Sunday, September 9, 2012

Reflection illusions . . .

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Painting hanging in gallery window
Across from cathedral
Oil on canvas suspended in air
Plate glass as translucent mirror
Sky and clouds in paint
Merge with  sky in window
Seamlessly seeming to be
But all is illusion
Digital image regurgitates
Giving a glimpse
Around the world
Of colors on a screen
But what does it mean
How far is the distance
Between meaning
And meaningless ?
Cathedral in stone
Speaks of ancient rites
From another age
An age of stone
And superstition
While we deal and reel
In reflections
Illusions
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PS... Do stop by Weekend Reflections . . .

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Stone Memories . . .

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Well, I suppose I really did have my head in the clouds. Someone broke the chain fairly early on, and the hoped for millions of page hits did not materialize. Sigh. :-)
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Back to the drawing board. Or more precisely, back to the light table, and the editing of photographs taken over the years. Here are a few more from Florence, Italy, in the San Miniato al Monte Cemetery. Shared with you with all my heart.
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Memories in stone
Darkened by soot
Locked in rust
An angel's love
An infant's trust
Broken dreams
A fading photograph
An eternal smile
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Sunday, September 2, 2012

Don't Break the Chain . . . or . . . Head In the Clouds . . .

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The purpose of this post, as was the purpose (though less clearly stated perhaps) no doubt of the previous 1166 posts here in the Magic Lantern Show, is to propel this blog into the limelight of international recognition and acclaim from millions of viewers.
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Well, isn't that pretty much the purpose and secret hope of every post on every blog the world over ?
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Now, for that to happen, some "buzz" has to be generated. And for "buzz" to happen, you have to pass this on and tell other people to look at this page. More specifically, you have to tell at least ten other people to look at this post immediately. Not tomorrow, not the next day, but right now !
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And tell each of them to tell ten more of their friends and acquaintances to look at this page. If you decide not to heed this instruction, which has it's roots in an ancient Egyptian prophecy, a forty pound blueberry eating pigeon is going relieve itself in the next day or two on the windshield of your car. You don't have a car ? It will track you down regardless. But if you do obediently follow this non-negotiable order, good fortune will arrive in your life by the truckload starting one month from today. So don't break the chain.
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If just six or seven levels of ten people each passing this on to ten more people occur, there should be over a million page hits here within the next 24 hours. So I am counting on you to not break the chain and incur the wrath of the forty pound pigeon !
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Ok, maybe I have my head in the clouds again. Like the folks in this first photo, which is my contribution to James' Weekend Reflections.
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And speaking of having one's head in the clouds, I was considerably amused by some of the extraordinarily creative images which can be seen by doing a Google Images search for "head in the clouds". And discovered at the same time that there is a movie I hadn't seen or heard of, starring Charlize Theron and Penelope Cruz, by that same title, Head In the Clouds.
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And speaking of James, away from his Reflections page, he has another fine blog called "Something Sighted". On August 24th he posted two photos there, with a subtle play of foreground and background in or out of focus, from the cemetery at the San Miniato al Monte church on the south side of the Arno River in Florence, Italy. Oddly enough, I was also in that same cemetery in June of this year, and of about 75 photos taken there, the very last one was this one, with the same sculpture which appears in James' photos, but from a slightly different angle. Rest in peace, Sylvia. One notable person who was buried there is the author of the Pinocchio story, Carlo Lorenzini, or perhaps better known under his pen name, Carlo Collodi.
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Another sculpture in the San Miniato al Monte cemetery was this infant, gazing at the clouds above.
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This is Lorenzini's tomb in Florence.
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