Saturday, November 25, 2017

Beneath the Surface: North York Moors

"Beneath the Surface: North York Moors No. 1" 2017


You realize why there are so many writers from the UK when you start walking around the glens, and moors and the wide open spaces that have been inspirational for centuries. You can see how these stories then migrated into the minds the world over. When we stayed with our lovely friends Welly and Rachel up in Rudby, Yarm in North Yorkshire and walked around the Cleveland Hills, my heart quickened its pace when I saw for the first time hillsides covered in heather.



As we finished our three mile hike, we walked down into a rushy glen and I saw before my eyes a place I had seen in my dreams. Perhaps illustrated in a Henry Moore novel or my idea of what a picturesque narrow valley in the United Kingdom would look like but there it stood complete with fern and bracken and emerald green leafy trees.



A new image appeared in the reflection of the water, this time an extension of the trees around the water, an arm reaching out - more human than branch. Or are our arms just an extended branch that has evolved? What ever, I felt deeply connected to this very spot and was fortunate to capture my dream.

Julie Green
November 25, 2017

William Allingham. 1824–1889
  
The Fairies
  
UP the airy mountain,
  Down the rushy glen,
We daren't go a-hunting
  For fear of little men;
Wee folk, good folk,         5
  Trooping all together;
Green jacket, red cap,
  And white owl's feather!
Down along the rocky shore
  Some make their home,  10
They live on crispy pancakes
  Of yellow tide-foam;
Some in the reeds
  Of the black mountain lake,
With frogs for their watch-dogs,  15
  All night awake.
High on the hill-top
  The old King sits;
He is now so old and gray
  He 's nigh lost his wits.  20
With a bridge of white mist
  Columbkill he crosses,
On his stately journeys
  From Slieveleague to Rosses;
Or going up with music  25
  On cold starry nights
To sup with the Queen
  Of the gay Northern Lights.
They stole little Bridget
  For seven years long;  30
When she came down again
  Her friends were all gone.
They took her lightly back,
  Between the night and morrow,
They thought that she was fast asleep,  35
  But she was dead with sorrow.
They have kept her ever since
  Deep within the lake,
On a bed of flag-leaves,
  Watching till she wake.  40
By the craggy hill-side,
  Through the mosses bare,
They have planted thorn-trees
  For pleasure here and there.
If any man so daring  45
  As dig them up in spite,
He shall find their sharpest thorns
  In his bed at night.
Up the airy mountain,
  Down the rushy glen,  50
We daren't go a-hunting
  For fear of little men;
Wee folk, good folk,
  Trooping all together;
Green jacket, red cap,  55
  And white owl's feather!

Saturday, November 18, 2017

Beneath the Surface: Norfolk Broads

"Beneath the Surface: Norfolk Broads No. 1" 2017

Watching the undulating waters ripple into the reeds as we boated upon the Norfolk Broads in East Anglia this summer put me into a meditative state. The smooth, calm waters where punctuated with Lilly pads and the occasional swan. But what fascinated me was its vast surface mirroring the dramatic sky above. Like a watercolor before my eyes, the quickly changing weather of England in late summer went from blue skies filled with billowing clouds to dark and stormy during our 3 hour tour.

Like watching the clouds in the sky, I obsereved their distorted shapes float by as we slowly boated down the Waveney river and curiously thought about what was hiding in the thicket. This 12th century man made waterway was cultivated for its fossil fuel peat. Over subsequent centuries the channels that were dug out were flooded and became  what is now known as the Norkfolk Broads. The 120 miles of rivers and lakes (known as broads) are the UK's largest protected wetland. I have enjoyed many journeys on this picturesque marsh and still marvel at the windmills occasionally dotting the landscape and thatched cottages lining the rivers edge.

In this newest image I tried to create a portrait of the countless men and woman who have spent time on this waterway, their long departed reflections caught for a moment in the shadows where the water meets the reeds...

From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads,

Julie Green
November 18, 2017

Saturday, November 11, 2017

Beneath the Surface: Moon Bridge

"Beneath the Surface: Moon Bridge" 2017

The Huntington Library and its 120 acre garden is a botanical delight. I am constantly drawn to the end of the property towards their 9 acres Japanese Garden. The moon bridge, which was commissioned back in 1919 and was built by Toichiro Kawai, is a perfect foil over the koi pond. Its reflections in the water below creates a full circle in the still waters. The koi fish swimming in the pond reminded me of flowing hair beneath the surface.

Once again I combined multiple elements to create a new image for this series.

Julie Green
November 11, 2017

Saturday, November 4, 2017

Beneath the Surface: Self Realization Fellowship

"Beneath the Surface: Self Realization Fellowship  No. 1" 2017

I found myself contemplating shapes and reflections on the surface in various bodies of water this year. From my own backyard pool, where I spent a good deal of the summer working on a series of images which culminated in "Body Refractions", I was constantly looking at how water distorted the shadows on the surface and people swimming just beneath the water.

On my travels throughout California and England this year, I began documenting small bodies of water (creeks, lakes and ponds) which held my fascination. Their mirrored surfaces and natural shapes captured my imagination. The still water was punctuated with vegetation and animals not seen in my swimming pool. The more I meditated on these peaceful spots the more I began to see forms emerge on the surface and just beneath the water. I wanted to capture these musings photographically and quickly began to sketch ideas of who and what I was imagining.

"Beneath the Surface: Self Realization Fellowship  No. 1" was a koi pond I captured at Paramahansa Yogananda's spiritual center in Escondido. I was particularly drawn to it as I had just been studying his writings and was touched by his following words: "When the consciousness is withdrawn from the sensory surface of the body and its surroundings and centralized in the cerebrospinal shrines of soul perception, that is the most effective time to pray".

I'm not a praying person and I can only assume he is making a mind and body connection when he describes the "cerebrospinal shrines of soul perception" but it struck me that we humans are bodies of water who can also reflect what is on the surface. Letting the ripples of daily life wash over us by maintaining our centeredness beneath is what makes up our character.

I hope you enjoy the results of my visual investigation as I dive into this body of work.

Julie Green
November 4, 2017