As my regular readers already know, I have a particular fondness for stones and bones, which I attribute to the DNA inherited from my great-great grandfather,
Palestine Hanna (1856-1938). Hoosier farm folk would bring him bones, and various Native American relics from miles around the tiny village of Burlington, Indiana, for his extensive collection, which he kept in a large handmade walnut cabinet.
It's our tradition to spend the Saturday after Thanksgiving at the opening of the Scott Antique Market at the Franklin County Fair grounds. This year, I was thrilled to find two racks of unmounted buck antlers, Ohio deer tags still intact. The seller was in a dickering mood, which adds to the thrill of the hunt. I adore their incredibly sensual natural beauty.
It's our tradition to spend the Saturday after Thanksgiving at the opening of the Scott Antique Market at the Franklin County Fair grounds. This year, I was thrilled to find two racks of unmounted buck antlers, Ohio deer tags still intact. The seller was in a dickering mood, which adds to the thrill of the hunt. I adore their incredibly sensual natural beauty.
Bones do have interesting shapes and compositions as do stones. I have never thought of them as sensual but your photos reveal a beauty that I've never notices before. Especially the two intertwining bones...they are like lovers wrapped in eachothers arms. Great post Tess. Sorry I've not passed by in a while. I have been oober busy in life. Have a wonderful weekend. I might even manage to write a Magpie now I have a little time up my sleeve again.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a bone collector myself (though I am fond of stones), but I love that photo of your great-great grandfather. He looka like the type of guy I would have enjoyed spending time with, just to hear him talk about the reasons for his love of bones and stones.
ReplyDeleteAntlers are something that are naturally shed so they don't spine-creep (negative feeling) as much as intact deer or moose heads.In fact bones do have an enormous sensual appeal. How your art pictures display such a sensual quality (people are sensuous things are sensual from Animal House; yah you remember the scene with Judge Wermer's wife and the vegetables). May I please ask a favour? Could you please describe the odd curiosity that I've found somewhat spine-tingly (a good feeling)? Where the bone pattern looks like two eyes where the "parts" should be? What exactly is that? A "blow up" (another reference to Zefrelli's movie "Blow Up". Haha! Photographers!
ReplyDeleteThis is still the best blog in the world. Willow Manor is a great place to chill out.
ReplyDeleteI find the tiny skeletons of mice, rats, and birds remind me of how fragile we are ourselves.
so amazing, truly....and you're so right..they are sexy
ReplyDeleteI don’t have an opinion about bones either way, but I do like how they sit in your photos. Great images.
ReplyDeleteMagnificent photography!
ReplyDeleteYour macro lens works like
lightning. Close ups can
and do create a form of
abstract art. Besides bones
and stones, I love ultra
close-ups of leather belts,
weapons, holsters, and
any kind of wood with
rich grain.
Chiccoreal is bang on
with the creepiness factor--
for at the base of the first
prong, the penal substitute,
there is a skull face, eyes,
nose, and pie hole.
Beautiful photos that are indeed incredibly sensual. Surprisingly so. Enjoyed the backstory of your great great grandfather as well. That time during which he lived was one of great discovery and change and it's cool he had the kind of mind that could relish it.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I see Woody Woodpecker, but not a skull. Maybe it's because I took the shots? I mean photos, not shots of anything intoxicating. Still, Woody Woodpecker is charmingly applicable.
ReplyDeletethe antlers look like lovers entangled
ReplyDelete"hapily ever antler"
willow - your photos get past the surface and find the sensual essence. steven
ReplyDeleteWillow, I will be honest. When I saw sexy, antlers were not what I expected! Nonetheless, great & unique post!
