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.  

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.

Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day ©2014 -The first documented American reference to Groundhog Day can be found in a diary entry of Morgantown, Pennsylvania storekeeper James Morris dated February 4, 1841:  "Last Tuesday, the 2nd, was Candlemas day, the day on which, according to the Germans, the Groundhog peeps out of his winter quarters and if he sees his shadow,  he pops back for another six weeks nap.   But if the day be cloudy, he remains out, as the weather is to be moderate."  Although it has origins in ancient European weather lore where a badger is the prognosticator, it also bears similarities to the Pagan festival of Imbolc, the seasonal turning point of the Celtic calendar which is celebrated on February 1st, about halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox.  My "Groundhog Day"  was inspired by a vintage photo of a beautiful little girl with a melancholy expression on her face that I picked up at an antique shop in Millford, NJ.   I placed her in an image I captured of a window in Lambertville, NJ along with a road through a field in Middle Valley, balloons from over Rt 202 around Flemington, a groundhog from my backyard and several crows from my travels.  Color was added to the girl (originally black and white) along with assorted filters and texture from an old daguerreotype.  Given her wistful look, I imagine she's hoping for a prediction of early spring from her groundhog while dreaming of blue skies full of magical balloons to whisk her away.       

The Locket

The Locket ©2013 - I picked up the pitcher in this piece a couple of months ago at a local estate sale with the intent on using it in a possible still life.  I was attracted by the wonderful texture created by the tarnish and wearing away of the silver plate.  Looking around my house, the next addition was a vintage solid metal banjo ukelele produced by the "Dixie" company circa 1930's.  Having been born in Georgia, the "Dixie" name prompted memories of my sister, Amy who was still living there when she passed away from cancer in 2003.  I purchased the little box the pitcher is on during one of our last antique shopping trips together.  The locket was my last Christmas present to her and contains both our photos.  The beautiful crow I captured on a recent trip to Princeton, NJ and knowing how they love shiny objects, thought he would be perfect to hold the chain.  The background texture from my basement floor and the fruit for just a touch of warm color completed "The Locket".

Blue Bird

Blue Bird ©2013 - I was in another still life mood recently and decided to start with one of my favorite tin boxes.  I found it quite a few years ago in a local antique shop and bought it as a Christmas present for Tom.  He has a love of warm island places so the palm tree motif fit right in with his collection of ukuleles (which are all over our house along with other related memorabilia).  The bananas and wine might be a nice thing to have on hand if you were settling in to practice a few "Hits from Hawaii".  The chameleons, whispering among themselves, seem a little annoyed by the intruding bird who apparently tipped over the wine glass as he flew in to check out the "Blue Bird" ukulele.

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!

Little Bo Peep

Little Bo Peep ©2012 - This piece started with yet another image from the abandoned property in Middle Valley, New Jersey.  It is, in fact, the front of the house I used in "By the Light of the Moon" a few months ago.  The little girl is a vintage photo that intrigued me with her odd expression, straw hat and stick in hand.  It brought to mind the nursery rhyme from the early 1800's about Little Bo Peep and her famous sheep.  Older residents of the village of Ninfield in East Sussex, England (a former smuggling center) claim that Bo Peep was it's most famous resident.  The story goes that her sheep were walked across the shore to disguise smuggler's footprints.  After learning of her dark side, I decided instead of sheep to use a flock of magnificent black vultures that I happened across on a recent trip to Jackson, New Jersey.  I thought this provided an interesting twist - sort of Little Bo Peep according to The Brothers Grimm!