A VISIT to ROMANIA and 

ageless CABINET CARDS 

April 19, 2012 

   

 "New day dawns with endless possibilities"  

  

Hi family and friends... another week with new promises and experiences...life is good! Even found time for a bit of art...love those blog challenges. Like ART AND SOLE's POSTCARD CHALLENGE 2012.  For this week's challenge, we traveled to Romania, land of vampires...specifically, Dracula!! But there's lots more going on there. 

I was particularly captivated by its Gypsy (or Rom) population...they've always been a fascination for me! Too, Romania has an unusual cemetery of note... In SAPANTA, the Happy Cemetery was originally begun by a peasant grave carver in the 1930's, and is carried on today by the Pop family. The grave markers in this unique cemetery are carved and painted with scenes of the deceased accompanied by a poem describing their fate in their language. Almost half of them have two painted sides...one showing  the deceased as they were in life...and the other showing either the way they died or illustrating some quirk that made them memorable to their village. The most interesting of the carved grave markers celebrate the fickle nature of death... like the first three. The others shown celebrate the life of the deceased.

 

 

Aren't they wonderful? What a great way to be remembered... kind of a social commentary on what city residents consider right and wrong, 

or things to watch out for...like roller skating by the railroad tracks!!

A walk through the Happy Cemetery is a bit like a history lesson for Sapanta...interesting, eh? 

Finally, the COLLAGE OBSESSION challenge blog was interested in CABINET CARDS...I love these cards. Such a great way to do family or individual portraits in a time when photography was just coming into its own.

THREE MUSES was already thinking about summer with their call for vintage bathing beauties. My bathing beauty is male...why not? Note that this is also a cabinet card.

Thanks for visiting my blog yet again. I'll be in the great city of London, England with my daughter next week, but will try to blog from there...hope to see you back here at some point!

Happy week to you and yours,

xox,

abbyj

TIME PASSAGES

The Subject is TIME... 
September 18, 2011 

 "TIME RACES

WE GLIMPSE ITS PASSING" 

We visited with my 94 year old Aunt Barbara this weekend...she's still sharp of mind and tongue and still fun to be with! She lost the love of her life several months ago...the ravages of time passing. This is my Aunt and her beloved some years ago.

Now, on to some blog art challenges...

TAKE A WORD: Music

Music is such a universal pleasure, crossing over all lines that divide us as human beings. It's certainly food for my soul...my life is better because music is so much a part of my life.! 

COLLAGE OBSESSION: Peace

Two interpretations for PEACE...Peace as the absence of  fear of terrorism and war- the motto for the 60's was "make love, not war." It was a time when people believed in tolerance and all the freedoms! Then, there's personal peace... peace in your heart- something we wish and pray for! Perhaps in the lifetime of our grandchildren we'll see both...

INSPIRATION  AVE./ THREE MUSES: FALL/AUTUMN

I LOVE fall (or autumn) for it's extraordinary palette of colors; for the sounds of crunching leaves beneath my feet and of laughter of children bursting forth from the school yards; for the smells of pumpkin pie, roasted turkey and burning leaves...and I love fall because it leads right into my second favorite season...WINTER!

Thanks so much for stopping by THE VIVERE for  a snapshot of my life... hope you'll visit with me again...

xox,
abbyj