Sanctuary

Sanctuary ©2022 - At some point in our lives, all of us have the need for a place of refuge from something, whether it’s physical, mental or imagined. Some seek it in religion, some in nature, others through meditation. However you get to this shelter, be it physical or mental, wouldn’t it be comforting to know you could enter a single space, available to all creatures, whenever needed? Such is the nature of this piece. I began with an image I captured of a somewhat broken, bare tree with limbs that seemed to be flailing at a sky filled with menacing, dark clouds. The original foreground was too overgrown so I replaced it with tall grasses and small flowering plants from another image. The amazing crows, sadly often associated in folklore with misfortune and death, have been maligned enough to seek a safe haven from time to time. The ethereal Monarch butterflies, their numbers in decline with loss of habitat and milkweed plants (the only food their caterpillars can eat) could also use a safe place to land. Enter my young heroine. She has the power to shelter them from the approaching storm and other misfortunes. One by one they make their way to her, for beneath her parasol lies the portal where all creatures are welcome to enter the “Sanctuary”.

  

The Gingerbread Men

The Gingerbread Men ©2021 - Two images of the ruins of the Bethlehem Baptist Church in Hunterdon County, NJ are blended together for the background of this piece. I first photographed it in June 2020 when it was blanketed in lush greenery inside it’s walls. I returned to photograph it again in March 2021 when the leaves were gone and only bare, crawling vines were left, exposing more of it’s interior. Built in 1858, it was abandoned in 1906 as many members moved out of the area. The owner, whose family was part of the congregation, still cares for the surrounding property and graveyard while allowing the church to slowly return to the earth. The 2 young people perched in the vines atop the stone wall (from my vintage photo collection, restored and colorized) brought to mind the dark fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel. The story harks back to the great famine of 1314 to 1322 when starvation led people to killing or abandoning their children and even cannibalism. One of the more palatable versions by the Grimm brothers involve the wicked stepmother forcing the father to abandon Hansel and Gretel in the woods as they can no longer feed them. Overhearing the plan, Hansel leaves a trail of bread crumbs to follow home. The crumbs are eaten by birds and after being lost for days, they follow a beautiful, white bird to a clearing and find a cottage made of gingerbread, cake and candy. A witch, who built the house to waylay children to cook and eat, appears and lures them in with promises of food. As she opens the oven door to check the fire, Gretel, realizing the plan, shoves her in and slams the door. The children discover a vase full of precious jewels, escape with the treasure, and live happily ever after! In my version, Hansel and Gretel rest on the stone wall after following a black vulture (instead of a beautiful white bird) to the witches domain (the church ruins instead of the cottage). My witch (a composite of 3 vintage figures) approaches via a window on the church alter offering a basket brimming with animated gingerbread men (from my Xmas tree ornaments) making their way to Hansel and Gretel. This is where my part of the story ends and the viewer’s begins!

A Battle of Wills

 

A Battle of Wills ©2021 - I began this piece with an image of a field from western NJ with a backdrop of tall, glittering grasses. Unfortunately, a highway was behind them so I replaced it with a wall of birch trees taken in another area of the field. The fox, sadly, was not photographed live but behind glass as part of a group of animals on exhibit created by a taxidermist. The raven, happily, was very much alive at The Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange, NJ. The vintage bird cage, which seems to be causing much tension between the fox and the raven, I photographed while visiting an antique shop. The young man (from by vintage photo collection) seems to be quite amused at the unfolding of the scene before him while the rabbits (from my travels) peek out curiously between the grasses. The crows (also from my travels) startle upward in the background as all await the winner of “A Battle of Wills”. Color, select filters and texture were added to complete the final piece.

