Photography

Progress

~ MaryG ~ 8 Comments

Yesterday I went to a concert by the world-renowned Boston Symphony Orchestra in Boston’s historic Symphony Hall.

Boston’s Symphony Hall yesterday afternoon

My friend Eileen and I had wanted to attend this particular concert because the planned guest conductor—a young man we knew from our days working together at the Conservatory—was making his Boston debut.

AFTER we bought our tickets, we were notified that he wouldn’t be conducting due to “ the recurring effects of a shoulder injury.” Instead, 29-year old BSO Assistant Conductor Anna Handler would be making her Symphony Hall debut. OK, well at least we were seeing someone’s debut!

The first piece was “The Imagined Forest” by 31-year old British composer Grace-Evangeline Mason. It was atmospheric and beautiful.

Something about seeing these two young women—the conductor and the composer—take their bows together felt like Progress. I’ve seen plenty of women take their bows as soloists, but not as conductors and composers—the artistic leaders—at the very highest level of classical music.

There was no mention of it being a historic first or anything like that, but you could feel that the audience was 100 percent supportive. Partial standing ovation (unusual for the first piece in a concert). Many cheers.

Brava, ladies. Well done. Respect.

29-year old Anna Handler commanded the podium in a focused, confident way as she stepped in for an ailing guest conductor of one of the world’s finest symphony orchestras

Thursday Doors—Winchester, Massachusetts

~ MaryG ~ 13 Comments

This is the pic that came up today when I searched the ginormous folder on my computer for a “door.”

There was no geographic info in the file name or photo data. All I know is that it was taken with my old Canon PowerShot camera in June 2011 and that the two kids on the balcony are mine.

I had no recollection of this moment, but Google Lens figured out the location (amazing). It’s downtown Winchester, Massachusetts (my husband’s hometown). My father-in-law was alive and still living there at the time, so it makes sense.

It’s an area now called “Winchester Terrace.” AI found this photo on Apartments.com that shows the exact spot:

At the top of the staircase on the right is the spot I posed my kids in 2011.

This discovery sparked a memory of my very dear father-in-law—“Nonno” to my kids.

He was most the wonderful man who enjoyed life’s small moments like no other. Martini time, a beautiful operatic aria, an excellent meal, a grandchild’s kiss (he called it a “buzz”), a friendly joke with a stranger (especially waitresses!), and random bits of foreign languages sprinkled into any conversation. He always made me feel like the most amazing, interesting, gorgeous woman who ever lived. A true charmer. He lived well into his 90s.

My son with his wonderful Nonno (2003)

Dan’s Thursday Doors

Alizarin Crimson in nature

~ MaryG ~ 4 Comments
Fallen leaves from our Japanese Maple

Alizarin crimson is a deep, cool, and transparent red color with a blue or magenta undertone that has been a staple for painters for generations.

Why is it called Alizarin?

Google’s short answer:

Because alizarin was originally the principal red dye extracted from the madder plant, and the name comes from the old word for madder root dye.

Madder plant with roots (image source: https://www.naturesrainbow.co.uk/2021/04/harvesting-madder-from-a-large-planter/)

Thursday Doors—The Kremlin

~ MaryG ~ 7 Comments

It’s fun for me to search the giant folder of pictures on my computer for “door” and see what comes up. It really jogs the old memory.

This pic came up today.

I knew it was from a slide I took in 1987 on a college trip to Helsinki, Budapest and the Soviet Union, but I didn’t know exactly where.

Guess what? ChatGPT identified it immediately as the Dormition (Assumption) Cathedral in the Kremlin, Moscow, Russia.

The distinctive arched doorway with ornate frescoes above it. The icon of the Virgin and Child surrounded by angels and saints. The Romanesque-style columns and arches framing the door.

This specific doorway is the main western portal of the Dormition Cathedral (built by Aristotele Fioravanti in the 1470s), one of the most important churches in Russia and the site of coronations of Russian tsars.

And I do believe ChatGPT is correct because I found this picture in my files as well:

That’s the Kremlin with the Dormition Cathedral—the second cluster of gold domes from the left. The Moscow River (in the foreground) was frozen solid.

I believe this is also inside the walls of the Kremlin. I think it’s Spasskaya Tower, which overlooks Red Square.

There are two possible reasons I do not have more pictures of the Kremlin. Either it was too darn cold and my camera battery froze or our “Intourist” (Communist Party) tour guide wouldn’t let us take photos.

I have a feeling my camera battery froze because I’m not a total rule follower. (I have been known to sneak a photo in forbidden areas.) However, we were warned so severely to not break any rules while in Russia, I may have been “scared straight” as they say.

Here’s a photo of our Intourist Guide Elena receiving some parting gifts from our Russian History professor on the tour bus. Too bad I only got the back of her head.

See, this is why you take pictures people. I had forgotten all of this. I have been to the Kremlin!

Posted for Dan’s Thursday Doors.

Northern Lights II

~ MaryG ~ 16 Comments

A little over a year ago, I saw the Northern Lights for the first time on the way to choir practice and wrote a post about it.

Last night at about 9pm, thanks to Facebook, I was alerted that the aurora borealis was again visible in the skies above our town. Not as bright as last year, but still very cool.

