Doorways....They All Have Something to Tell You...

Brown Door and Espaliered Tree
Obidos, Portugal
2011

If you are like me, you can never pass by a door without wondering what might lie beyond it, what sort of people have passed through it, or even what sort of greeting one may expect to find if you knocked on it.  Doors tell you a lot about the people who built them, the people who live behind them and the people who need to be kept from entering them.  And the symbolic role that doors play in our lives is clearly illustrated by the many ways in which doors, doorways, and elements of doors are used metaphorically:

"Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom"

- George Washington Carver

"When one door of happiness closes another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been open for us."

- Helen Keller

"The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind"

- Kahlil Gibran

So here's a sample journey...around the world in eight doorways:

Starting with the place of my birth, Kathmandu, Nepal:

Richly Carved Door in the Newa Tradition
Home of the Living Goddess - Kathmandu, Nepal
2007

In the neighboring city kingdom of Bhaktapur, Nepal:

Gold Gate (Sundhoka) into the National Gallery
Bhaktapur, Nepal
2007

To the north of Nepal, in Tibet:

Zedang Doorway with Yak Skull
Zedang, Tibet
2009

To the south, in India

Doorway Layered with Time
Orcha, India
2007

Pointed Arch Door - Safdarjung's Tomb
New Delhi, India
2007

Then on to Portugal, the land of Vasco da Gama, who opened the sea route to India...

Opening in Moorish Castle Battlements
Sintra, Portugal
2011

Portel Castle Entrance Arch
Portel, Portugal
2011

 Finally to the New World, the USA, my adopted home: 

Violet Door in Lavender Wall - Capitola Venetian Hotel
Capitola, California
2006

Nothing welcomes you home after a journey around the world like your own front door...

All of the images posted here are available for purchase as 8x10 and 5x7 fine art prints and A2 size greeting cards (all printed on archival water color paper) at http://DigitalYak.etsy.com/.  Be sure to send me a message if there is something you'd like that you don't see listed, or if you'd like a custom size or item, as I truly enjoy creating one of a kind items that hold special meaning. Thanks!!

Silent Rocks Do Tell Stories

Rocks...they connect us to the Earth.  On a sunny winter day, there is comfort in their solid warmth.  With their many varied colors, patterns and textures they are truly a visual and tactile delight.  But what do rocks tell us?  Do they have a story? Of course they do!

Some of my favorite rocks are those that include "trace fossils" (or ichnofossils).  In contrast to "body fossils" which are the remains of actual plants or animals within the rock, trace fossils provide a geological record of living animal activity, such as crawling, walking, resting or feeding.  Paleontologists are not always certain as to which organism is responsible the "trace" that we see, but that is what makes these rocks so much more interesting and intriguing....

Dinosaur footprints in Jurassic Sandstone
Salema, Portugal (Algarve Coast) 2011

Dinosaurs roaming the earth!  What could be more exciting?  These exceptionally well-preserved 135 million year old footprints on what appear to be lakeshore deposits are most likely those of a vegetation eating hadrosaur (known as the "duck-billed dinosaur) who walked upright (and in a very straight line...)

Sea Floor Tracks 1
Point Lobos, California 2006

Such a lovely pattern!  Though one can easily imagine that these impressions depict delicate fern-like plants, they are actually tracks of ancient organisms, probably something similar to crabs, that lived on the sea floor and propelled themselves forward with the help of their pincers and legs. Below are more tracks, approximately 60 million years old, of a different sea floor animal.

Sea Floor Tracks 2
Point Lobos, California 2008

Crustacean Burrow Fillings Series 1
Selema, Portugal (Algarve Coast) 2011

In the collapsed Jurassic sandstones along the beach of the sleepy town of Selema, on Portugal's Algarve Coast, are what look like a huge mass of entwined crocodiles!  These are actually large fossilized burrows of primitive crustaceans, probably shrimp-like organisms. The hollowed out negative space of their burrows essentially created a "mold" which was later filled with sediment that hardened and then became exposed over time. Below are additional burrow fillings that create an abstract sedimentary rock "bas-relief" forming quite a pleasing composition of contrasting figure and ground.

Crustacean Burrow Fillings Series 2
Selema, Portugal (Algarve Coast) 2011

Inanimate rocks are full of the evidence of life.  Silent rocks do tell stories....just ask any geologist or paleoecologist, and have some fun exploring!

All of the images posted here are available for purchase as 8x10 and 5x7 fine art prints and A2 size greeting cards (all printed on archival water color paper) at http://DigitalYak.etsy.com/.  Be sure to send me a message if there is something you'd like that you don't see listed, or if you'd like a custom size or item, as I truly enjoy creating one of a kind items that hold special meaning. Thanks!!