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An Affair to Remember

It is always a pleasure to create images for  the Buglisi Dance Theatre’s performances and the  May 1st spring benefit, An Affair to Remember, was especially beautiful. It  took place at Artisanal House where the dancers were in the space as “living peace sculptures”, followed by excerpted performances of the Table of Silence, Requiem and Jacqulyn’s new piece commissioned by David DeSilva “This is Forever” – which was  also  screened throughout the evening on film – and Jacques d’Amboise who  read from his book “I Was a Dancer”.

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Thin Places

The Cultured Traveler column in the New  York Times a few weeks ago, written by Eric Weiner expressed so perfectly why and where I travel. I am also drawn to places that beguile and inspire. Places are where heaven and earth come closer. The article resonated with me and I wanted to share it…  “Where Heaven and Earth Come Closer” 

What is a Thin Place?

“A thin place is a locale where the distance between heaven and earth collapses and we’re able to catch glimpses of the divine, or the transcendent or, the Infinite Whatever. Not everyone finds the same places thin. It’s what a place does to you that counts. It disorients, It confuses. We lose our bearings, and find new ones. Or not. We are jolted out of old ways of seeing the world, and therein lies the transformative magic of travel.”

“Yet, ultimately, an inherent contradiction trips up any spiritual walkabout: The divine supposedly transcends time and space, yet we seek it in very specific places and at very specific times. If God (however defined) is everywhere and “everywhen,” as the Australian aboriginals put it so wonderfully, then why are some places thin and others not? Why isn’t the whole world thin?

Maybe it is but we’re too thick to recognize it. Maybe thin places offer glimpses not of heaven but of earth as it really is, unencumbered. Unmasked.”

We travel to wake up. Life is swift and hazy. We are habitual creatures often following mildly comfortable ruts. Travel, like the best friend you will ever have, gives you a little slap : wake up wake up ! Be !

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Wyoming Roaming

Having a grand time
in snow up to my knees
shooting at the  ranch in Wyoming
horses and cowboys flying through the landscape

Wearing 3 hats – 2 pairs of gloves and 2 pairs of  socks
 hand warmers

long underwear and ski pants

many layers of fleece

knee high Arctic muck out boots
and more…

my cameras wound around my neck
We start early in the morning
its cold and windy – dark and  beautiful…

then the sun comes up and hits the painted  mountain ridges
and the horses come flying through the snow drifts
and everything is glowing

and you don’t feel anything but joy !!

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Winter at the Ranch

Ever since I was a little girl I have wondered about the life of the American Cowboy. I usually focus on vanishing rituals and lifestyles in  Asia but once again I decided to  look closer to home. I am going back  to  the Hideout Ranch in Wyoming ( my last visit was in the fall of 2010) and capture  images of ranch life in wintertime. I can’t wait to see  the horses thundering through snowy meadows, against  pine-covered slopes and jagged mountains.

Cowboys in Winter



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Adventure is out there…

“Adventure is out there, but it’s also in here.It’s an inner game. What separates adventure from the mundane is an openness to the unexpected and a willingness to embrace it, laugh your way through it when you aren’t gritting your teeth, and learn from it. It’s not a freedom from fear, it’s an unwillingness to let it have even one day of your already beautiful, short, fragile, one-of-a-kind life. It’s being present, 100% in your art, your relationships, the way you raise your children, and the way you open your heart to strangers. You can do that from home and you can do that from the base camp of Everest. It’s a choice, a posture of the mind and heart. It is not the exclusive domain of the privileged, the healthy, or the strong. It is for all of us that, if you’ll pardon the worn cliche, are we are willing to hear the music and have the courage to dance without shame.”

I read this today on David duChemin’s Pixelated Image blog and it resonated with me…Life is the grand adventure and we are all in it together.

I am so thankful for all the people in my life who share their journeys with me and allow me to share mine.

Yushi Festival in Kham

Yushu Festival in Kham

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Opening Night at Keyes Art:Terri Gold

“There is a great moment, when you see, however distant, the goal of your wandering.
The thing, which has been living in your imagination suddenly, becomes a part of the tangible world.”
Freya Stark

Usually  this wonderful quote reminds me of my travels but it also  applies to the feeling of finally showing the  work.

Completing the circle.

It’s a long way from New York to China and back. It all  begins with the planning and research, then the journey itself and then the long process of editing and creating a body of work. I remember the moment when each image was taken.

It is wonderful to see it in the Gallery at last.

I want to especially thank Julie Keyes and her staff  and everyone who came and shared the evening !

First the set up…

Then its opening night

Then the Dinner Party