Shadows Over Rilke

I love these shadows, cast by a glass over the cover of a collection of Rilke's poetry. The patterns on the glass fell with beautiful, matching grace across the spiraling design of the book on my table. A November gift: found art. Rilke is one of my favorite poets. His words, so perfect for today:

... But, listen: a rake at work this early.
Above, alone, in the vineyard,
a man is already talking with the earth.

-- Rainer Maria Rilke, from The Essential Rilke, Selected and Translated by Galway Kinnell and Hannah Liebmann

The photo was taken 11/7/10. Just click on image to enlarge.

Something of the Marvelous

In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.

-- Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), Parts of Animals, bk. 1, ch. 5

Funny how you set out to take a photograph of one thing, then something else catches your eye and takes you in a whole other direction. This podlike, mummified ... thing ... was part of a box of potpourri. (Could it possibly be a slice of orange?) As I headed out to the deck, it was literally underfoot, aglow in the light streaming through the sliding glass doors. Outside, I held it up to the muted sunlight, played with the way it cast a shadow, then realized what a terrific composition it formed against the bold wood grain of the picnic table.

Click on image to enlarge.

More Shadows Filled with Light

I love the way this paperweight casts a golden, swirling shadow while holding the sunlight captive inside its little world.

The photo was taken yesterday, 2/18/10. Click on the image to magically enlarge the photo. Thanks to Kim from my women artists' group, who gave me the paperweight before she left for Bhutan.

Pretty Candy Shadow

I took this picture just a little while ago. I don't know ... it just makes me happy to look at it!

Merely click on the image to enlarge the candy and shadow. Thanks for the holiday candy, Thea. Too gorgeous to eat ... and I don't think I really want to taste a sugary treat that is bourbon-flavored. What can I say? My kids like to give me weird candy. Scroll down to the "Cosmic Piglet" post to see the marzipan pig Emma gave me at Christmas.

Yesterday's Light and Shadow

Yesterday, as I stood at the counter cutting spirals with my favorite little scissors, I looked up to see this fantastic show of light and shadow. Sunlight from the windows behind me flowed through a gold vase of hydrangeas on the counter to dance with shadows on the kitchen wall. The heat rising from the radiator below caused a rippling, flickering effect. The picture changed constantly. I couldn’t look away. I couldn't tell if time was softly flowing past or strangely blossoming outward for those minutes.

The photos were taken 11/22/08. Click on images to enlarge.

Glass Skin

The glass casts a watery, dappled shadow, laced with sunlight. It looks down into the flickering pond at its feet, trying to tell where its body stops and its shadow begins, afraid it might drown in its own silhouette.

More fun playing with glass. Photograph taken 6/30/08.