Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Travels Near And Far....




Losing Track of Time.....

I Hope you will forgive me, Dear Readers, if I take you on a Journey to a place that is Far Far Away and not altogether Certain of its Time. I traveled last weekend to a place near where I had lived in my teenaged years, in order to attend a Memorial Service for the Late Husband of a Dear Friend. The Memorial was held in a tiny, old New England Meeting House, situated at a crossroads in the middle of the woods, miles and miles from any other Village or Town buildings. This Meeting House was only about thirty miles from where we used to live, but it might as well have been in a different land altogether, as we had no idea then, of its existence or the Splendor it contained! On the exterior it was a normal White clapboard "Church" such as are liberally scattered across the New England landscape.

But the moment you cross the threshold, 
you can see that it is no ordinary place!

From the mural in the entrance vestibule 
showing the "community" that tends the Church....

To the glimpse through the doors to the Hall itself.....
You can see that every square inch of wall and ceiling 
has been painted in genuine "frescoes"
a la Michaelangelo!
(For those who might not know, a "fresco" is when 
the paint is applied to the still damp plaster. 
This way the pigment becomes part of the plaster 
not just a surface coating like with normal paint.)

They were created in the 1950's by some artists 
who were teachers at the nearby "Skowhegan School" 
a summer Arts School of some renown.

The Themes are clearly Religious, suiting the nature of the Meeting House,
but are modern in their style, and varied from artist to artist.
I believe Eleven different artists contributed, but I do not know their names.

Here is the view looking back to the choir loft above the entrances.
I took a great many pictures, and will not bore you with All of them....
One of my favorites is this Noah's Ark with the Dove.....

And beside it, up in the Choir Loft.....
Angels spread their wings.....

And Play their harps....

And Save Souls......

All the interior woodwork is the original unpainted pine....
here are the stairs to the choir loft.....


Simply constructed..... all the pews with doors
(almost the only painted parts!)
Such an utterly unexpected and Glorious Creation!


And a close-up of the "Church" in the hands of the people!

And I hope you will forgive me even More, Dear Readers, 
if I skip you from that heightened plane to the lowly world 
of my painted rocks for the Cloud Palace Tower!
We don't even have to Travel far to see it.....


I did apply myself diligently after all 
and covered the interior of the Tower with egg carton "rocks"!
Above you can see the only picture taken before I began to paint them....
It is late at night and the lighting is terrible....


Here you can see the Front corner with the first coat of gray paint applied
this was after the primer, of course.

And here you can see where I have started to paint 
all the "cracks" between the rocks a darker gray...
It is really quite tricky to get the paint all the way into the cracks!
(I am reminded that I should have under-painted the walls 
with a dark color before gluing on all the "rocks"!)

It will take many more layers of paint to make
 the "rocks" look anything at all like rocks!
It is a Journey that is only just begun!

And Speaking of Journeys, Dear Readers,
I have to share with you another Journey that has just begun....
Well, actually, it began a while ago when my Sister was visiting,
and we agreed that it might be a nice thing if there were 
a couple of Fairy Bearys to come live in her Cottage Doll House!
So I asked Birgit....
(really, she Must be tired of hearing from me by now! LOL!)

And Birgit worked some of her Magic.....

And she sent "Buttercup"


and "Marmalade".....

Two sister Fairy Bearys......
who have come to see the Cloud Palace and all the Beary gang
on their way to my Sister's Cottage Doll House!
They are very much alike and completely different at the same time....
just like Sisters so often are!
But I must confess there is only one little problem......
The Minute they arrived here they flew off to the nearest Dollhouse.....
And so it was that Beatrice awoke one afternoon from her nap 
and found the two Fairy Bearys standing in her room!


"Who are you?" asked Beatrice in her most polite voice.
(She was familiar with seeing other small creatures talk.... 
so she was not surprised when they answered her!)

"We are Buttercup and Marmalade" said Buttercup.....
"And we have come to visit the Cloud Palace" added Marmalade.

"There's a Cloud Palace?" said Beatrice, her eyes opening wide!
"I've never seen a Cloud Palace" she added, 
"all I've seen is the Old Castle ruins. 
But they are Dangerous and I'm not supposed to go there!"
 "Hmmmm...."  said Marmalade...
"I am certain there is A Cloud Palace somewhere here...."
"We're supposed to visit our Cousins 
on our way to our new Home...." added Buttercup!
"I've never heard of the Cloud Palace," declared Beatrice.
But privately she thought that maybe she would ask her 
brother Tommy if he knew anything about a Cloud Palace.
But she didn't want to let Tommy know that she was talking to Animals again...
it made her Family a little worried!
Meanwhile, Buttercup and Marmalade asked if they 
could stay for a while and rest from their long Travels....

