Creativity

Grounds for Sculpture – I

/ still a dreamer / 3 Comments

For many years, I drove down Rt. 295 passing this huge red and blue abstract sculpture of two faces in the greenery off to the side and the exit sign for Grounds for Sculpture. And for many years, I vowed I would get there. Finally, I did.

This past Sunday, I had the pleasure of visiting this amazing sculpture museum – 40 acres plus indoor galleries – with two friends who’ve been before. It was impossible to see everything, but we took a circular kind of route to the right and saw many, many amazing works of art. I will present some of the photos I took in installments. Please know that the sculptures featured here represent my own personal tastes and interests and that the photo file names are also my own, not the formal names of the sculptures. I apologize to the artists that I have not included their names – if you would like more information, please visit the Grounds for Sculpture web site.

These two huge bulls were among our first sights as we left the parking lot and entered the grounds.

Another view

This sculpture of silver metal stands about 10 – 12 feet tall and was in the water garden. Clearly a king, he holds his robe with his right hand, (not visible in the photos I took), and looked to us like a Shakespearean character.

A closer view of his face.

This is another of the sculptures in the water garden section. Some were abstract, some literal, but all featured water below, through or around them. This sculpture reminded me of Alice, (or Wonderland), surely my own interpretation of the artist’s intention. What you see in this sculpture is a fine mist. Mist was utilized in numerous sculptural settings throughout the Grounds, always for an ethereal effect that I was very drawn to.

A view of this sculpture from the other side.

The landscaping of the Grounds was beyond amazing. The diversity of trees and shrubbery was fascinating, and often suited to the subject matter of the sculpture. Had there been no sculpture, I would have been perfectly happy to walk the Grounds as a botanical park in its own right. I’ve never seen a tree such as this … lovely.

Another example of how a sculpture was complemented by perfect placement in the greenery. This was a beautiful piece – trees, animals and people in harmony – a peaceable kingdom in three dimensions.

I will feature more in the future. It was quite an exciting visit and I did take lots of photos.

Visit Grounds for Sculpture II

Visit Grounds for Sculpture III

Les Mis – A Christmas Jewel

/ still a dreamer

There are some movies that, once you see the trailer, you already know you will see more than once. This is undoubtedly the case for me with Les Mis, to be released this Christmas.

Among the movie previews a friend and I were seeing was an extended view of how the new Les Mis was made and it’s unlike any other film musical to date; it’s filmed completely live with each actor actually singing their part rather than syncing to the voices pre-recorded. We were both blown away. I’ve known Hugh Jackman could sing … but Anne Hathaway? Amanda Seyfried? Russell Crowe? And the visuals … simply breathtaking. The trailer below and the piece on how the film was made moved me to tears. This Les Mis is already incomparable.

Take a look at the trailer here, or on the official web site, but while there, be sure to watch The Extended First Look.

 

Coming Around

/ still a dreamer / 6 Comments

Coming around to myself, that is. I almost remember me!

As I’m sure any of you reading this can avow, there are periods in our lives which are especially challenging, (and that is a euphemism for what I’d really like to say, but we’ll leave it at that.) These periods may be short and intense, blowing in and shaking us hard like a sudden squall and just as soon blowing out, leaving us crumpled in their wake. They may be prolonged periods of seemingly endless things to cope with, large and small, which pick at us until we seem a mass of tiny scabs.

This is life. We accept it in all its glory and beauty and also in its times of travail. And when we are in the latter, there inevitably comes a day, only a moment perhaps, when something feels a little different, as if there’s been a barely noticeable turn in the universe somewhere and we know we have paralleled it and turned some corner ourselves. It may be ever so tiny; it may not grow overnight; but it happened.

The weather is now getting cooler, the days getting shorter, and the warming sun flows inside earlier and earlier. I have worked all day, and that western sun was drawing me, drawing me, to it and I succumbed. I brought my just-delivered copy of the SCBWI Bulletin, enamored of the cover illustration by Eliza Wheeler, to the back porch. I sat in a chair, my feet up on another, and indulged myself in some reading with the sun full on my face. The cats next door came to be petted and then sprawled on the porch, taking advantage of both the sun and the company. I read till my cheeks burned hot, loving every second of it.

