Art

Friendly Friday Photo Challenge – Turning Point

/ Leya / 21 kommentarer

Amanda (Something to Ponder About) asks us: ”Have you ever experienced a ‘Sliding Door’ moment? Those moments when you made a choice in life, that led to significant changes for you?”

I have always loved the movie, Sliding Doors, and seen it several times over the years. Gwyneth Paltrow is never wrong either.

But first – in the header – the biggest turning point in my life was the arrival of the children. Nothing in life makes a greater difference.  Then, over to more – and different – turning points.

Highgate Cemetery, and cemeteries in general, have always attracted me. This beauty was hidden for many years, found in 2013, sleeping below the ivy. Things hidden can be things of beauty – and a given turning point. I read about those who found her, and felt instant love. She was made out of one, single piece of marble.

I have always wanted to believe…I was a firm believer as a child, but in the 4th grade my new teacher told me Jesus must have been a healer using natural medicines – no wonders, nothing. Maybe he hadn’t ever existed?

My whole world crumbled, and I felt cheated by everyone – because school, science and the teachers had all the answers…And still today, I cannot believe in God. I am more of a Buddhist, a Pantheist, but that is my firm ground and belief.

Becoming a teacher has given me so much more of life than I had ever expected. And it was a decision I never thought I would make. Only a short week jumping in for another teacher, made me decide. I have never regretted it!

Finally – back to the movies…..as children we all have a craving for magic. The books about Harry Potter filled that gap for more than one generation. Not to speak of Tolkien and C.S.Lewis… I guess they meant a turning point for many children (and grown-ups…), and for literature in general.

So, Cheers to the Magic in our lives!

Lens-Artists Challenge #32 – Shadows

/ Leya / 51 kommentarer

In the header, the grand Aqueduct of Segovia, Spain. A picture where you cannot ignore the importance of shadows. For Tina’s challenge this week – Shadows.

Shadow owes its birth to light.
John Gay

Even the tiniest creature/ thing displays a delicate shadow when there is light enough

And as you move, your shadow moves with you…

In the late evening… the shadows make us a delightful pair – the cherry tree and me

The fence, in Riga, Latvia – one of my favorite pictures ever

Some flowers look their best in the shadows of other flowers in my garden

The golden browns of the dunes become enhanced by the shadows

…and the trees provide soothing shadow while they thrive and reach for the light

Thank you to Tina for a lovely challenge, and a homage to the importance of shadows.

 

Find beauty not only in the thing itself but in the pattern of the shadows, the light and dark which that thing provides.

Junichiro Tanizaki

 

 

 

 

Lens-Artists Challenge #28 – Curves

/ Leya / 47 kommentarer

Curves –

”In life, as in art, the beautiful moves in curves.”

Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton

Thank you Tina, for this week’s opportunity to admire natural as well as man made curves. They are everywhere – if you just let your eyes find them… Sometimes you have to look up though – like in Trinity College, Dublin, and The Long Room.

Antoni Gaudí – a master of curves

Rila Monastery, Bulgaria –

– glorious curves

In my forest – colourful, natural curves

Lava, and life returning – in curves

But no curves are as beautiful and complete as those of the koru –

A short Wikipedia explanation: Koru (Māori for ”loop”) is a spiral shape based on the appearance of a new unfurling silver fern frond. It is an integral symbol in Māori art, carving and tattooing, where it symbolises new life, growth, strength and peace. Its shape ”conveys the idea of perpetual movement,” while the inner coil ”suggests returning to the point of origin”.

 

 

Thursday Thoughts – A Winning Combination: Spa and Glorious Glass

/ Leya / 20 kommentarer

Back again for relaxing days at Kosta Boda – the glorious glass and spa hotel. Some more treasures for you! Find my earlier posts on this our favorite hotel here:

Two relaxing days

Classy glass tour

The blue glass bar

 

The skilled Kjell Engman

Thursday Thoughts – Christmas Market

/ Leya / 13 kommentarer

Christmas in Sweden also means many Christmas markets to visit, where local people can put their work on display, and there is a lot of chatting and big smiles. This year we only visited one market, and came home with some lovely presents of course…

This young woman was a talented painter with somewhat a style of her own.

And there were even younger participants… mother and daughter sold flowers and decorations. Everything works out well when you are smiling!

Thursday Thoughts – We Must Make it Work!

/ Leya / 29 kommentarer

My post from November 30, 2017, a year ago – I thought a reminder to us all would not hurt. What do you want to give your children and grand children for the future?

 

Every December I remember our month in New Zealand some years ago. Never have I been to a country where I found so much and so many to admire and love.

This is where our antipodes live, this is where I had one of my first penfriends, this is the country whose nature I believe to be the most diverse and beautiful in the world. And this is where Rainbow Warrior went down, sending many people around the world into an unbelievable state of shock.

We are constantly reminded of how much we contaminate our world, and the focus here in Swedish media, right now,  is the sea, the oceans.

Just like in Wellington, we can still bathe, swim and fish in Stockholm – but for how long?

I am a member of many organizations trying their best to help preserving our planet for generations to come. But right now, we receive news every day about all the plastic and micro plastic in the oceans – a terrible threat to all organisms-

So, I think again, with my heart wide open, about how much I respect and love NZ, its people and its genuine efforts to help the world stay healthy. Down to every detail… for example the artwork made for making us humans see and do the right things.

And these are only two, small,  brilliant examples out of many, many…we saw new examples every day.

Hopefully it is not too late for the world – but You and I, and all of us, have to do our bit, our part, every day – to save our enigmatic and fantastic planet. Start with the little things…don’t use plastic bags, bring your own when you go shopping. Don’t throw old medicine in the toilet, in Sweden we leave them at the pharmacy for destruction.

Can you say you try to do everything you can to help? I know I try – but I also know I can do so much more.

Thursday Thoughts – Art Nouveau Villas

/ Leya / 15 kommentarer

Wherever I travel, I love to walk among architectural big or small wonders. In Łódź, on our last day, I found a guide about famous houses in the city. Not much time left, but I just had to see their famous Art Nouveau gem.

Villa Gallery, a house built in 1903 for the manufacturer Leopold Kindermann from Łódź, is listed on the prestigious Iconic Houses platform.

The global list of outstanding architecturally-significant houses is created by the Amsterdam-based Iconic Houses Foundation.

The aim of the Iconic Houses organisation is to popularise knowledge about 20th-century great architectural designs, gathering documentation on them and promoting the idea of opening such buildings to the public.

Only the houses that are open as public museums can enter the Iconic Houses list.

Among the list of most beautiful houses of the 20th century, there are icons such as Antonio Gaudí’s Casa Batlló in Barcelona, Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye in Poissy, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West in Arizona, as well as the houses of Alvar Aalto in Helsinki, and Victor Horta in Brussels, Theo van Doesburg in Paris, Arne Jacobsen’s in Copenhagen and many others, all considered milestones in the history of modern architecture.

Just to look at the elaborate details is magical. The iron gates were magical wonders.

The windows, and the visible – or hidden – sculptures really kept your eyes alert.

I met with some great difficulties trying to photograph the house – high gates and impossible angles. But I hope you get a hint of the beauty of the villa. It made me long for Bacelona and Gaudí, again…