ULLABENULLA

Spirits In The Night

Do you ever find yourself unable to cope with the days due to the spirits in the night? Listless perhaps from so much action and adventure in the dream state..? I have always been a heavy dreamer, trying not to take too much notice, but very affected regardless. Somedays I wake up feeling as if I didn't even sleep - hoping the clock is wrong, and wishing I could leave responsibility behind... No such luck. My dreams seem to always be parts of the past, only rarely foretelling... Faces, images, scenes all mixed up yet very present... I wish I could bottle up my nightly visions, neatly labeled and organized by my bedside. I would drink only a cordial size before bed, in a beautiful colored crystal glass, bowing to the good spirits in hopes of a restful night. Alas, such a vision isn't possible - so I go on, struggling with my ever growing visions - hoping that they will bring relief and solitude... eventually... Photos by Frank Stockel

ECHO AND REVERENCE

Susie MacMurray created this amazing installation at York St. Mary's. In her words: "Echo is constructed from hairnets and the rosin-coated horsehair from used violin bows. Hairnets themselves are fragile, delicate containers, destined to eventually unravel, just like the human body. They are precarious, always on the verge of disintegration. Violin bow hair carries traces of its former use as an accomplice in the intense, sublime and emotive human experience of music making. When I first came across them, coiled up as the violinmaker discards them, they reminded me of little memorial wreaths or Victorian mementos. Echo is a response to St Mary's as a kind of vessel for the traces of profound contemplation, sound, memory, history and human faith." (found on the blog Bus Stop)

Nests of Distinction

There is something about the nest form that seems to be universally adored. Laura Ellen Bacon creates larger than life nests of natural materials that seem otherworldly yet familiar at the same time...

Metal Handbags

Delightful Metal Handbags by Emily Jo Gibbs.

Ancient Jewels

Shahasp Valentine also makes jewelry of PMC. Her historically inspired designs are based on great jewels of the past, places visited, architectural details and stained glass windows of great cathedrals... Lovely!

Silver Jewels

These pieces were done by Gordon K. Uyehara of Hawaii. He uses a combination of PMC and solid silver to make his jewelry. Inspiring...

Summer Songs

I have a lovely little cricket cage that I bought just because I thought it was so pretty. I find it wonderful that a culture will make something as common as a cricket so venerated, and the cages to hold them so beautiful. In ancient China and Japan, crickets were thought to bring good luck. Visiting places, known for the abundance and high quality of their singing insects, was one of the seasonal pleasures, such as cherry blossom and autumn leaf viewing. Over the weekend, I could hear a symphany of insects and frogs beneath our hotel window - truly the poetry of summer... Woodblock print by Goyo Hashiguchi. Discover more facinating facts about crickets Here!

Paradise Comes To Life

"The Portal of Paradise is the principal ceremonial entrance to the sacred space of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. For over half a century this central doorway was flanked with uncarved blocks of Indiana limestone waiting to take the forms of Biblical men and women who embody the history of the great monotheistic religions.
The Portal Carving Project began in 1988 with an international sculpture competition that brought British stonecarver, Simon Verity, to direct the venture. At the start, Mr. Verity was assisted by six apprentices. In 1993, Jean-Claude Marchionni, a master stonecarver from France, joined Verity in the project. In 1995, Martha Cooper began photographing the carvers during the project's final three years." See more of these facinating photos Here.