Crossing Over

  

Crossing Over ©2020 - I captured the background image of this piece in the small community of Oldwick, NJ. The little triangular island in the middle of the stream seemed to be an appealing start for a composition. Normally, I would avoid including the limb in the foreground jutting across the entire top of the frame, but in this case, I thought the depth it provided had creative possibilities. A year later, one of those possibilities began to formulate in my mind. I placed a historic stone building I photographed in Lebanon, NJ called Taylor’s Mill on the island. Built in 1760, it’s dark, foreboding entrance emulates a portal to an unknown world. The alligator slipping into the water in front of it is from the Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange, NJ. These creatures are ancient and have evolved very little from their beginning over 50 million years ago, thus representing a deep connection with Mother Nature and her cycles that we are all subject to. The boat is from a vintage image in my collection that originally contained 2 women, one with a pair of oars, having an afternoon outing on a lake. I removed them from the boat, fashioned a pole from the oars, and added a different woman and man also from my vintage photo collection. The narrative I envisioned is loosely based on the Greek Mythology story of Charon the Ferryman whose duty it was to transport the souls of the dead over the Rivers Styx and Acheron to reach the underworld. His payment was a single coin placed in the mouth of the deceased prior to burial. In my piece, the woman holds a silver coin in her hand to compensate the ferryman for a calm and peaceful journey across the stream. Looking on from above is a trio of crows, prophets of and witnesses to the crossing over below. Fog in the background, color, filters and texture were added to complete the piece.

A Vigilant Eye

A Vigilant Eye ©2017 - The rolling field of grasses I used as the background in this montage was a lucky find I happened across in Far Hills, NJ. I love using different types of grasses in my pieces and this vacant property was filled with them. It's the future home of Mine Brook Farm, a housing complex being touted as producing a regenerative environment while positively impacting the local wildlife, watershed, soil and ecology. Hopefully, they can make that happen! The abandoned building I placed in the distance, with it's draping blanket of ivy, was captured in western Hunterdon Cty, NJ on a trip home from Easton, PA. The woman peering out the upstairs window is from a vintage family photo given to me by a good friend who thought it would fit nicely into one of my pieces (and I heartily agreed!). The young girl taking an evening stroll is from my own vintage photo collection, but I spotted the majestic red tail hawk accompanying her perched in a tree behind my house. I didn't notice at the time I took the photo because of all the tree branches in the foreground, but upon inspecting the image, I found he was clutching a mouse (apparently his lunch) between his talons. I toyed with the idea of leaving it in the composition, dangling across the young lady's arm but decided it might be a bit too much. So without his mouse, I placed him on her arm and added some clouds, texture, color and filters. As the moon rises in the background, the hawk keeps "a vigilant eye" on the path ahead just as the peculiar woman in the witches hat keeps "a vigilant eye" on the two of them. And perhaps they are all listening to a song being sung in the distance….

The Poet's Song - Alfred Lord Tennyson

The rain had fallen, the Poet arose,

He passed by the town, and out of the street,

A light wind blew from the gates of the sun,

And waves of shadow went over the wheat,

And he set him down in a lonely place,

And chanted a melody loud and sweet,

That made the wild swan pause in her cloud,

And the lark drop down at his feet.

The swallow stopt as he hunted the bee,

The snake slipt under a spray,

The hawk stood with the down on his beak

And stared, with his foot on the prey

And the nightingale thought, "I have sung many songs,

But never a one so gay,

For he sings of what the world will be

When the years have died away". 

Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis ©2017 - "A change of the form or nature of a thing or person into a completely different one, by natural or supernatural means" is the definition of metamorphosis that gave me the title for this piece. I started the background with the small out building I came across on an abandoned property in the Delaware Water Gap in northwestern NJ.  The area surrounding it was all rubble so I placed it in a field of tall grasses from Mine Brook Farm in Far Hills, NJ. The Red-fringed Emerald moth (nemoria bistriaria) I photographed as it was sleeping on my front door. Although that is it's species name, it's wings were a beautiful, pastel green; not emerald. Unlike their butterfly cousins, moths are mostly nocturnal creatures in spite of their fascination for flames and artificial lights. While there are a few theories for this mysterious behavior, none have been proven. Many Native Americans consider moths a symbol of transformation and healing while others associate them with death and bringing messages from the spirit world. I suppose the young man from my vintage photo collection could possibly be involved with both. I added the clock from the quaint town of Belvedere, NJ (timing is everything in the process of metamorphosis) and some evening clouds from just after sunset. Lastly, filters and color were selectively applied as well as texture from a daguerreotype that seemingly added tendrils of electricity to the sky.

