The heat has lifted, and a cool breeze is blowing in off the coast. There is a reprieve from the intensity of late summer. All day a steady stream of traffic barrelled south, back toward the city. To concrete, to offices and schools, to the rush of crowds and public transport. It's as though the … Continue reading Edward Hopper, Gas, 1940
Artist: Unknown. (Possibly Anchor Hocking Milano Lido? Morgantown Glass Company? Seneca Glass Company?) Title: Amber Crinkle Glass Date: 1950s or 1960s Culture: American Provenance: Presumably purchased new by the grandfather of EAH some time mid-century. Gifted to EAH by her grandfather around 2002. My grandfather, born the seventh of fourteen in a small town … Continue reading No. 2: Amber Crinkle Glass
I am one of three who toils on this page. We are brothers in the scriptorium of Iona. Our abbey is on a windy and wet promontory. Isolated. An ideal place to contemplate our Heavenly Father, the Trinity, the Gospel. This morning, after tending the kitchen fires, I came to the scriptorium as I do … Continue reading Chi Rho Iota Page, The Book of Kells, 800
This object, which I first discussed on my blog several years ago, is the first "catalogue entry" in my new project, Catalogue. Artist: Pottery Barn Title: Slipcovered Sofa Date: 2003 Culture: American Provenance: Purchased by EAH directly from Pottery Barn in 2003. Gifted to the Philadelphia Charity Uhuru Furniture in 2015. I recently found a … Continue reading No. 1: Slipcovered Sofa
Three years ago today was the worst day of my life. I had flown to my parents' home to travel back to Seattle with my ailing mother, as my parents were moving to Seattle. Even though she was quite ill, we had hope that she would continue her treatment in Seattle and have some more … Continue reading Personal Totems
In retrospect, I'm pretty sure the whole reason I majored in art history was because I saw art as a portal into other worlds. I loved looking at incredible images that evoked mood and told about the history of art and so on and so forth. But I always felt (and still do) that a … Continue reading The Last Tavern at the City Gates
A few days ago, I thought to myself, you know, our planet is on the brink of destruction. I should stop naval gazing and devote every last thing I write (not to mention every last thing I do in the real world) to the cause of our planet. Maybe it will do some good in … Continue reading Impotent Rage
M. Elizabeth Price, AKA Mary Elizabeth Price, was a prominent American painter in the early twentieth century. And yet I hadn't heard of her, nor do I remember ever seeing her work until I stumbled upon her Flower Border II (undated) quite by accident on the internet a few weeks ago. The work struck me … Continue reading M. Elizabeth Price
Among the culturally uncool things I love is the widely mocked 1994 movie Legends of the Fall. It gets a 57 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, which constitutes a "splat," with reviewers calling it melodramatic, silly, bloated, and a soap-opera romance. But 87 percent of the general audience (and a few film critics too) enjoyed it. … Continue reading Melodramatic, Silly, and Bloated, but Oh So Good
Let me start by saying that I adore museums. For me they are spiritual and meditative places. I don't mean that to sound corny. I'm not shivering with awe when I step into a museum; it's just that they help to take me outside of myself and my everyday problems. At the same time, they … Continue reading Sometimes you need to de-museum your art.
Ellen A. Hurst 