Happy Holidays

 

The Three Bears

The Three Bears ©2020 - A road trip to The Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in Morris County NJ provided the background image and inspiration for this piece. The bears and fish were photographed at The Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange NJ, the butterfly in Pottersville NJ and the “bear’s cottage” is the caretaker’s house from a cemetery near Long Valley NJ. My “Goldilocks” is a composite of two vintage photos from my collection and the crow is one of many from my travels. As I’m sure you have surmised by now, this montage is loosely based on the fairy tale “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”.  It’s original title, “The Story of the Three Bears”, was first recorded in narrative form and published by British writer and poet Robert Southey in 1837. Prior to that, the story was only in circulation by word of mouth. As it goes, three bears live together in a house in the woods. Each bear has his own porridge bowl, chair and bed. One day at breakfast, the porridge is too hot to eat and they take a walk while it cools off. While they are out, a vagrant old woman called Silver Hair enters the house, eats the smallest bear’s porridge, sits in his chair and breaks it, then falls asleep in his bed. When the bears return and discover her and the damage she has done, she wakes, jumps out the window and is never seen again. The earliest written version was a poem by Eleanor Mure in 1831. It was handcrafted into a book complete with watercolor illustrations as a gift for her nephew, Horace Broke. In her version, the infuriated bears, after finding the woman, throw her into a fire and then into water before finally impaling her on top of St. Paul’s Cathedral and leaving her there. In 1849, Joseph Cundall published the story in his Treasury of Pleasure Books for Young Children and changed the antagonist from an old woman to a young girl to make it more appealing to children. In versions after that, she has remained a young girl although her name has gone from Silver Hair to Little Silver Hair, Golden Hair, Goldenlocks and finally, Goldilocks. Her fate in the end varies in the different versions from running into the forrest, being almost eaten by the bears, to becoming good friends with the bears. I think all would be more appealing   than being impaled as in Muer’s version!  In mine, the bears discuss the fate of their intruder as Goldilocks, entangled by the swamp, awaits their decision. A local crow takes pity on her and tries to give advice while a resident fish seems too enthralled by a butterfly to be bothered with any of this. And always, as the viewer, you are entitled to your own interpretation.

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.

The Beguiled

The Beguiled ©2018 - The inspiration for this piece came from a favorite illustration by Gustave Dore for Fables of La Fontaine in 1868 titled “The Rabbits” as well as the legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin.  The background is a montage of two images taken two years apart in very different locations but blended together perfectly for the effect I wanted. Oddly enough, the rabbits (actually consisting of three rabbits in multiple poses) were captured in Pottersville, NJ, two of them on 7-28-18 and one on 7-28-17, same day, same town one year apart!  In Dore’s illustration, the rabbits are startled by a gun shot from a man hidden in the bushes with a rifle and scurry into the forest for protection. In my piece, the rabbits (and perhaps several crows) are being drawn slowly into the forest by the beguiling melody coming from the violin of the lady in white.  As the legend goes, in the year 1284, the people of Hamelin (a town in Lower Saxony, Germany) hired a piper (or flutist) dressed in multicolored (pied) clothing to lure away an infestation of rats with his magical pipe.  When they refused to pay for his service, he used his powers on their children, leading them away as he had the rats. While I’m not convinced my violinist has anything quite so sinister in mind, I’ll leave it up to the viewer as to the fate of “The Beguiled”.

The Wizard's Apprentice

The Wizard’s Apprentice ©2018 - I began this piece with an image of the Raritan River I captured from under a bridge on Old York Rd just outside of Readington Township, NJ. There were some interesting bare trees along the bank that were leaning precariously toward the water in almost a domino effect. Between two of them, looming in the distance, I placed a graceful, white house from Belvidere, NJ. The tall, elegant heron standing calmly in the water as well as the two turtles basking in the moonlight on a piece of floating wood, are from the area of Princeton, NJ. My little wizard mouse is in reality one of my Halloween decorations who normally carries a small skull in his hands. For this adventure however, I fashioned a magic wand for him by photographing the handle of an antique, silver hand mirror and a crystal charm from a necklace. The wolf, faithful guide, protector and familiar to the wizard, was photographed at the Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange, NJ and the young “apprentice” is from my vintage photo collection. A crescent moon, crows, and a dragonfly were added to complete the composition. Texture, color and filters were used to blend the final image and create the atmosphere I envisioned for my traveling trio as they discover what is unveiled at the end of their journey.

