I have been wanting to do a longer post, on Autumn, and October, and the particular light of the days, and the colors of flame and glory on the mountains, and the beauty of the time. However, my days are vastly too busy to give it the thought it deserves.
Then, a friend quoted this blog, and now, I have some words to share about it, that say it much better than I can, and a new place to read wisdom:
"In autumn, there is always one special morning of singular light and
meaningful wind. Many magicians have tried to name it, usually with
indirect reference -- calling it "this" wind or "that" light -- but no
single name suffices. Even if you were born in another season, you feel
it, but if you were born in autumn, you feel it acutely: it is the very
core of your physical existence. It is raw life. This morning, after the
Orionid meteor shower cleansed the heavens with star rain; this
morning, as the Ch'ang Ho bells ring beneath west wind -- the wind of
gates shut upon effulgent sunlight -- this morning, my October birthday
morning, autumn's special life came to me again.
RESCU
stands for Renaissance Entertainers, Services, & Crafters United.
The RESCU Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit organization established to
promote and maintain the health and medical well-being of the
participants of Renaissance Faires, historical performances and other
artistic events through financial assistance, advocacy, education and
preventative programs. They have worked diligently over the years to
offset medical and emergency expenses for the folks who work Renaissance
Festivals and other themed events, including Faerie Festivals and their
like, and are often not the last resort of the wonderful gypsy
community that work these,...they are the ONLY one!
They are hosting their first Rally for Support in Maryland, in
collaboration with the community of the Maryland Renaissance Festival,
located near Annapolis, MD to raise funds and awareness this Saturday,
October 13th, at the American Legion Hall, just down the road from the
Festival site. 1905 Crownsville Rd, Annapolis, Maryland. There will be a
silent auction featuring crafts from the festivals and other items, as
well as a raffle of donations. Tickets are $10 at the door, and doors
open at 7 PM. Comedy, music, variety entertainment, and more.
Additionally, there will be a featured live auction of items. This will
include a private parking spot for the 2013 MD Renfest season, located
at the front gate, with the winners name on sign!
We at Mythical Designs by Miscellaneous Oddiments LLC are delighted
to announce that we are offering our Mermaid Wall Sculpture, "Queen of
the Sea #2" as a featured Auction piece. She is made from sculpted
leather, measuring approx. 30"x20". She incorporates real sea shells,
sea weed forms, and one real pearl in her ear. Also, the mask comes
free from the sculpture for wearing separately. She retails at $500 and
will be on reserve for $275. We thought long about donating her, and
think that the Spirit of the Oceans and Waves will be a wonderful
addition to the RESCU effort and is an apt symbol for the Annapolis
area, with it's deep ties to the waters.
She was originally created for the Maryland Faerie Festival 2011
show, which was themed on Mermaids. The Mythic Arts community often
tends to reach into common mythical pools of inspiration at the same
time. That year, the depths of the sea were open, and writers, artist,
crafts people and entertainers were finding their inner merfolk and
flicking their metaphorical tails. It was delightful and were honored to
be the featured artist at that event, along with well known Mermaid and
writer, Carolyn Turgeon.
The sea is a nurturing place for life, and it's inspiration is as
deep as it's glimmering pools. The fascination with mermaids and sea
creatures has been with humankind for many thousands of years. I believe
this is partly due to their perceived freedom. What is more free
roaming than a dolphin or mermaid? I think this is an apt metaphor for
the life of the wonderful gypsy crafts people and folks who work
Renfests and other similar events. We are a source of mystery and mirth
to those who see us. A wonder that can't quite be pinned down, and if
you go too far in, you may be changed forever. We inspire you to imagine
and imagine for you an experience that can't be had anywhere else.
Like the Green Wood of Folklore, it is a dangerous place sometimes. A
dark place, where only shamans, mad fools, artists, and wizards dare to
venture. We bring you back tales and dreams. However, sometimes, we need
a thread to guide us home. Ariadne's spool of twine to give us way
forth from the maze and guide us out of misfortune.
RESCU does just that. They are a life line in troubled waters, and
hope in the darkest of storms.
Please consider donating, and if you live
in the Baltimore/Washington D.C. area, visit the Maryland Renaissance
Festival this Saturday, enjoy our Revels in our Grove, and then, come to
the Rally, so that we may continue this adventure of entertainment.
Continuing to move
some of my favorite entries over from my old LiveJournal, and with the
Autumn colors here, this is an important one to me. It is a
difficult time of year for an artist. We tend to be dangerous. Walking
into posts while looking at leaves on the ground, or suddenly stopping,
caught up in the light on the mountain side. This post, on beauty, and
light, and color, and a little movie, sums that up for me. Although it
was in a summer evening, the rapture is all the same.
