Honoring Soldiers and their Art

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Harford County, Maryland has much in the way of talent, including creatives! Pamela Lofgren Wilde, wife of one who has proudly served this country, is using her portrait painting skill to bring to fruition an art exhibit in this area and beyond this fall. She has painted the faces of military women and men who are also artists. What a beautiful way to honor those who have given so much to protect and defend our country.

Here is a link to a preview video https://bit.ly/4cWEMgi . More details will come when the date of the exhibition is put into place.

Pamela Lofgren Wilde is an artist who has relentlessly used and given her skills in many ways to the artistic community in this county. A real warrior she is who has strengthened this creative community by her presence in it.

An Artist’s Light

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Artist and Quaker-raised James Turrell once said  “It was important that people come to value light as we value gold, silver, paintings, objects.” 

Happy Solar Eclipse Day! I guess today is a good day to put our attention on all things celestial ~

“Hallelujah,’ I said to myself the day after Easter, “I can see the light from both sides now.” What prompted this thought, was a move I made on Easter Day from one place to another. Where I was living, faced in one direction. All light came from west-facing windows only. When I awoke on April 1st in my new abode, I realized how my exposure to the sun had changed. The day starts with the bright light coming in the Eastside windows and then moves around to the other side throughout the day. I can now see both sunrise and sunset.

And very fortunate for me, as an early riser and one who writes first thing in the morning, there is a beautiful little window seat on the East side where the light streams in brilliantly. We will see what new thoughts and perceptions come from my new early morning writing space.

Read more on American artist, James Turrell, who “is known for his work within the Light and Space movement.”

The Spring Outing

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Today, I’d like to share a piece of my writing, which has never been published, titled The Spring Outing! May you feel refreshed, renewed and encouraged by every new dawn during the Eastertide Season.

The Spring Outing

©Sue Batton Leonard 2004

*************

Winter’s chill has passed

I shall no longer shiver

Today, I am off to the river.

I’ll scamper

along with my hamper.

Go to the weeping willow

where there will be a soft pillow.

A mound of moss,

for my clean linen cloth.

 

Before me I’ve strewn,

A canteen of steeped tea

a silver fork, knife and spoon.

A spring onion tart

with ‘shrooms and cheese,

and a tasty salad of caprese.

A square of dark chocolate

is in the pocket.

I’ll save one cup

for after I’ve supped,

while watching spring erupt.

 

With the yellow forsythia branches

I’ll weave in tender pussy willows

dotted with long stemmed violets.

A crown to place on my head

before I lay on my makeshift bed.

 

Amidst snowdrops, 

little bunny hops,

and silly daffodillies,

I’ll  nap and dream

of summer’s August.

When aside the garden

I’ll sit in the long grass

Among the wildflowers mass

drinking chilled sassafras.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pondering Aesthetics

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Not too many years ago, I was riding a bus in a resort town in the U.S. where visitors from around the world arrive daily. I couldn’t help but hear the conversation because the two individuals engaged in discussion sat across the aisle from one another, and I happened to be sitting behind one of them.

“First time here?” Asked the local.

“No. I have been here many times over a couple of decades, but it’s been a few years. Had some circumstances that prevented me from coming. I can’t get over how things have changed in this country.”

“What do you mean?” said the local, trying to understand what seemed to have changed.

“Oh, it’s not just here, it is everywhere in America. Years ago, I could appreciate the American aesthetic – everything was high quality.”

“And now?” asked the local, probing.

“I don’t know … seems like America has lost a lot of that. Nothing or no one seems to have the same quality, if you know what I mean.”

The bus came to a rolling stop, and so did the conversation. The local extended his hand to the tourist getting off, “Don’t give up on us. Please keep coming. We need the tourism.”

Today, my pondering led me to this definition from the Metropolitan Museum of Art about the aesthetic movement of long ago in America. “The period witnessed the flourishing of an artistic culture and lifestyle movement that also encompassed painting, sculpture, and works on paper; the proliferation of art publications, clubs, and societies; an intense interest in collecting and decoration; and the founding of the nation’s major art museums.“

 

 

 

Ode to Irish Writers

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An authentic Gaelic writer, also known as a seanchaí, I am not, but what fun it is to play with words while thinking about the characters found in Irish pubs on this day celebrating Saint Patty. Many are doing what seems to come natural to them – oral storytelling.

Hundreds of years ago the Irish placed great value on things of the spirit, mind and imagination because material goods were hard to come by. They put faith in their gift of gab to deliver a good tale in the local public houses, bars and pubs.

On this day when everyone seems to find a little Irish in them, Happy Wearing of the Green!

*****

An Ode to Irish Writers

Tierney O’Leary 

Felt awfully dreary.

Lack-luster and paled

from too much ale.

The Irish fog had lasted too long

it was time to find a new song.

So, he went to the chapel

to kinda grapple.

A decision was made

which he obeyed.

Life became lived much safer

on grape juice and wafer.

He wrote with great fervor

it became a life preserver.