 “And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.”  - Roald Dahl, novelist, poet and screenwriter

A Tender Trap

 

A Tender Trap ©2018 - When I found the vintage photo of the girl with the hypnotic eyes in an antique store, I couldn’t wait to use her in a new piece. Even so, I did wait, several months in fact, before the right elements and composition came together for this montage. The background image, with it’s quirky little bent over tree and rolling hills, was taken in northwestern New Jersey just before crossing into Pennsylvania.The Jaguars are residents of The Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange, NJ. These beautiful and powerful beasts were prominent in ancient Native American cultures. In some traditions, the Jaguar God of the Night was the formidable lord of the underworld. The name jaguar is derived from the Native American word “yaguar”, which means “he who kills with one leap”. The Mayans, Aztecs and Inca all worshiped the jaguar in some form. Unfortunately, today they have been eliminated from most of the United States due to habitat loss, over hunting and killings to protect livestock and are endangered in Central and South America. I finished the composition with some crows, clouds, and a large black feather (considered to be a sign of protection by angels). Texture, color and select filters completed the piece. The title was inspired by the 1955 movie, “The Tender Trap” which referred to love. In this case, it seems a trap of some sort is definitely being set; however, I leave it to the viewer as to who is doing the trapping, beauty or the beasts?         

Penguin Dreams and Stranger Things

Penguin Dreams and Stranger Things ©2017 - The title for this piece came from a book by my favorite cartoonist, Berkeley Breathed, published in 1985. I fell in love with the character, Opus the penguin, when I first discovered his comic strip, "Bloom County". I photographed these  adorable, tuxedoed  Humboldt penguins at the Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange, NJ. The Humboldt is a South American penguin that breeds in coastal Chile and Peru. It gets it's name from the cold water current it swims in which itself is named after the explorer, Alexander von Humboldt. Although we tend to think of a penguin's striking coloring as elegant, it is actually a matter of camouflage; from above, it's black back blends into the murky depths of the ocean while from below, it's white belly is hidden against the bright surface. Considered marine birds, penguins live up to 80 percent of their lives in the oceans of the Southern Hemisphere. It is a common myth that they all live in Antarctica. In fact, the Galapagos penguin lives on tropical islands at the equator. However, in the case of my little colony of Humboldts, I've placed them on a tiny island in the Delaware Water Gap in New Jersey where they are joined by a young gentleman from my vintage photo collection who is dressed as elegantly as they are. I added a cold, full moon rising in the background behind the trees, some clouds and several crows gliding overhead. Assorted filters, texture and color created the mood and atmosphere I wanted to complete the piece.

Pale Rider

Pale Rider ©2017 - The title of this piece came from the 1985 western film, "Pale Rider", a reference to the rider of the pale horse in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse who represents death. My little equestrian (from my vintage photo collection) received the title only for his overall pallor and not for a specific association with death (although I leave any final decision on that interpretation up to the viewer). The tree, with it's skeletal limbs and gathering crows, was captured in the area of Bernardsville, NJ.It fit nicely into the background image of a furrowed  ield of grasses in the area of McGuire Air Force Base just south of Trenton, NJ. The small road cutting through the center provided a  convenient bridle path for the pale rider and a hitch hiking crow trying to  move things along with his riding crop. Clouds, a rising crescent moon,  color, texture and filters were added to complete the mood and finish the  montage.