ReplyDeleteSarah
theweatheredword.blogspot.com
Tess, read about your great-great grandfather Palestine on your previous post. This man had to be interesting. Certainly this aspect of his interest is blended in you. Plus the sense of the dramatic and different. -- barbara
ReplyDeleteI don't share your fascination with stones and bones as such (although I like the words), but I can remember being a child, picking stones off the ground, bringing them home as treasures, to my mothers chagrin. And ones, me and a friend found some bones outback. Nothing as grand as antlers. Most likely they were parts of a bird skeleton. But these objects were all, at one time or another, imbued with special meaning and, above all, mystery. I don't have that sense today. I feel like I've lost something.
ReplyDeleteBy far one of the best blogs day in and day out. By coincidence I am from a town in Indiana named Hanna. I go through Burlington every time I go down to Indy. Again, I can't wait for your blogs to post.
ReplyDeleteGeorge, hello fellow Hoosier! I can't believe you know Burlington. I moved away from there when I was five, but my roots are still there! Palestine was the Postmaster of Burlington for years way back in the day. Thank you for your kind compliment.
ReplyDeleteOne day I was given a gift from my cat Buster Joseph. He brought me a mouse skeleton. I think he brought the whole mouse but got tired of waiting to be let in, so he ate the body. He left me the head, tail, feet and the body was picked clean save the bones. It was interesting.
ReplyDeleteI attend gem fairs and love fossels, bones and stones. Your photos are fabulous and deserve framing.
Tess,
ReplyDeleteHave I told you lately how much I like your photographs?
Your eye is interesting.
Trulyfool
What a find. And I love how you tied in another little nugget about your great great grandfather. I love hearing about him --
ReplyDeletethat is so cool! i love bones too...reminds me of those Georgia Okeeffe paintings of skulls and bones that she did out west...very beautiful are your pictures!
ReplyDeleteMy son loves bones of all sorts. Excellent macro shots.
ReplyDeleteWhat beautiful photos, Tess! You have such a good eye: they really are looking sinuous here!
ReplyDeleteThere is art in most things organic! You've accomplished it with bones in your photos!
ReplyDeleteI love bones too -- and our dogs bring us shed antlers now and then -- once a skull with antlers in place. Georgia O'Keefe is another who saw the sensuality in bones...
ReplyDeleteOkay, now I see a face in the last photo, in the crook of the horn at the top. Scary!!
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting way of looking at the artifacts. Quite lovely.
ReplyDeleteThe dogs often retrieve antlers from the woods, but it's always a rush to get to them before they are chewed.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite amongst our small collection is a mounted pair of GIANT wild boar tusks, that came from a beast that my late father-in-law shot in Turkey. Superb.
how wonderful, my g.grandfather x4 K.B Martin use to collect mammoth bones and keep them in a cabinet.
ReplyDeleteBones. Whichever way you see them - internal scaffolding or hidden architecture, they are, indeed, beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI just love antlers, they're one of my favourite objects.
ReplyDeleteThese photos are so beautiful...:))
I love bones, I love relics, and these beautiful ones in your photos feel especially totemic
ReplyDeletelaffin @ Rene.
ReplyDeleteNot to put to fine a point on it, but it don't mean nothin' if he ain't got the dough. Er, I mean doe. ;-)
I love your phrase "stones and bones" but I love the stones more than the bones. My love/hate relationship with deer gets in the way.
ReplyDeletei must confess
ReplyDeletei am too fond of all the same.
i really like them in interiors.
*my mom's house in maine is full of big game trophies.
xxx tis the season hugs
Yes, bones are sexy. :)
ReplyDeleteYou remind me of Georgia O'Keefe, with her piles of skulls on her NYC balcony.
I also love stones...and pinecones and shells and feathers but not so much bones - perhaps I just hadn't seen them as you obviously do. Your images are stunning. I am being completely serious here, you should do an entire series like this, title it "bones" and put it in a gallery. Gorgeous art.
ReplyDeleteInteresting purchase. What's the plan for their display?
ReplyDeleteJeanette, I love your idea. Thanks for the inspiration. If they don't get to a gallery, at least they can hang in the manor!
