Children the world over have long been told tales about the sinister magic of the forest at night. Stories about witches and hungry wolves and beady-eyed raptors. Stories about darkness swallowing up all traces of goodness. Stories about the innocent entering into the woods never to be seen again. These stories are quickly followed up … Continue reading Otto Marseus van Shrieck, A Forest Floor Still Life, 1666
Artist: Steinway & Sons Title: Piano Bench Date: 1950s Culture: American Provenance: Gifted (along with piano) to EAH's mother in the 1950s by her father and then gifted to EAH by her father in 2017, after her mother's death. When my mother was a child—I'm fuzzy on exactly when—my grandfather bought her a baby grand … Continue reading No. 7: Piano Bench
Before it happened, I was stitching together the red-orange flower that would eventually find its home at the far edge of my quilt. I was bone tired after a day of cleaning and cooking and running after the children, and this was a special time of reflection. There is something divine in the devising of … Continue reading Rebecca Davis, Honeycomb Quilt, 1846
Artist: Unknown—Copy of Theophan the Greek Title: Copy of the Icon of the Donskoi Mother of God Date: Modern copy of 14th century icon Culture: Russian/Byzantine Provenance: Purchased as a souvenir by EAH by at the Donskoi Monastery in Moscow in 2011. In the spring of 2011, I visited Moscow for the first time in … Continue reading No. 6: Icon of the Donskoi Mother of God
Before the pump house was built, there was just a stretch of marshy, flat prairie. I was only thirteen when the crews moved in to build the place, but I can still remember games of tag with my brothers in the tall, humid grass that once grew there. Back then, before we were old enough … Continue reading A. E. Staley Pump House, 1919, Decatur, Illinois
Artist: Unknown Title: Key chain and bottle opener (formerly with Abba imagery) Date: Unknown (1970s–90s?) Culture: European or American Provenance: Given to EAH by Kevin O'Rourke on her twenty-second birthday (2002). Purchased by Kevin O'Rourke on eBay in 2001 or 2002. Original owner/provenance unknown. I sometimes like to say that I got my husband for … Continue reading No. 5: Key Chain and Bottle Opener
What is it about the desert that makes me feel so at peace? Maybe it is its subtle, sun-faded colors. Its boundlessness. The fact that it is at once monotonous and variegated. The way the rows upon rows of sagebrush slide out into the horizon, greens and silvers fading into silvers and tans. There are … Continue reading Agnes Martin, Flower in the Wind, 1963
Artist: The Woodknot Bookshop, Newport, Vermont Title: Bookmark Date: 1990s Culture: American Provenance: Tucked into a book purchased at the Woodknot Bookshop in Newport, Vermont. Most likely purchased by the parents of EAH as a gift. Is there anything more ordinary than those paper bookmarks that are slipped into the new book you're buying at … Continue reading No. 4: Bookmark
I am hard stone pulled from the earth. For millennia I was pressed and squeezed and heated. My universe was dark and compact. I was limestone, and then as the earth roiled and shifted around me, year after year, millennium after century after epoch, I became what you now see. A "metamorphic rock," a stunning … Continue reading Winged Victory of Samothrace, 220–185 BCE
Artist: Anne Alavi Title: Mix Tape Collection Date: 1990s Culture: American Provenance: Gifted to EAH by the artist Before we had digital playlists and Spotify and Apple Music, we had the mix tape. I recall making mix tapes for myself for special road trips or parties and also making them for other people as … Continue reading No. 3: Mix Tape Collection
Ellen A. Hurst 