The Picnic

The Picnic ©2016 - "I'll affect you slowly as if you were having a picnic in a dream. There will be no ants. It won't rain." -Richard Brautigan, Loading Mercury With a Pitchfork 1976.

I began working on this piece at the end of December 2015, put it away in May 2016 and finally deemed it finished in September 2016. I'm not sure why that happens sometimes when other pieces come together a lot more quickly. After considerable trial and error, I decided to take a break and not so much as take a peek at it for several months. When I looked at it again, with a few minor tweaks, everything fell easily into place and it finally felt right. So, back to the beginning. This montage is a combination of images dating from 2010 to 2015. The background started with a grassy field and a small abandoned building I captured in Sussex County just outside of Lafayette, NJ. The trees in the rear, filled with a large flock of blackbirds, were shot from my front yard as the birds were gathering to fly south for the winter. The lovely lady hosting the picnic is friend and model Maryanne Christiano Mistretta from a photo session we did together in 2010. For the "picnic blanket", I set up and photographed a still life consisting of a vintage table cover laden with fruits and nuts. The guests include a dragonfly, a honeybee and a chipmunk from my backyard along with several crows and a vulture from my travels. Various tones, textures and filters were added for mood and blending to complete "The Picnic".

Night of the Iguana

Night of the Iguana ©2016 - The title of this piece came from the play by Tennessee Williams, "The Night of the Iguana" but has little to do with the storyline other than the obvious inclusion of  iguanas. The background is a very marshy creek captured from a bridge in a small town somewhere between Allentown and Freehold, NJ. I came across the magnificent ruin of an old stone building in Warren County, NJ in Pohatcong Township. Unfortunately, there was no indication as to what it had been in it's previous life but it nestled nicely into my composition. What initially drew me to the older lady from my vintage portrait collection was the wisdom and contentment in her eyes, but she also reminded me of someone else. I searched my collection and there she was! A "mini me" of the older woman right down to her hairstyle! She fit perfectly into the doorway. The iguanas were not photographed from life but from a remarkably realistic sculpture that resides in my house. The most common type, the green iguana, is among the largest lizards in the Americas, growing to an average 6 feet long and weighing 11 pounds. Sometimes called "the benevolent dragon", they are quite gentle creatures, content with just being and appreciating the simplicities of life. Perhaps reflecting on her childhood and how far she has come, the woman has learned these lessons of the iguana well; being at peace with herself in the here and now and realizing that everything she needs already surrounds her. After adding a majestic vulture gliding overhead and some clouds in the night sky, I placed the June solstice full moon from June 20, 2016 peeking over the clouds. It's the northern hemisphere's first summer solstice full moon since 1967, aka The Summer of Love, with all it's magic.  

Valley of the Dolls

Valley of the Dolls 2016 - The title of this piece came from the 1966 novel by Jacqueline Susann, "Valley of the Dolls". Susann used the term "dolls" as a euphemism for drugs and how substance abuse is reminiscent of children clinging to toy dolls for comfort. It was the underlying theme in the pop culture classic about 3 women looking for fame and fortune in the entertainment industry and turning to "dolls" to deal with it's trials and tribulations. The background image is an abandoned building I captured in the area of the Delaware Water Gap in Sussex County, NJ. I was drawn by the weathered, pastel tones of paint and how the bare tree limbs on one side arched protectively over the roof. The building sat very close to a road, so for my composition, I added a pond of water with a cluster of trailing vines from Spotswood, NJ to the foreground. The little girl, with such a sweet expression, is from my vintage photo collection. The doll she is holding onto ( which I have to admit might be considered a bit creepy) is from an estate sale as well as the other dolls lurking around in the background and peeping up out of the water under the vines. The sky was rather bland so I added some clouds, a full moon, texture and of course, a couple of crows to complete the mood of "Valley of the Dolls".  

All the Pretty Little Horses

All the Pretty Little Horses ©2014 - This montage started with the vintage photo of the little boy circa 1900s that I picked up at an antique show.  He had a rather odd ethereal quality about him, blond, rather pale and dressed all in white.  He brought to mind a white horse I had captured in 2008 prancing and frolicking in a field as other horses stood by watching.  The two fit together perfectly.  I then added a stately, white columned abandoned mansion I photographed in the village of Port Colden, NJ located in Washington Township along the Morris canal.  Built in the 1840's, it served as a finishing school for girls, a private home, and a hotel called the "Port Colden Manor" among other things over the years.  At a dark point in it's early history, it was said to be active during the underground railroad as a stopover for slaves being returned to the south.  Supposedly, some of the shackles and chains remain in the building.  Not surprisingly, It is also said to be haunted.  The vulture flying gracefully off into the distance, I photographed in Millford, NJ.  I placed them all in a field from a recent road trip to Pennsylvania, added a cloudy horizon and some texture from an old daguerreotype.  The title came from a haunting lullaby from the 1800's,  "All the Pretty Little Horses."

