The Transitional Image

Basic

I am both delighted and mortified when I produce a pretty image like this. Some part of me remains unwittingly basic and simple: I go to the farmer's market and buy daisies, I collect river stones...but I dream about Andy Goldsworthy...

Artemisia

Reading Anna Banti's "Artemisia" I felt suddenly as if I might write poetry. It was this line which touched me so deeply:

"Never has the earth appeared so shriveled and pitted, ancient, barren earth onto which the tired hand of divine indifference drops brusque, rough caresses."

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This Image "Desert Forms 4". Elena Ray Copyright 2006. Bush skeleton from the Mojave desert. Mixed Medium photography.

Paper

In my twenties I stumbled  upon an obscure fine art paper shop near Otis Parsons College of Art and Design. My boyfriend at the time was convinced I needed an art education so at his urging I went to the admissions office to get a catalogue. I never did go to school for art, but that visit to the paper store left an indelible impression on my imagination. 

______________________________________________________________________________________ This image "Calm". Elena Ray Copyright 2004. Photo Based Mixed Medium Collage. Photographs of flowing hands and seagull printed with pigment inks on various painted asian papers, red printed paper from a box of Tibetan incense, and the word "calm" from a Tazo tea bag. Poster.

My Sister's Masterpiece

When my sister was in high-school she created an important piece of artwork. She called it a "Devil Box". It is a ceramic square, green, with beautiful complex patterns. Inside of it she locked a tiny ball of clay which clinks if you shake the square. That's the devil. She said she felt it was better to keep her devil locked up inside. Every aspect of the piece is pure genius. One of the sides has simply a large green circle; the tao, symbol of wholeness, eternal. On a recent visit I tried to give it back to her but she refused, seeming disinterested in it. So, I live with her devil. I think I may have the best part of her.

You can see a bit of the box in this photo. The bowl of Goji Berries sits on it. The box keeps finding it's way into my photos. Even the tiniest sliver of it showing thrills me.

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This image "Goji Berries" Elena Ray Copyright 2007

Apothecary

I've begun exploring the possibilities of the Balinese Betal Chew box, starting with the idea of an herbalist's apothecary. Trips to the health food store to get my favorite oatmeal have become an adventure in things herbal; buying curious dried plants from those glass jars. What a strange pleasure I get having magical roots and seeds in my possession.

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"Apothecary" Elena Ray 2007

Thinking Quietly

I have been thinking lately. And just being. It's easy. I feel marked for change. I love to change. Everybody is talking around me. The world is swirling. But I feel quietly within myself.

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Untitled image. Elena Ray 2007

Cleo

I never knew my father's father but feel as if I know him from the many stories I've been told. My father grew up in North Dakota during the thirties and forties, so horses were still being used for farming. My grandfather was a master horseman who drove teams of powerful and spirited draft horses for his living. He was also a prize fighter, and, an alcoholic. Everything about him sounds brutal, masculine, hard. He's mythological to me. A few days ago my little grey cat Cleo died. Everybody in my family knows our cats so I emailed them all the news. Here is the reply my father sent me:

Elena:
We know the feeling. You know we had to let Lalita go about a month ago. My dad always said "don’t fall in love with an animal. One thing or another will happen: either it will die and you will miss it or you will die and the animal will not know what is wrong". But I noticed several times he did not take his own advice.
DAD

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Cleo on the roof of our house.

Suzuki

My friend Annie, shown in detail here practicing Chinese calligraphy, loves Suzuki's classic "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind". Here's a couple of my favorite quotes from this book, which I often find myself immersed in standing at the bookshelf.

"Our practice cannot be perfect, but without being discouraged by this, we should continue it. This is the secret of practice".

"Each one of us must make his own true way, and when we do, that way will express the universal way. This is the mystery."

Shunryu Suzuki "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind"

A Fetish For Objects

The interior of my home resembles a prop house with lovely objects presented in carefully placed arrangements or abandoned in unassigned dust collecting clusters. Photography is my excuse for collecting things. Last week while visiting Charlottesville, VA I discovered the Oyster House mostly Chinese antique shop. I fell in lust with the Tall Apothecary Chest which they will allow you to steal for $1000.00. Where will I get the money??? And if I had it, wouldn't I buy that needed new laptop instead, or, build my dream green house, or I don't know, put money away for not so distant old age? Luckily for me there is no loose Grand lying about so the decision is easy. I did leave with a two small items: a carved panel from a late 19th century Fujian chest, and an antique Balinese betal chew box.
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This image "Chinese Medicine". Elena Ray Copyright 2006. Ginseng root and modern acupuncture needles lying on an antique Chinese ink stone and the brocade box it lives in. Herbal capsules placed on modern stoneware "worry stone". Photographed in my natural light tent.