ReplyDeleteStevie, right now they are on the silverware cabinet in the dining room. I could hang them, but I like them displayed as they are.
ReplyDeleteYes, I share your love. There is something beyond words, and of course O'Keefe knew. It is hard to think of the sands of the desert, and New Mexico without thinking of O'Keefe. I think she was trying to share that unspeakable with us. Loved the post.
ReplyDeleteYes, I share your love. There is something beyond words, and of course O'Keefe knew. It is hard to think of the sands of the desert, and New Mexico without thinking of O'Keefe. I think she was trying to share that unspeakable with us. Loved the post.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely natural sculpture. I never thought of antlers that way until now.
ReplyDeleteOh Bone Collector...
ReplyDeleteStrong when young and so fragile when aged. Simplistic is the sense of beauty in the complexities of a mere single bone.
Abstract sculptural art in it's rarest and form.
Bones are fascinating....and so is your life and family Willow....(do you prefer to be called Tess or Willow?) I have been wanting to ask you that for a little while now. :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Carrie, I know, it's a bit confusing. When I started this blog nearly three years ago, I chose "Willow" as my avatar, but now that I want my real name to be attached to my poetry, I had to "come out", so to speak. Most people know me as Willow, and that's just fine. I answer to both.
ReplyDeleteI've got a collection of deer antlers from our time spent on the last horse farm. So thrilling to find in the woods before the mice get to them.
ReplyDeleteI'm reminded of Georgia O'Keefe!
ReplyDeleteHave an obsessions too. Designed a large house in Colorado with giant antler chandeliers, antler wall sconces, antler beds and log and stone walls. I'm in love with the look!
ReplyDeleteA real life Indiana Jones.
ReplyDeleteThose old bones are certainly sensual the way you protray them Willow... who'd of thunk?!
ReplyDeleteVery nice photos, you've captured the tactile appeal on the antlers perfectly.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI don't really share your fondness for bones (but stones, yes!) but must comment on your photography. Your blog in general has such interesting, artful, beautiful images. I was looking to see in your profile if you were a photographer but didn't see it in your description. You have a great eye for it.
ReplyDeleteGary, thank you! I must add photographer to my interests. How did I overlook it? I come from a long line of photographers, starting with my third great grandfather in the 1860s.
ReplyDeleteGary, I went to add photography to my profile and it was there, lurking under my interests. I wondered how I could have forgotten it! :)
ReplyDeletewhat a find those antlers were. are.
ReplyDeleteof course Georgia OKeefe popularized bones in some of her wonderful paintings. And in pictures of her New Mexico home, bones are a dominant artifact.
they do have a wonderful beauty.
my ex-husband now deceased carved a ham hock bone (he was southern and loved ham hocks and beans) into a ring for me. I wore it for years. my skin oils make it look like ivory after a few years. when we separated I threw the ring into the fire. and regretted it later.
Fantastic find, Tess,
ReplyDeletecaptured in beautiful light!
Ah, so it is! I suppose given your photos it merits large font or something that would make it stand out :) Well, glad we both found it.
ReplyDeleteI would love to have peeked in your gg grandfather's cabinet. I collect arrowheads...there is just something about the smoothness & beauty of the stone.
ReplyDeleteLove dem bones.
ReplyDeleteGREAT pics today, Willow.
Those bones look so organic...Lovely photos Tess!
ReplyDeleteMy son collects bones and antlers. Not sure he finds them sexy, but rather enthralling. (He's eight.) Yesterday he found a large piece of shale on a walk through the woods that he brought home to prop a skull on.
ReplyDelete(Used to live around-ish Franklin. Germantown, Ohio and east Dayton as well. Kind of feels as though I know someone better when I hear familiar locations. Although, that's kind of akin to being overseas and stumbling into someone who says, Oh, you're from Canada, you must know so and so. Ha!)
xo
erin
Lovely photos.
ReplyDeleteI never thought of antlers that way.
hmmm