"Anatomy of a Chair", Hamilton Street Gallery

"Remains of the Day" was accepted into the "Anatomy of a Chair" exhibit at the Hamilton Street Gallery in Bound Brook, NJ!  Should be a really interesting show!  Opening reception Sunday, Sept 22, 2-6 PM!  Stop by if you can!

As the Crow Flies

 

As the Crow Flies ©2013 - This is a montage of 4 different photographs, 3 of which are a result of a road trip along Rte. 57, heading toward Washington Township in Warren County, NJ.  The 4th, a crescent moon, was taken in my backyard.  The base image is the haunting remains of Mount Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church and cemetery also known as Old Swack Church (named for it's builder, Jacob Swackhammer) erected in 1844.  There seemed to be some clearing and cleaning up of the property going on, hopefully in an effort to preserve whats left of the building and the graves surrounding it.  The wild grasses from another image taken that day were added to the foreground in place of the debris from the clearing.  My favorite part of this piece is the incredible crow that I was lucky enough to capture just as he took flight from a recently plowed corn field.  Upon close examination, I realized he was carrying a tiny mouse in his mouth!  Well, it was close to dinner time. 

The Ball Game

Back to the abandoned property of St. Paul's Abbey in Andover, NJ.  This time, it's looking up a small road running along the back of the large main building.  I keep checking online for any news on the fate of this property but haven't found any recent updates.  As with so many of the abandoned places I've visited, it seems all too few are being restored to their former grandeur and put to good use again.  Most remain lonely ghosts of their former selves that I will continue to photograph and preserve in my artwork.  The distinguished gentleman on the road and mischievous girls hiding in the bushes are from my vintage photo collection.  The birds patrolling the sky are from a trip to Marlboro, NJ and the ball that prompted the title belonged to my beloved ferrets, all of whom have passed on.

Deliverance

 

This montage began with yet another building on the St. Paul's Abbey retreat house property in Andover, NJ.  As you can see, I've been working with these images quite a lot lately!  The lovely lady giving the birds their freedom is friend and model Maryanne Christiano-Mistretta who is a talented journalist and author of a wonderful blog over on Wordpress.  The other models, my backyard blackbirds, have left for their winter hiatus in search of warmer weather and I miss them terribly!  Can't wait for their return in the spring! 

Wildflowers

Wildflowers ©2012 - The base photo for this montage is one of the many back buildings on the abandoned property of the former St. Paul's Abbey retreat house in Andover Township, New Jersey.  I wrote a little more about the history of the property in the writeup for "Jonah" in which I used another of the buildings.  My eye was immediately drawn to the single stem of flowers thrusting upward in the building's entrance, framed by hanging ivy and the darkness of the interior.  It was the only flower in the area.  The child is from my vintage photo collection and I'm still undecided if it is a boy or girl.  No matter, he or she matched the mood I was looking for and a few of my backyard birds completed the composition.  "Wildflowers" - a flower of an uncultivated variety growing freely without human intervention.  Love the sound of that!

Jonah

Jonah ©2012 - One of the great things about working with photography is the unexpected cool twist that happens now and then.  I took the base photo for this montage (minus the little boy) on an abandoned piece of property in Andover Township near the Newton border in New Jersey.  It was one of the small buildings behind what used to be the St. Paul's Abbey retreat house, a notable landmark founded as a monastery in 1924 housing up to 60 monks.  They led very simple lives using the surrounding property for beekeeping, cow raising, fruit growing and Christmas tree farming.  After taking the image, I looked at it on my camera and thought my eyes were playing tricks.  There were some wonderful reflections in the old window glass but one clearly looked like the face of a giant fish!  To be sure it wasn't just me, I showed it to the person with me and the first thing he said was "Hey!  There's a fish face in the window!".  I added the boy from my vintage photo collection, a little more plant life from around the property and some toning and selected filters to complete (what I thought to be an appropriate title) "Jonah".