Photo taken from my back porch facing north
The Northern Lights do not look as bright to the naked eye as they do in photos, but I could distinctly see both the pink and the green with my own eyes.

I texted my kids and my parents to look north and my daughter saw some beautiful pinks where she lives in southern central Massachusetts:

My father saw them for the first time in his 91 years and he was a pilot who has been to Alaska several times and also to Iceland. Here was his photo from two towns over:

Watercolor Class Week 6: lessons learned

~ MaryG ~ 5 Comments

Each of the primary colors has a complementary color that you really want to avoid mixing with, at least for sunsets. If you put wet complementary colors near each other or layer them, you’re going to get brown. 💩

Red & Green = Brown

Blue & Orange = Brown

Yellow & Purple = Brown

That’s why my blue/violet to orange sunset sky ended up looking like a fried egg, especially from a distance,

The teacher said you can’t go directly from blue/purple to orange. You need some pink to transition.

She suggested using Alizarin crimson (not cadmium red) to make pink. It has blue undertones.

I tried again to get Key West sunset vibes, but without an ugly brown ring.

I’m not happy with the result. I really wanted a nice blended smooth gradient. The teacher said I painted “into it” too much. I need to try again, wetting the paper in both directions with my largest flat brush and then dragging the wet paint across in one direction only – end to end. In fact go off the paper with the brush.

Rather than masking, I could use a paper towel to lift out a circular moon or sun. (You can hold the paper towel in a round bunch and rotate the watercolor paper to create the circle.) And again, avoid complementary colors that will bleed into each other and make brown.

There are two classes left in this session and I need to decide what to do. I’ve been enjoying the class, but I’m not 100% sure that watercolors are my thing. But perhaps I should re-register and give it a bit longer.

One of the women who keeps re-registering is a very good watercolorist. She creates beautiful paintings of natural subjects like oyster shells and winter trees, and I can see that the teacher gives her good advice. Is that what I aspire to?

I am curious about both acrylic and oil painting, but those are more of an investment, and not as easy to whip out and work on at home.

Maybe I should take another drawing class and also re-up for one more 8-week session of watercolors. Maybe after that, I’ll feel confident enough in my drawing and color skills, to try working with real paint on an actual canvas.

Charcoal pencil sketch of a pug (like Horace from Poldark)

On the other hand, 8 more sessions of watercolors is a lot, if I decide I’m not that into it.

***********************************

Update: Third and final try on this silly Key West sunset! Water colors are hard.

Thursday Doors—St. Ann’s Church, Kennebunkport, Maine

~ MaryG ~ 5 Comments

Good GOD I’ve taken a lot of photos of church doors over the years—especially for a Unitarian.

Here’s another one in the Protestant realm:

This is the entrance door of St. Ann’s Chapel in Kennebunkport, Maine, which has to be one of the most beautiful—perhaps THE most beautiful— seaside chapel in all of New England.

Built in the late 19th century (The Gilded Age), this church operates in summer only, when the well-heeled WASPy residents of Kennebunkport are in town (including the Bush Family).

What really got me was the OUTDOOR chapel with the sweeping views.

The rocky coast of Maine near the chapel
Nice view
Seriously, this chapel has the best New England location I’ve ever seen
As descendants of “peasants” from Italy, our ancestors were more likely to have hauled the rocks to build this church than to have ever visited it.

Multiple Bush family weddings have taken place here. They are longtime, generous supporters of the church and their compound—Walker’s Point—is close by. Not to get political, but I can’t believe I’ve lived to an age where I think of the Bush family with some fondness. Thirty-year old me would not have believed it! I’ll take Walker’s Point over Mar-a-Lago (and all it represents) any day of the week.

Dan’s Thursday Doors

Masking with tape

~ MaryG ~ 4 Comments

I wanted to try another one of the “resistance” methods from Monday’s class, so I blocked out the sun and the other large sphere with blue painters tape. I’m not sure why I got that dark ring around the sun. Maybe the paint collected and mixed under the tape? I painted the sky very wet. I’m going to bring this in next week for feedback/help from the class.

Here was the inspiration:

Key West sunset with the Naval Air Station on the horizon (supposedly that is truly the Southernmost Point in the US, rather than the tourist buoy).

Fond memories of Key West. Hopefully we can go back sometime 🌅

Watercolor Class Week 5: masking fluid & MagicErase

~ MaryG ~ 12 Comments

Yesterday was a discussion of the various “resisting” techniques (tape, wax crayon, etc) and a demo of how masking fluid works.

I gave it a try in this painting, inspired by my photo shoot on the rail trail the other day.

Here’s the inspo pic:

You can see I tried to use the masking fluid (aka rubber cement) to try to create those tiny rays around the sun. The teacher said to rub them out a bit with a MagicErase sponge, which is a tool that watercolorists use to soften areas and rub out paint that has already dried.

I also used the MagicErase sponge on the bike path because I felt I had “overpainted” it. One of the hard things with watercolors is knowing when to stop. It’s very easy to ruin a nice effect by doing too much.

I sat away from the major gabbers in the class and was happier (although it did not go unnoticed that I changed my seat).