Intricate Carving

Intricate Carving, originally uploaded by susanvg.

October 31, 2010: While the ghosts and goblins were prowling the city streets, I went to a concert. I have gotten to know many of the city's churches as they are often venues for concerts. The Studio de Musique Ancienne de Montréal (aka SMAM) often performs at St-Léon Church. It has some incredible church art from the ornate carving in marble that you see here to the frescoes on the celing by Guido Nincheri (this link will redirect - wait and then it will take you to the site).  Lots to distract the eye as I listen to the heavenly music. SMAM is an early music vocal ensemble which is often joined by instrumentalists. The music they sing is mainly religious from the Renaissance and Baroque eras. It is nice to hear it within a church, though it is now performed for secular purposes.

Feb 9/10 Something Beautiful

Feb 9/10 Something Beautiful, originally uploaded by susanvg.

How do you define beauty? It is so subjective. What is beautiful in one culture is odd in another. The daily shoot - photograph something beautiful - I have taken so many photographs of flowers and other natural beauties. This shell caught my eye because it is three kinds of beauty - the natural beauty of the shell, the beauty of the man made carving and the beauty of the story behind it.

My parents had a good friend, Nat, who spent his whole life selling life insurance. He earned a good living, but it wasn't enough to satisfy his curiosity. He became fascinated by shells and started to study them and collect them. This is one he gave to my parents. Some years ago they (my parents and he and his wife) wintered in Sarasota and I brought my then young children there. Nat would walk the beach with my son and take him to the best spots for finding shells. His patience was limitless as he spoke about the animals that had once inhabited the shells. A large portion of Nat's collection was donated to a local library. My son's class (around grade 4) went to visit and Nat shared his fascination and pleasure in shells with the young students.

This shell has layers of beauty.

Day 152: The Phoenix

Day 152: The Phoenix, originally uploaded by susanvg.

It was one of those days, when photography was not on my mind. Scan the house - what story is there to tell? This bird is on a small, wood, carved table from Indonesia. My father-in-law was in the Dutch civil service (a good colonialist) and served for many years in Indonesia - from 1929 until about 1951. He, his wife and their growing family moved to different parts of the archipelago as he achieved higher status, eventually becoming governor of a province. As they moved, they would sell a lot of their furniture and buy some more in the next town, often at auctions. My mother-in-law recalled that this table came from one such auction.

They did not bring a lot with them when they left Indonesia. After losing most of their belongings during the Second World War (they were interned in Japanese camps), they re-established themselves. When Indonesia became independent, they returned to the Netherlands and soon after moved to Canada.

Like the phoenix who rises from the ashes, they were forced by circumstances in the world to remake their lives several times.