The Circle Game

The Circle Game ©2017 - This piece was inspired by the vintage photo of two young girls with facial expressions that are hauntingly wistful. Dressed all in white and holding hands to form a circle, they brought to mind childhood summers of local fairs and carousels. Having no carousel images in my files, I began a search and found an unusually lovely one consisting of not horses, but an assortment of endangered species at The Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange, NJ (if you're in the area, it's located in the South Mountain Reservation and well worth a visit). Oddly enough, it included a magnificent dragon that was perfect for my composition. The background image is a montage of three different photos; two from the area around Trenton, NJ of gently, rolling hills and a sky from Watchung, NJ. I arranged the dragons descending from the clouds behind the girls and a number of crows from my travels circling around them. Selected filters, color and texture brought them all together for the final piece. The title for this one was in place before I even began and comes from the first verse of the song "The Circle Game" by the one and only Joni Mitchell, 1970:

Yesterday a child came out to wonder

Caught a dragonfly inside a jar

Fearful when the sky was full of thunder

And tearful at the falling of a star

And the seasons they go round and round

And the painted ponies go up and down

We're captive on the carousel of time

We can't return we can only look behind

From where we came

And go round and round and round

In the circle game 

And the Band Played On

And the Band Played On 2017 - The inspiration for this piece came from the wonderfully creepy little monkey sitting atop the piano playing his cymbals. I photographed him courtesy of Gallery on Main, a lovely antique shop and art gallery in Somerville NJ. I envisioned the composition to be a musical ensemble odd enough that he would fit right in. His first band mate to be added was a goat I captured in the area of Sergentsville NJ. In reality, he was standing with his front feet on a wire fence, scratching his head on a tree limb above. However, in my reality, his front hooves were in just the right position for the piano keys. I was able to photograph the beautiful baby grand at Raritan Music Store in Raritan NJ given I have an especially close relationship with the owner. The amphibian guitar player lives at my house (although I use that term loosely as he's not actually alive but stuffed). He was holding a very unimpressive toy guitar that didn't blend well with the piano so I decided to replace it with a more appropriate acoustic instrument belonging to the human guitar player who also lives at my house. The young vocalist (from my vintage photo collection) leans dreamily on the piano while the crow perched behind lends some backup vocals to the mix. I placed them all on the background image (taken near Princeton NJ) of a tree in a field with long, spidery limbs and missing the top half of it's trunk. Maybe a lightening strike? Selected filters, tones, color and texture completed "And the Band Played On".

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".

Tread Lightly at Twilight

Tread Lightly at Twilight ©2016 - Twilight is absolutely my favorite time of day. The soft, diffused light from the sky when the sun is below the horizon and a few stars become visible has a magical quality not present at any other time. The rhythm of the day is fast paced and measured by the hands of the clock, but the rhythm of the night is meditative and measured by the movement of the moon. Twilight, or "half-light", hovers between the two signaling the death of the day and the birth of the night with all it's dark secrets. The background image of this montage was in reality captured a little earlier in the afternoon around Sergeantsville, NJ. I was fascinated by the tree whose trunk seemed to grow horizontal along the ground before swooping upward. The wire mesh containers behind the tree are probably corn cribs used to dry corn, but I chose to fill them with a murder of crows exiting into the sky. Clouds were added along with selected filters and texture to simulate that hazy, watercolorish time between day and night. The young lady from my vintage photo collection was actually climbing some steps carrying a basket of flowers, but I replaced the flowers with a candle to light her way and added some grasses and stones to her path in the foreground. Hopefully, she treads lightly through the gargoyles (trying to camouflage themselves among the stones) as she makes her way through the twilight zone to a romantic tryst.