Beatrice said "Only if you promise to hide when anybody is coming!
They must'nt know you are here!"
"That's easy" said Buttercup...
"We'll just fly off when they are coming..." added Marmalade.
So it was decided that they could rest a while 
and tell Beatrice all about their Journey!

Well, Dear Readers, I must leave you here, 
at the Beginning of another Long Journey.....
For in case you hadn't guessed, 
The Fairy Bearys have arrived in the Right place...
But in the Wrong Time!
(Beatrice lives in the year 1852.....)
So I hope you can forgive me for leaving you here
After Traveling Far and Near
And Losing All track of Time!

12 comments:

  1. Oh Betsy, what a lovely, new adventure with not one, but two BiWuBears in the leading rolls ;)! Buttercup and Marmalade are stunningly beautiful, I love the warm colors of their soft wonderful furs. Birgit has again done miracles with her needle, for sewing these gorgeous bearies for your sister! And you shouldn't be you, for writing another fairy tale story for us to read ;O! We are even landed in the wrong time....1852!! Personally I often wonder how it must have been then to live in that time period, but I have to wait until your next episode of this story :D!
    Thank you for your warm welcome words on my blog after my absence, dear friend.
    Hugs, Ilona

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  2. merci pour ces jolies photos
    votre monde féerique est très agréable à visiter

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  3. Hi Betsy, what a surprise to see the inside of the church! It really is something else! Your stonework is lovely and I have to try that sometime for it's very effective. I love your bears and your stories......I think your talents could be extended to writing books :) maybe you have already!!
    All the best
    Vivian

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  4. What an amazing spiritual vortex is that little church. Raises goosebumps. How privileged you and all the others celebrating the life of John Barrows were to be doing it in such a place. Maybe I can fly there in a dream sometime...
    Meanwhile, welcome to Buttercup & Marmalade. That Beary Family grows!
    Lots of love,
    Mom

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  5. Ahhhh... I'm going to have a word or two with the mail company!!! 1852!!! Shocking!!! *LOL* But Beatrice is on the right track... Tommy will be a big aid when it comes to helpful information about the Cloud Palace (although I have not yet forgotten his amazement about Sir Orion talking to him... tsssss... talking BiWuBearies are nothing to wonder about... *grin*) - What fun to see those two enjoying their own big adventure! And thanks for sharing those impressions from the meeting house with us, what a wonderful art project - and the result is stunning!

    Hugs
    Birgit

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  6. Oh I love it! They landed in a different time! It made me laugh and of course I can't wait for more of their story. :)
    I thought it is a church when I saw your Meeting House. I am sure they don't exist over here so it is good to know they do in your country. It is a very interesting building with great paintings.
    The tower is looking better and better! In fact I do like it already. :)
    Hugs

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  7. Wow the meeting house is stunning. Thanks for sharing. I love watching your tower progress it is an amazing project. I love Marmalade and Buttercup they are both so beautiful and now they have their own little story :))) Lol you will have a hard time parting with them I think :D
    Hugs Maria

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  8. Unas obras de arte preciosas.
    la torre va estupendamente, da gusto ver avances.
    Un abrazo
    Maite

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  9. That was a real slow post service. I hope learning about the different eras will enrich Buttercup and Marmalade's education. They have so much to learn about on their visit. (And so do I...)
    Thanks for the lovely photos.
    Hugs, Drora

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  10. That church is amazing. I love the picture of the church in the hands of the people. Glad to see Marmalade and Buttercup have made it to your place safely albeit not in the right time. I have just been reading about them on Birgit's blog. I hope they enjoy some adventures while visiting before they start another great adventure going to live with your sister.

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  11. Hello Betsy,
    Yay! another journey to follow! yours are always so much fun. I am sorry for your friend's loss, but thank you for the pictures of the church. It is quite impressive and the style of the fresco is just wonderful. A real work of art. The staircase is another work of art. It looks amazing! The stone really transformed the place and added so much atmosphere. Great work Betsy.
    Big hug,
    Giac

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  12. What a beuatiful church! And I love the story of Buttercup and Marmalade, I hope they will arrive at the right time and place someday :-)

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