In October we also visited Meißen. I was especially happy to finally get to see the Dome from inside. Above is a selection of photos of from this short trip. For this post I chose windows as a main theme, inspired by a photo taken through the distorted window glass inside the castle and the details on a gothic window flanked with arrows..
Last weekend we visited the newly restored castle in Moritzburg and afterwards had lunch at restaurant Seeblick. Below photos of the castle and lake in the golden October sun. On our way back we stopped once more to take a picture of the castle as sun was setting…
Favorite view towards the castle from the distance through the tree branches; castle reflection in the remaining water of the lake as it slowly empties before the winter; grey goose gathering; reed and chestnut trees by the water; people riding out by the lakeside
The statues on the balustrades all around the castle have been vividly restored. The originals were designed amongst others by Permoser and students. Depicted are puttos, animals and other figures as part of different hunting scenes…
I would have loved to also share pictures from inside the palace but unfortunately taking photos indoors was not allowed. Initially we had planned to take a special guided tour to get a chance to see the more remote parts of the building but sadly it was sold out. It was still amazing to see the newly restored Feather Room, the large collection of deer antlers and Meißen porcelain.
Belladonna placed between newspaper pages for drying
Some impressions from our garden as summer is coming to an end… it was raining a lot as of late and temperatures have been dropping below 10°C at night. I am busy almost every day, collecting herbs, seeds and flowers for different purposes. My room is thus looking like an extension of our garden… full of herbs hung up or laid out for drying.
I will be attending and participating in the London MAGICAL ART/E, a circular tower of an event this weekend. The happening takes place at St. Augustine’s tower, Hackney, London, providing a unique location for performances and exhibitions. Coming with me are 20 photo prints from the Listen to the Silence series as well as prints of my drawings and abstract sigil art. Below is a photo of the tower.
sometimes these flowers are in my dreams
and the world is inside of a hellebore
my vision is that of a bug and these plants occur like giants
I observe the juices pulse inside of stems and leaves
I see every vein
I see flowers opening and unfolding
I love all their colors and shapes
just like the bees feed on them at a time
when other resources are yet scarce
sometimes in dream I hear them
move and unfurl
not so little froglings
so-called roses in the snow
stigmata the tips of serpent tongues
roots the dread head of Medusa
in my hand
eyes are
beneath are
diamonds
In a moment of clarity I snapped my camera and went down to the park, photographing the ivy and barren trees until the sun was setting, which was 233 images later and that was also when I ran out of battery. My fingers and feet had actually been freezing way earlier but that was secondary as my focus was on different things: the more you look the more you see and the more I was photographing the more I was discovering… It has not been like that for a while that I could be with the trees and vine and see them and listen to them. Respective there has been music on my mind all day, whereas the trees stood silently, but hearing is not always about hearing as much as seeing doesn’t always have to do with the eye… so what what did the senses sense or what did -I- sense? Usually it’s an overload. Nature’s silence can be very loud and powerful at times… That’s what is worked through and recapitulated later, when examining, picking out and enhancing the photos, finding forms and structures, whereby listening to the music that had been on my mind all day… Each photo in this post is representative of a row of similar photos, but for convenience I chose 20 of them to share here. And I leave them untitled this time around…
Closing tonight with this song by Oliver Huntemann: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gYcunUMpeE
Before I was listening to old and new stuff by Hole. I could never get into this band, but since New Year’s Eve it caught my attention and now bought a record this evening.
On the train to Stralsund
Stay hungry. It worked for Michelangelo, it worked for Picasso, and it works for a hundred thousand artists who do it not for love (although that may play a part) but in order to put food on the table. If you want to translate the world, you need to use your appetites. Does this surprise you? It shouldn’t. There’s nothing as human hunger. There’s no creation without talent, I give you that, but talent is cheap. Talent goes begging. Hunger is the piston of art. That little girl I was telling you about? She found hers and used it. – Stephen King, Duma Key
Reading on the train. Arriving at the hotel I suddenly feel sick and have to vomit. Can’t eat for 3 days. Slowly the hunger is back. Temperance comes after the death card. Happy New Year everyone.
Reflecting upon this year, taking a few notes and posting them here on my blog. I’ll focus on the positive stuff. I wave goodbye to the leeches and say Hello to those that approach me for serious business. I swallow the bitter stuff and make something sweet of it…
There is a tree of new beginnings, a tree that is much connected to the state that occures after severe clearcuts and profound desolation: the Birch.
It has been there for the past three years, or perhaps even longer, always when it was about time to make some long-needed changes, both on a personal as well as outward level. It is a tree that grows in places and under conditions, where others seldom dare to exist and which provides the foundation for others to thrive on, who does not only give but also facilitates new birth. A pioneer, which has its darker edges too. It is one tree I had to witness being cut down and mutilated by humans, when it would “take away too much of the sun”. A tree I share one or two scars with and that reminds me of my own limitations and weaknesses, delusions and misconceptions. But it is also a tree that teaches swiftness when you carry too heavy, advices you to be in control of your own destiny and reminds you to clean up and cast overboard all the unneeded stuff and hindrances. I am calling and listening to the Birch, seeking counsel and advice on changes that may need to be done in 2014.
Meanwhile new seeds are being sown and new growth it shall bring. Likewise other plants, the perennial ones, now barren yet not dead, keep growing and developing, whilst I continue working on new and old art pieces. Time flies. Fast. The work I do now provides the fundament for what I will do in the future.
So long, here’s wishing you a blessed longest night of the year. Whatever you do, be it a huge fire or just using this time for personal regeneration and meditation. Be well. And do what you can to help others be well to.
Wiebke Rost 