Last night the Wildwose Clan had decided to settle in to watch August Rush, the 2007 movie with Robin Williams and Freddie Highmore.
In the midst of the movie, a huge storm front came crashing over our
mountain, thundering and shaking the house, until I glanced out the
window to see that particular kind of light that I knew would be just
right for a rainbow...
Original is sized as a computer desktop
As
for the movie, well, it was just wonderful. Funny how it actually
didn't get very good reviews generally. Comments like "transparent
plot", and "wildly unrealistic"...well duh!
Early in the movie
the lead character says,
"I believe in music the way some people believe
in fairy tales".
A fairy tale is an escape from the ordinary. A time
out of time. A portal or path into another world or way of thinking.
This is what music is. Especially to musicians. I know this, although
I'm not a "musician". That is, I don't play any instrument very well,
and tend to get a little lost in melodies. I tend to believe that music,
like most art, is a choice that you don't really make. Sure, most folks
could be taught. But musicians, they are born. The prolific and
talented writer Stephen King once said, "People come up to me at parties
and say they have always wanted to write, and I reply that I never had a
choice!"
My personal experience of art is like that. Rapture is a
daily occurrence for me. I will freeze up at the experience of light on
a flower, or say, the colors of a rainbow. As a matter of fact, I have a
personal rule about rainbows. Unless you live near a huge waterfall, or
far up the Rocky Mountains, or on vast ocean front with storms, you
will only experience a small number of rainbows in your life. So I
believe that there should be a cultural agreement about them. Whatever
we are doing, wherever we are, all work should stop when one makes an
appearance. Families should go out and watch the light change, drivers
should pull to the side of the road. A moment of pure celebration in the
absolute beauty of the natural world. So that is exactly what we did.
Here
is a panoramic shot digitally stitched together, of the rainbow arcing
over our home. I have included Leah holding Ellawyn for a bit of scale. I
wish I had taken the rest of our yard in that exquisite light.
Light
and music are both intrinsically intertwined in my mind. Vibrations and
waves. Sound and Color. It's funny actually, although I am not a
"musician", movies like August Rush and the experience the young hero
has, are intensely familiar to me. That all sound is a tune is something
I know in my bones. Years ago, before I met Leah, I lived with a young
lady who was a opera singer and musician. She taught me so much about
listening. How to pick out and hear violins amongst an orchestra. That
in big movie theater, just before the film starts, the crowd is a hum
that can be felt. And perhaps the best of all, I would get to place my
hands on her's, while she was practicing conducting, and feel the
rhythms that she, a trained musician, could know in a way I never could.
I will always remember that.
The movie manages to really convey
this. August stands in a field, sweeping the sound around him through
the tall grain. He walks rapturously down a New York street to the beat
of the city life. And taps out a wild and joyful tune the first time he
handles a guitar. That guitar music is actually performed by the
talented Kaki King. Her well known skills at Slapping & Tapping
are beautifully presented in the movie where she even "plays" the hands
of Freddie Highmore for scenes. Here is the scene of August discovering
the guitar.
We
watched that rainbow for quite a while. It split, spreading it spectrum
across two bands, then broke, only to come back with brighter colors.
Towards the end the storm pushed the moisture front, the great wall of
water vapor forming the lens of refraction, out until the bow stretched
over most of the horizon. Wisps of clouds, ragged from winds, flew in
under the edge of the front to pass across the surface of the rainbow.
Here is one image of that. I may paint this one day.
This
was all surprising late at night. Although it could hardly be called
night time with the brightness. At our elevation, facing southeast as we
do, twilight doesn't begin until 9:30 PM or later. With the high winds
and ridge behind us, we get these dramatic storms regularly, but never
quite like this. The trailing edge of the front was crisp. A line of
demarcation between rolling clouds full of moisture and a sky so blue
and washed clean that our eyes and skin reflected it. Here's a picture
of that back edge, although, this in no way accurately conveys the color
of blue. I have never quite seen that before.
Once
the light started to fade, my family dragged me and my camera,
reluctantly, back inside. We finished the movie, which as fairy tales
often do, was improbably and unrealistic and had a nice happy ending.
But
one thing came of it. Today, I am looking seeing more clearly, being
here...now...Listening deeply. Drinking up the cool air and soaking in
the crisp green of the trees. As if the whole world were a church made
of stained glass and filled with organ music...