The Edge of Seventeen

The Edge of Seventeen ©2016 -  On a recent trip through the historic town of Princeton, NJ, I came across a beautiful old building (no surprise as Princeton has an abundance of them) but what most attracted me to this one was a magical, amber glow emanating from the iron gated doorway at dusk. Upon later research, it turned out to be Stuart Hall, part of the theological seminary of Princeton University. Built in 1876, it was named for the brothers Robert and Alexander Stuart, wealthy sugar refiners from New York City who donated funds for the building. After downloading the files, the color in the doorway reminded me of an idea in the back of my mind using an image of a cicada I photographed in my backyard during the seventeen year brood emergence of 2013. Several cultures, such as the ancient Chinese, regarded these insects as powerful symbols of rebirth. Looking down at the cicada, the top of it's body resembled the intricate bodice of a Victorian lady's dress with the same coloring as the doorway. The wide set eyes seemed to form shoulder pads while the wings formed flowing sleeves and a billowing skirt. I immediately searched my vintage photo collection and found a lovely lady that fit perfectly into the "cicada gown". I placed her in the composition, just emerging from the doorway, along with a crow flying overhead and a crescent moon reflected in the window. Selected filters,  color and texture completed "The Edge of Seventeen".

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".  

A Different Point of View

A Different Point of View ©2015 - This piece began with a small, blue robin's egg found abandoned in the grass of my yard. I searched the area  for a nest it could have come from in hopes of returning it to it's owner but was unsuccessful, so I put it away for future use in an art piece. I've owned the bird's nest since the early 1980s when I found it tucked inside the limbs of  my Christmas tree one year. It's had a place of honor on every Christmas tree since. When I came across the old tintype of the lovely lady, I thought the nest would fit nicely in her lap as she plays mediator between the crow and robin, each having "A Different Point of View" regarding rights to the egg. The background started with an image of a grassy hillside with beautiful foreground flowers taken up north in Warren County, NJ. I added an interesting stone structure built into the side of a hill that I came across in the area of Stockton, NJ. The mysterious entrance was totally dark revealing not a clue as to what lay inside  (and a fence prevented any adventure in that direction) so I decided to use my discretion and add a moonlit scene of a garden path from Cross Estate Gardens in Bernardsville, NJ for yet another "Different Point of View". The crows, texture, selected filters and hand coloring were added to bring the final piece together.

A Meeting of Minds

A Meeting of Minds ©2015 - This montage began with an image I captured in the area of Califon, NJ of a magnificent crow. He was perched on the gate of a large property and when I focused my camera on him, the resulting image had wonderful bokeh in the background. In photographic terms, "bokeh" has been defined as "the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light". It was softly out of focus with beautiful orbs of light floating all around. I added a field of swampy grasses with a few cattails from Warren county around Belivedere, NJ. In the distance, I placed a photograph I captured of the lovely Mansion Inn in New Hope, PA. Charles Crook, a local businessman, had the house designed and built for his wife in 1865. The intricate Victorian scroll work gives it a magical air that fit the composition perfectly. When I blended the images together, the orbs of the bokeh seemed to be emanating from the house like spirits dancing in the moonlight. Last but not least, a graceful dragonfly I found sitting atop a plant just outside my back door was added and, hopefully, is having "A Meeting of Minds" with the crow regarding sharing the dance floor.

Jack and Jill

Jack and Jill ©2015 - When I came across the vintage photo of the boy and girl at an antique show, I immediately thought of Jack and Jill, so I had the title for this montage before it even began. It was a couple of months before the composition started to fall in place. I remembered photographing the ruins of an old stone building in Pennsylvania, just outside of New Hope that had a well on the property. Perfect for the background image! The true origins of the English nursery rhyme are unknown but there are several theories. One is that when King Charles 1 tried to reform taxes on liquid measure, he was blocked by Parliament so he ordered that the volume of a Jack (1/2 pint) be reduced but the tax remained the same, so he still received more tax, despite the veto. (Reminds me of what's happening today every time I grocery shop!)  Hence,"Jack fell down and broke his crown". The reference to "Jill", (actually "gill", or 1/4 pint) reflects that the gill dropped in volume as a consequence. In the vintage photo, the two children were only touching hands, so I photographed a pail and placed it between them. Fetching a pail of water seemed a little mundane, so I decided to have them fetch a pail of gargoyle instead! The crows were added as curious bystanders of the situation along with a crescent moon, some color and texture to complete "Jack and Jill".