horse above. Soon the migration home to this Northern region will begin as the hordes of people for whom cold weather does not exist in their vocabulary return.

Groomed for Spring.

------------------------------------------

Three from the Colby Museum -

Lee taking a photo. Wonderful light.

Artwork

Work that becomes Artwork

This image is for your thoughts.

---------------------------------

Some Spring Humor:

----------------------------

Just something nice -

Peace until next post,

                     Bill Lagerstrom

 

March 25, 2015

March 25, 2015

All photos are mine unless otherwise noted.

To see images full screen click on any photograph.

     Last Friday Lee and myself went to Rockland along the coast here in Maine to spend a few hours in the Owls Head Transportation Museum where planes, cars, motorcycles of all vintages are on display. It is a fun place to go to especially when they have special events such as a fly in of vintage planes. There are two images of the museum at the bottom of this post. 

Here is their website:  http://owlshead.org/  

   Driving the few miles back into Rockland Lee suggested we walk the Main Street and look in the galleries. Since the Farnsworth Museum had nothing new this walk was in effect a museum in the streets and most worthwhile. 

Since we went to the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem Mass the week before and were taken with the "Audacious" exhibit of sculptures whose medium was wood, I have been seeing works of wood more than I ever noticed. We walked into the Gray Fox Gallery on Main Street and were greeted by another artist who worked in wood and were astounded by the pieces on display. 

   The artist is Ashley Gray, a Maine resident who lives in the Rangely area. The opening photo and the following seven are all his work - carved and painted wood. If you can get to Rockland please stop in to his gallery, I do not think you will be at all disappointed. 

    Here is his facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/grayfoxgallery

   And his Website with quite a bit of his work:

               http://www.ashleygrayart.com/index.php/the-artist  

  All my photos are details which is what arrested my interest.

 I offer no further comment on the sculptures. Please enjoy what you see.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

   Here are two images from the Owls Head 

The long wait in a hanger for outside air -

Flight is Winter's dream and Spring's reality.

When was the last time you saw extensive chrome on a car?

This is a Rolls Royce or a Bently from the 1920's

-------------------------------------

    This was taken a few days ago and I thought it would be the last snow of the Season - sadly mistaken we had two more storms leaving another eight inches of so. Mama Nature loves to taunt those who long for a release from Winter's grip. This morning, five degrees - yesterday was a delightful eight above. Not really a complaint, but I do long to walk on dirt and grass once again.

-------------------------

Some humor:

   Peace until next post,

                          Bill Lagerstrom

March 10, 2015

March 10, 2015 

All photos are mine unless otherwise noted. The museum images are taken with permission of the institution.

   To enlarge full screen click on any photo.


    On Saturday we went with friends to the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem Massachusetts, a good day with several fine exhibits where we spent the afternoon viewing what they had to offer. All of the images on this post were taken at the museum. Here is their website :

                                                  http://www.pem.org/  

       I have spent a great deal of my life in museums and outside their confines with artists, photographers, musicians and writers. Most were passionate to a fault but never dull as long as I understood what the creative drive does to myself first, and then by way of identification with others from my own experience.  I see today that the most creative sides of life are rooted in each individual heart and in the way we shape our lives along spiritual lines whether we consider God a part of our growth or not. For myself connecting to the creative awesomeness of God working through myself in order to bring something of beauty and value to the photography I love, is a joy in all my days these past few years. 

    Here are the museum images from Saturday. Most images have been worked on to bring out something of what I saw - if you go to any museum you will see what you see and hopefully share that experience with others. 

Main hall at the Peabody

Guardians outside the "Chinese House"

moved here and rebuilt a dozen years ago. 

Climbing the stairs to transcendence 

one makes many turns before reaching the goal

as the the compartments we put life into

are left behind, soon forgotten,

unless we descend again and reclaim

what is habitual, the old way of life before God intervened. 

   In the Chinese wing of the Peabody a pair of tall vases were on display. A  detail from a matching set each vase five feet tall - an amazing feat of pottery creativity. Here is a detail from one of them.

The Buddha in bronze, a remarkable sculpture.

The King and his Queen ready to win the day.

A lovely chess set from the museum.

Which door to enter?

St. Ignatius said to try one and if it is the wrong one

return to the beginning and try another. 

---------------------------------

   An exhibit called "Audacious, the Fine Art of Wood" was a surprise for me to find out that there are many creative and talented people out there who are using wood as a medium for expression. A delightful surprise as the quality of the works was exceptional. Here is a link where you can get a better sense of the exhibit:

 http://www.pem.org/exhibitions/178-audacious_the_fine_art_of_wood_from_the_montalto_bohlen_collection

   Here are two images of works that moved me -

-------------------------------------

Two ways to communicate in this age.

The Conversation

More communication.

--------------------------------

   Some humor:

The creation of "Installation Art"

Seen at many fine museums here and there.

Peace until next post,

                                 Bill Lagerstrom