Meri's Play Place

Red. Ruby Red for  Ruby Tuesday.  ps. In case you're wondering, I just got back from a VSP Photography Workshop in Venice called "Summer Carnavale."  We worked with models in carnival and period costume for four of the five days.

Still trying to sleep off the jet lag and haven't gotten my photos of Italy sorted, so today I'll show you the Khan el Kahlili in Cairo. So exotic to American eyes!

This one is a slam dunk because I love glass. Art glass.

While I'm away (just about to finish a photography workshop in Venice) I thought I'd entertain you with this, one of my favorite photos from Egypt, "Getting Water in Edfu" © 2009 Meri Arnett-Kremian just to let you know that I haven't forgotten you or how much our visits mean to me, even though I haven't been able to spend as much time at your sites investigating as I usually do. These darn gondolas are so distracting! Whine, whine, whine. . .  For more Ruby Tuesdays, click on the button on my sidebar .

If I had to pick one color as my favorite and stick with it, no matter what well I guess I'd be happiest if I chose that shade of blue that's just leaning a bit into green. (Though I do love pink. . . )

During the Great Depression,  the federal government  created  the Farm Security Administration,  an agency intended to improve the lot  of poor farmers and their families. One program was designed to buy out small, unproductive farms and introducing more efficient collective farms. Fueled by demands from Congress, loans were eventually made available to help tenant farmers purchase land of their own.  To emphasize the needs of the rural poor,  the FSA hired a cadre  of photographers to make  "public relations" photographs. One of these photographers was a young woman named Dorothea Lange. She traveled around the country, snapping images of agricultural workers who had little to nothing in terms of income and financial security, like this ex-tenant farmer in Imperial Valley, California who had a small' "relief grant." Her photographs of a migrant worker/mother  are images of iconic standing. This woman was a 32-year old mo...

I love city skylines. Especially at night, when lights dance and lighted windows give the impression that the city never sleeps. So the first thing I did when my friend and I arrived at our Manhattan hotel room on about the 32nd floor was throw back the light-blocking curtains to enjoy the view. "Which bed do you want?" I asked, still looking out the floor to ceiling windows at the glitter and twinkle. "I'll take this one," she said from across the room. I turned to see her nearly imprinted in the hotel-room wall. "Did I mention I'm afraid of heights?" she inquired. I didn't know that about you. I took the bed next to the window.   Luckily she was fine on the top level of a double-decker tour bus.

My mission was to find a wedding present at Williams-Sonoma, something from the bridal registry that the bride had her heart set on.  But, oh my, there was an Anthropologie store right next door and there's no harm in looking, is there?  Especially since  it's at least an hour from home.  Nope. I didn't think so either. p.s  The bride and groom weren't forgotten. For more Ruby Tuesday, click the button on my sidebar.

Forgive me, please. I'm recycling a mosaic of Italy that I posted earlier the year, the one that made me realize just how much I wanted to go back to Italy, even though this time, my first time without the company of the man I loved more than I should have, it will be a whole new experience.  By now, I'm in Rome. Signed up for an after-hours tour of the Vatican Museums this very Mosaic Monday. I'm doing a day trip to Pompeii  and the Amalfi Coast tomorrow, then off to Venice by train on Thursday (barring a rail strike). My photo workshop kicks off Thursday evening. Wish me luck!

Mathew Brady was borne Mathew Brady was the father of modern photojournalism, and most especially, the first photographer to undertake documentation of the U.S. Civil War. Pennsylvania 31st Infantry Camp (photo by Mathew Brady Studio) from Library of Congress Historian and filmmaker Ken Burns has said that his documentary "The Civil War" could not have been made were it not for Brady's amazing photographs. Encampment at Brandy Station, Virginia. Generals George Meade,  John Sedgwick,  and Robert O. Tyler with Staff Officers. February 1864. Library of Congress Collection. Brady was said to be Abraham Lincoln's  favorite photographer and took photos of the Lincoln family,  as well as photos of the execution  of those complicit in Lincoln's assassination. The four condemned conspirators in the Lincoln Assassination await death on the gallows.  July 7, 1865. Library of Congress Collection Towards the end of his life, Brady said of his photographs, "...

When the light is right and the wind is calm colors dance on water.

The music was ear-splitting, pounding a drum beat through the floor, through the utility space and into the ceiling of the guest rooms on the seventh floor. Or so I've been told by a couple of unfortunate conference-goers who happened to have rooms right below the penthouse bar. But if you were there, writhing to the insistent rock beat, drinking Margaritas or microbrews, you learned how women lawyers behave when they think no one is looking.  ( I was the one with the camera, annoying everyone.) For more Ruby Tuesday interpretations, click on the button to the right.

Though I haven't had time for art play recently because my so much of my time is invested in writing these days, I thought I'd share a photo montage of some of my mixed media pieces. There are some snippets of fatbook pages, artist trading cards, mini collages, and Moo cards all mixed in.

Do you know about Alice Paul?   Alice was a suffragist and, with Lucy Burns, a co-founder  in 1916 of the National Women's Party. The National Women's Party focused on achieving the right to vote for women via  a federal constitutional amendment. They picketed for women's rights in front of the White House and were especially critical of President Woodrow Wilson. Their picketing was tolerated initially, but after the US declaration of war in World War One (which the NWP opposed), women picketers were arrested for "obstructing traffic." They were jailed under frightful conditions at Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia. Many jailed suffragists went on hunger strikes to protest their treatment. Some, including Alice Paul and Lucy Burns (pictured below), were force-fed by jail personnel through hoses forced down their throats or tied to iron bars to limit their movement. The resulting scandal and its effect on the U.S.'s image at a time when Woodrow Wils...

What's the old saying? It's something like being calm and unruffled at the surface while at the same time  you're paddling like crazy below. For more Photo Friday participants, click the button on the sidebar.

Light makes everything in the farmer's stand sparkle, entice, beg to come home with you.   The music of street players entertains. Flowers beckon from buckets . It's a tourist destination, an historic public market, a perfect shelter from Seattle rain. * * * * * * * * For more Lens Day Wednesday entries, click the button on the sidebar.