The Barnyard

The Barnyard ©2012 - I discovered this lovely old barn, it's smaller outbuilding and crumbling silo on an abandoned property in Marlboro, New Jersey a couple of months ago.  It was late in the day and the light was fading, so after getting as many shots as I could, I decided to call it a day but vowed to return as soon as possible to take advantage of all the great photo ops in the area! The very next weekend, I was back in Marlboro hoping to explore an abandoned factory that I had found too late the week before.  Unfortunately, during the week it had been fenced in and demolition had begun.  However, all the disturbance had attracted a flock of beautiful black vultures cruising the area and I was able to get some great bird shots!  On down the road, I ran across a field of grazing emus!  Native to Australia, these fantastic birds are also farmed in New Jersey!  As I was putting together this composition, I needed one more element.  Lucky for me, an amazing full moon was just rising in my backyard providing the last piece to complete "The Barnyard".

The Other Side

The Other Side ©2012 - A road trip through southern New Jersey a couple of weeks ago yielded another abandoned property just days from annihilation judging from the amount of heavy equipment waiting in the wings.  Located on Rt 130 just outside of Bordentown, there were 5 buildings total- a main house, a large barn like structure and several smaller ones.  This smaller one intrigued me with it's roof sloping in the middle like the back of an aging horse while the fingers of the bare branches on the left seemed to be reaching to open the white door.  What I think drew me most to this composition though, was the broken fence.  The posts on each side frame the little building as the top rail splits into the image like a dagger aimed for it's heart.  Taking in the scene, the blackbird must be contemplating what could be on "the other side" of the fence, or maybe "the other side" of the door.

By the Light of the Moon 2011

"By the Light of the Moon" came from a trip to Middle Valley, NJ a couple of months ago in search of an abandoned property I had visited almost 13 years ago.  To my surprise, a photographer friend of mine ran across it and told me it still existed!  She recognized it from one of my images, "Remains of the Day", featuring an old wicker rocking chair on the porch of an abandoned house.  Since I'm really terrible sometimes at keeping track of places I've photographed, I thought it couldn't possibly be the same chair after 13 years!  This was one time I was happy to be wrong!  The property was a little worse for wear, but it was definitely the same place!  I had also used another one of the buildings there in "Rear Window" and yet another in "The Bucket" (the latter of which has since been demolished).  On my first visit, the house used in this piece was too overgrown to get any usable images but not so this time around!  I liked the composition in this shot taken from beneath a huge old tree in front of the house but it needed something more.  The old man is from my vintage photo collection, the bird and the moon from the back window of my house.  I added some texture, filters and a little tweaking to get the final montage.  What a wealth of art material I've gained from the demise of these beautiful old buildings.

Blood on the Tracks

"Blood on the Tracks" began with a visit to the abandoned property of The Snuff Factory in the borough of Helmetta, New Jersey. Helmetta was founded in the late 1800's by George W. Helme, a former New Orleans lawyer and Major-General in the Confederate Army who built a thriving community around his factory. The huge building sits empty and boarded up awaiting it's probable demise in the name of progress but until then, remains a great place for photo ops with all the beautiful old brick and peeling red paint. As I studied the image, the railroad tracks and the abundance of red in the bricks and paint brought to mind my favorite Bob Dylan album, "Blood on the Tracks". It became a montage of 3 different photos. To get the composition and mood I had in mind, I replaced part of the building on the left with one of trees and birds taken from the window of my house, then added the figure with the crimson scarf blowing in the wind above the tracks. After a lot of filter mixing and blending, it finally became the image I had in my head!

Behind the Wall

I love the texture of peeling paint and crumbling concrete and this old building had an abundance of both. It's so sad and beautiful at the same time. The figure in the doorway is from a vintage photo I came across awhile ago but never found the right place to use him until now.

The Twelfth Moon

"The Twelfth Moon" started with a photo taken at Mill Creek Village, New Jersey several years ago. I always loved the textures involved with the wood of the old shed, the falling down fence and the rocks in the foreground but I never found the right composition until now. I was arriving home a few nights ago just after sunset, looked up and saw a perfect crescent moon with a beautiful lavender sky behind it. Of course, I ran for my camera and was able to get an image that created just the mood I wanted for the background. The title is a Native American name for the December moon which marks the onset of winter.

The Teacup

Okay, so its been way too long since my last post. Wish I had a really good excuse but other than life keeps getting in the way, I don't. Took a road trip last week to the quaint town of Annandale New Jersey and came across a fabulous abandoned property wide open for exploration- not one boarded up window! (quite unusual these days). It was a little precarious in places but I always play it as safe as I can and don't take unnecessary chances. "The Teacup" room was quite an odd one. It seemed to be a bedroom but in the corner was a small sink. There was no sign of any other plumbing in the room and on the windowsill sat a dainty china teacup. Quite puzzling, leaving one to ponder "why?".