Saturday, January 23, 2010

the gift from the manor


not long before christmas
a gift arrived


an oleg cassini crystal paperweight!

in my letter of thanks
i included a commitment -
to photograph the crystal through the seasons.

here then
is winter.



my blessings and gratitude willow!!!

34 comments:

Kathleen said...

What lovely gestures, both of me. I don't know why, maybe you can explain, but this reminds me of the Golden Compass. I love the stark contrasts and the magnificent prism effect. Ah, blog friendships are a blessing indeed.

Dave King said...

What a wonderful image it makes. It stirs the imagination in all kinds of directions. My first thought was a space ship!

Shaista said...

Wow, that is so beautiful!! A stunning present from the Lady at the Manor, but I think you are matching beauty for beauty with your clever photography and placement of light. Crystallised perfection :)

steven said...

hello kathleen - it's a very large piece and its colour makes it stand out wherever it is. i thought that in the company of the winter grasses, it might find a space in which it more closely belonged. thanks for your thoughtful comment!! steven

steven said...

dave it does have an otherworldly aspect to it! steven

steven said...

hello shaista - yes i couldn't believe my fortune! thankyou for your kind comment. i hope that visitors here know to click on any of the photographs as i upload them all in their original form and size!! have a lovely day shaista. steven

Eryl said...

I love that bottom picture, it looks like it's carving a path through the snow.

Barry said...

The crystal in the snow immediately arrests your attention and fires up the imagination.

Congratulations on receiving such a beautiful gift from Willow.

The Weaver of Grass said...

My guess is that each season it will look totally different. I think it will be hard to better the crystal in the snow though.

Tess Kincaid said...

Oh, Steven, these photos are magnificent. I gasped out loud when I saw the snowy one! May I take it back to the manor with me? You are entirely welcome, dear friend. xx

Reya Mellicker said...

The photos are exquisite! You are the perfect recipient of this beautiful piece.

Thanks for sharing it with us through the seasons!

Golden West said...

A lovely gift! It will be fun to photograph it in different circumstances, as I'm sure its look alters easily.

Jenny Stevning said...

Steven...wow...

nollyposh said...

~Beautiful~ X:-)

Linda Sue said...

A shard of frozen sunshine on the frozen earth.

Dan Gurney said...

The crystal at the apex of the ice triangle calls to mind a star topping a holiday tree. Wonderful photo, wonderful gift shared widely.

steven said...

hello eryl - i see that! cool perspective eryl. steven

steven said...

hello barry - when i took the photograph i was torn between what i saw and what i imagined i was seeing. it's interesting that the comments here are similarly torn. i feel so fortunate to receive the gifts i receive simply by visiting the pages of my bloggy friends but this was an extraordinary gift! have a lovely day brarry. steven

Barb said...

Its golden glow enhances its frosty environment. It casts a very long shadow. Lovely!

steven said...

hello weaver - i haven't got anything planned for the three seasons yet to come. i'll know when it happens!!! steven

steven said...

ahhh willow thankyou for thst and of course anyone can "take" the photographs and do what they wish with them. however, i'll end you a copy. thankyou again for the cool gift! steven

steven said...

hey reya - i was so surprised!!! i am really looking forward to seeing the setting for the spring picture - heck i'm really looking forward to spring but you know me - i'm here in this moment and enjoying it for all it's worth!! have a lovely dc day. steven

steven said...

golden west - i think you're right but we'll have to wait and see. have a lovely warm westcoast day! steven

steven said...

hello jenny stevning - thankyou. i'm so glad you liked these. steven

steven said...

hi nollyposh!!! thankyou. i'm very fortunate!!! steven

steven said...

linda sue - that's beautifully expressed. steven

steven said...

dan thankyou it really does have that top of the tree feeling. my daughter wished that it was a giant diamond!!! i'm looking forward to seeing what happens in the next three seasons. have a peaceful day. steven

steven said...

hello barb!! i took the top photo in my back garden - i loved the angle of the sun and it did cast a long shadow!! the second picture was taken about three hundred metres from here near a farm. a small stream runs there - it's frozen over now as it's been cold the last few days - the animals use the stream for a watersource so i looked for a spot where they hadn't left their pawprints. have a lovely day. steven

hope said...

That looks like crystalized sunshine rising out of winter. :)

steven said...

hello hope - amazingly we've had sun the last three days here and it's been an absolute blessing - truly it has! most winters we are covered with cloud for months on end it seems and people become very sad and depressed even. i'm glad that you can see the goodness in this picture. steven

Ladrón de Basura (a.k.a. Junk Thief) said...

What a wonderful gift from Willow. I've recently had the privilege of "meeting" her in blog land and consider it an omen for more good things in 2010. Your photos of the crystal in the snow matched with the words are magical. It reminds me of a visit to Quebec in "autumn" (bleak winter in California terms) years ago that was blissful. I miss such intense weather somtimes.

Acornmoon said...

What a beautiful gift from a great blog.

steven said...

hello ladron! i feel incredibly fortunate, that's for sure! autumn in quebec - well yes it could be intense depending on the year. i wonder what kind of weather you experienced? thanks for visiting. have a peaceful day. steven

steven said...

hello valerie, when it first arrived my daughter thought it would be cool if it was a massive ring! shows where her head's at!! i'm going to have some fun fulfilling my promise to willow to find some place each season to show this off. have a lovely day. steven