There are times when we put everyone and everything else ahead of ourselves. Sometimes by necessity, sometimes by natural inclination. And there are times that we are called to come around to ourselves. It may be but a whisper, but listening is always exactly what we need.

 

A Balance of Fiction and Non-Fiction

/ still a dreamer

Here’s what I’ve found … I really do like reading a balance of fiction and non-fiction. I usually am reading one novel, be it adult, MG or YA, and also one non-fiction book (generally) of a metaphysical nature.

Recently, after finishing my last novel, I started reading Dying to Be Me by Anita Moorjani. I have been slowly working my way through Wayne Dyer’s Wishes Fulfilled a second time because it is so spot on, but I  found I miss the thrill … the immersion in  a story that I can’t put down. I want a book that nurtures my heart and soul as well as one that calls upon my mind and emotions and takes me places I’ve never been.

So I am going to Paris with the vampire Pandora by Anne Rice, a selection I’d made at The county library’s annual book sale. If you’ve never read Anne Rice, you will find her riveting. I read Interview with a Vampire, The Mummy and several others, but I loved the New Orleans Mayfair witches trilogy the best – The Witching Hour, Lasher and Taltos. They remain on my bookshelf as worth keeping and reading again. I’m looking forward to sitting with Pandora in a Paris café where she recounts her history; she was once a highborn woman in Augustan Rome who later named herself after the Pandora of mythology and in time, came to pursue Lestat.

Balance restored. How about you? Are you a one-book-at-a-time reader or do you multi-read, too?

Books vs. Movies – Part 2

/ still a dreamer / 2 Comments

I’ll be honest – I started this post on June 3, shortly after  I had seen the movie The Bridges of Madison County and compared it to the book. There’s no time like the present, someone once said, so I’m finally the getting this up as a post. As I look at the novels I currently have waiting to be read, I must admit I am often drawn to those where I could watch the movie version as well.

However, when I think about other books that I’ve read and their movie counterparts, the results are mixed. I’ve listed a bunch, and again, these are very personal preferences reflecting what I like to read and which movies I’d go see.

The Shipping News – Annie Proulx – both movie and book excellent!

Shawshank Redemption – Stephen King – really liked both

Silence of the Lambs – Thomas Harris – book so gripping I couldn’t put it down, movie was also gripping, but not quite as good, though truly terrifying

Red Dragon – Thomas Harris – Book was excellent – the prequel to Silence of the Lambs; movie a huge disappointment, and almost nothing like the book

Because of Winn Dixie – Kate DiCamillo – both excellent, book still a bit better

The Secret Life of Bees – Sue Monk Kidd – book excellent, movie really quite good

Lord of the Rings – R.R.Tolkien, Harry Potter Series – J.K. Rowling,  Narnia Series – C.S. Lewis – I lump these together – perhaps unfairly – because they are all series, fantasy and of epic proportions in film. I loved the books that I read from these series, and that was not always all of them, but I really loved the movies, too. Either way, you can’t lose.

White Oleander – Janet Fitch – Outstanding book, couldn’t put it down; the movie not really even worth seeing

The Invention of Hugo Cabret – Brian Selznick – I like the storyline, but it wasn’t a favorite book of mine; Martin Scorsese really brought the story to life. Preferred the movie.

2001: A Space Odyssey – Arthue C. Clarke –  Movie by Stanley Kubrick – One of my favorite movies, and I feel it far outshined the book, but I’m real biased on this one.

The Joy Luck Club – Amy Tan – an amazingly complex and engrossing book; the movie couldn’t possibly carry the book’s  richness. Book better by far.

The Devil Wears Prada – Lauren Weisberger – Here’s a case where the movie was just fabulous and fabulously funny. I got the book after seeing the movie and was disappointed.

The Horse Whisperer – Nicholas Evans – I saw the movie first on this one and it was excellent, so I read the book. Also excellent and I’d recommend both.

 

Well, that’s my two cents. Do you have a loved book that was made into a movie and a thought or two about it? Or a great movie and the book you read later? Let us know!