Strong Women

Hello again.  I’m a big fan of Donna Grossman and That Girl Knitz.  Her work is unique, creative and very fun.  Be sure to check out her website, you'll find a link below. Donna invited me to write a guest blog, I’m happy to oblige.  Bear with me, I’m feeling fanciful today.

Strong women.  They rock, they lead, they inspire.  A few of my personal favorites:  Mae West, Clare Boothe Luce, Eleanor Roosevelt, Katharine Graham, Beryl Markham, Freya Stark.  There are hundreds of thousands of them.  Many are known to the world, others are known quietly — only to their families.  I look for them in movies, in books, in my own life and I learn.

Strong women show up in my photography.  I see them on the street, I glimpse them in old buildings.  Hidden in plain sight, their messages to me are written on their faces and carved into the architecture of their bodies.

Flower Tattoo

 I took this shot while trekking across San Francisco on foot — the best way to travel with a camera in hand.  An oasis in a landscape bereft of beauty, she was painted by the talented female artistic team of Alynn-Mags, in brilliant, bold color.  Peaceful and determined, I imagine she’ll unfold long, graceful legs and step off that wall to rule the world.  She reminds me to breathe and stay centered.

Vintage Mermaid

This mermaid caryatid, perched just off the Florida shoreline, supports a carved stone barge with purpose and grace.  Embracing whatever comes, waves or wild weather, you can see she’s not a whiner. When she’s busy with other projects, she arranges for dolphin pals to “stand in”.   She inspires me to ask for what I need…and to take up swimming again.

Deco Lines

Art Deco.  An era when women shrugged off all those heavy layers of Victorian clothes and played with abandon.  The sculptor of this piece may think he has our muse clutching a phallic symbol of urban strength on her left, but here’s my take on it:  she’s fully embracing her masculine side (yin and yang you know) while remaining utterly feminine and holding wings to soar as well.  She encourages me to accept all aspects of myself.

You’ll find more strong women when you visit my shop.  These images and many more may be found in my Urban Art and Architectural Detail Shop Sections located on the upper left side of my home page, Shop Sections make shopping quick and easy.  Links Links and More Links:  

My Shop:  www.etsy.com/shop/ninedragons

That Girl Knitz:  http://www.thatgirlknitz.com

Thanks for dropping by,

E. England

A Mermaid & An Evening Walk

This is the time of evening when the mermaids come out....I’m certain of it.  

As yet, I haven’t seen one, but I’m hopeful.  Each evening, the beach empties and the sky turns a lovely milky-blue and so does the sea, tinged with gold or, on some evenings, deep shades of lavender and pink.  The wind usually picks up around 4:00-ish and blows for an hour or so whipping up whitecaps in the water and etching  mesmerizing patterns in the sand.

Then...a stillness settles over everything for as far as the eye can see.  As I walk along the water’s edge, I keep a casual look out for what I imagine will be the sudden flash and shimmer of a silvery blue-green forked tail as my conjured mermaid -- or merman -- slaps the surface of the water, showing off just a little for me.  

Everyone knows that a forked tail makes for a swift swimmer.  In fact, the deeper the fork, the faster the swimmer, but my mer-creature has paused mid-swim with a curiosity to match my own.  Eying one another cautiously across the gently lapping waves, we'll nod hello - which is the polite thing to do after all and then continue, alone once more, on our terrestrial and aquatic locomotions.  Each a little shivery with the bit of magic that has occurred; one walking barefooted in the damp, cooling sand leaving a trail of happy footprints, the other slipping smoothly through the water leaving no trace at all.

Here are a few photographs of what I did find this evening as I roamed the quiet beach.  

Photos, from top to bottom:

1. Patterns in the Sand

2. Casting A Long Shadow

3. Seagull

4. Feather in the Sand

5. The Fence

Sign up to receive my none-to-regular blog posts -- I hope you'll share them as well.  Visit my shop at www.ninedragons.etsy.com to see more of my photography.  Wishing you magic wherever life finds you.  E. England