He was no longer sad 

instead, an upstanding lad.

Oh, the power of art

when set on one’s heart.~~

©Sue Batton Leonard

Happy St. Patty’s Day to all

May you never stumble and fall!

“Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam. A country without a language is a country without a soul.” ― Pádraig Pearse, Architect of the Easter Rising in Ireland

 

Nostalgic Images

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Above: Havre de Grace Amtrack train track by artist Pamela Wilde

Ahhh…the golden age of train travel. It was an era when travel etiquette was expected. Some of the first few paintings I encountered yesterday when I walked into Monkton Mill Station/Gallery exhibit depicted the romantic side of train travel, rather than the trade and commerce aspect of what railroad transportation brought to our country.

If nostalgic feelings come to you, like me, with seeing the rust and gears of an old steam engine, a view looking out a train window hung with a curtain of lace, the graphics on train cars or the sight of a train crossing sign, then there were romantic images presented by all the participants. You can take in all of this and more from the works of the participating artists – Don James,  Heather Shreve, Henry Coe, Don James, Douglas Lake, Dora Patin, Raymond Burns and Janet Little Jeffers.

The exhibit included oil paintings, photographs and other archival artifacts such as the formal uniform of a conductor and old tickets sold by the cashier in the booth. The entire exhibit relates to the train industry. There was even a beautifully constructed model of a train car which enhanced the overall experience of the show. Indeed, it was a journey through a time which was central to western expansion, when family names like the Vanderbilts, Edward Harriman, Andrew Carnegie and other industrial pioneers and railroad tycoons were tossed around like baggage being moved from train to train.

Stop in and see the show, which will be at Manor Mill Station/Gallery until April 21, 2024. And there will be a train day at Manor Mill Gallery on March 30, 2024. Get your kids or grandkids aboard by registering!

Charlotte was Right!

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March is here. I can already feel a wellspring of creativity bubbling up. Before every next leap I’ve taken in this creative life of mine, I’ve known it because I awaken around 4 am every morning. My mind becomes active and I may as well settle into whatever it is that is brewing, write it down and complete the dialogue I am having with myself. Or occasionally I’ll dabble with paint. Trying to go back to sleep before daybreak is a lost cause.

I am grateful for even earlier than usual awakenings because to me that means spring is in the air and creative energy is stirring.

Charlotte Brontë was right when she said, “A ruffled mind makes a sleepless pillow.”

 

 

UNESCO’s Creative Industry

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“Create with the heart, build with the mind.” ~ Chriss Jami, American poet, essayist and philosopher

Back in April of 2015, I posted a blog about 29 cities around the world who have UNESCO’s Creative Industry designations behind them. It was a highly read piece. Today, I’d like to reshare a few tidbits of information about the same subject.

Did you know Baltimore is known as a literary hub due to the notable authors who were Baltimore natives or spent much time in these parts writing? Think! F. Scott Fitzgerald,  Anne Tyler, Edgar Allen Poe, and Tom Clancy. Then there was Anne Lamott, who was educated at Goucher College in Towson, Maryland.  Back in the 1980s, a statement made by the Mayor was a bit controversial when he said, “the city’s literary heart beats as strongly as ever.” Hopefully Maryland author’s words will live on forever on pages and in the annals of the State’s literary history.

Here is an article that you might enjoy about the future of work, and the role of artists in it. It is well worth the read from beginning to end.

What about you? Are you a person with visionary ideas who thinks they’d be useful in a creative economy? Why not envision where the concepts might take you and act on it.

A Story in 3-D

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The small town is passing. It was the incubator that hatched all our big men… ~ Will Rogers

A few weeks ago, I went to a very absorbing art exhibit at Liriodendron Mansion based on the art of Jeffrey Conover. The artist uses his creativity by returning to a passion he had as a child- model building. Conover’s miniature fictional town is named Yelverton. The exhibit tells the story of life in 1900 living in a seaside village which was at the time central to the transportation industry. Boats sail in and out of the harbor, and at the wharf is a boat builder. A lighthouse sits as a beacon of hope and to guide through the storms. Cows graze on the hillside nearby where the creamery sits. There is also a clothier, a trading post, a livery stable and community churches as well as a mansion complete with a billiards room, lit by a Tiffany lamp. The Sheepscot River Valley Railroad runs through the town. Each handmade structure and all of the other embellishments helps one to imagine life in Yelverton. The exhibit invites us to envision what our perfect “Yelverton” would look like.

After reading the artist’s biography, it seems to me modeling building has been Conover’s pathway throughout his life. He’s had an honorable military career, working in intelligence communities and now is helping young people to appreciate wholesome values as a lay youth minister. He is an outstanding and upstanding model himself! For more photos and information on Conover’s impressive creative project please visit his Facebook page

I’m grateful I took time out to see the Yelverton and Sheepscot Valley Railroad exhibit at Liriodendron Mansion. It transported me to another place and time. Isn’t that what good stories are meant to do?