Spiderwebs, Katherine Paterson, and Words to Ponder

late September morning 2018

"A friend of mine who writes history books said to me that he thought that the two creatures most to be pitied were the spider and the novelist--their lives hanging by a thread spun out of their own guts. But in some ways I think writers of fiction are the creatures most to be envied, because who else besides the spider is allowed to take that fragile thread and weave it into a pattern? What a gift of grace to be able to take the chaos from within and from it to create some semblance of order." --Katherine Paterson

The spiderweb that revealed itself in the morning light the other day sparkled and begged to be photographed--which I was happy to oblige. Later, curiosity prompted me to seek out words and ideas that might have been written comparing spiderwebs to the writer. I was not disappointed. Ms. Paterson expresses the thought magnificently in the above quote--that of taking fragile threads (our ideas) and weaving them into a beautiful pattern, and creating order from internal chaos. What a great way to describe the challenges a writer faces. Love it!

Ironically, I'm currently reading one of Katherine Paterson's books: Gates of Excellence, On Reading and Writing Books for Children, a classic first published in 1981. We know Ms. Paterson best as author of the Newbery Medal winners Bridge to Terabithia and Jacob Have I Loved, and Newbery Honor Book  The Great Gilly Hopkins. Overall she has written more than thirty books, sixteen of them for children. Along the way she has graciously shared insights from her life and experiences. For example...

On Writing Novels:

"A novel is not born of a single idea," she is quoted as saying. "The stories I've tried to write from one idea, no matter how terrific an idea, have sputtered out and died by chapter three. For me, novels have invariably come from a complex of ideas that in the beginning seemed to bear no relation to each other, but in the unconscious began mysteriously to merge and grow. Ideas for a novel are like the strong guy lines of a spider web. Without them the silken web cannot be spun." (See, there's the spider web again!)

On Reading:

"Read for fun, read for information, read in order to understand yourself and other people with quite different ideas. Learn about the world beyond your door. Learn to be compassionate and grow in wisdom. Books can help us in all these ways."

"The gift of creative reading, like all natural gifts, must be nourished or it will atrophy. And you nourish it, in much the same way you nourish the gift of writing--you read, think, talk, look, listen, hate, fear, love, weep--and bring all of your life like a sieve to what you read. That which is not worthy of your gift will quickly pass through, but the gold remains."

On Life:

"What I have come to believe is that joy is the twin sister of gratitude. I am most joyful when I am most grateful."

"It seems to me that there are two great enemies of peace--fear and selfishness."

"You don't have to fight dragons to write books. You just have to live deeply the life you've been given."

And to think all of these thoughts and words-to-ponder grew out of one simple unassuming spiderweb that twinkled its way into the day and awakened us to a moment of beauty. It was a good day.

Any one quote by Ms. Paterson that resonates the most with you?

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Ansel Adams and September's Inspiration

Half Dome, Merced River, Winter, by Ansel Adams, a print (Amazon) 

"I knew my destiny when I first experienced Yosemite." --Ansel Adams

We finally made it, hubby and I, to the Ansel Adams exhibit at Cincinnati's Taft Museum before the exhibit's closing date. We would have missed a great treat if we had let this one slip from our fingers. I've always admired the iconic black-and-white photos of nature, particularly of our national parks, that Mr. Adams is famous for, but to try and absorb the genius, beauty, and compelling images all assembled in one place as these were, was a tremendous opportunity.

Cincinnati Taft Museum

Ansel Adams, A Photographer's Evolution was on view at the Cincinnati Taft Museum most of the summer, ending September 16. Billed as a showcase of a career-spanning collection of the photographer's work, the display attempted to "trace the evolution of Adams' magnificent style," beginning with rare early scenes from the 1920s and progressing to later prints he made shortly before his death (source). "Spanning the photographer's entire career," words displayed for the visitor at the beginning of the tour stated, "this exhibition reveals Adams as a poet of light both in the field and in the darkroom." The exhibit featured 42 of these marvelous photographs. Mesmerizing and instructional at the same time. Image poet and photographer in the same package. I loved it.

Ansel Adams (1902-1984), photographer and environmentalist, was born in San Francisco. He experienced the aftershocks of San Francisco's great earthquake as a four-year old in 1906. He contracted the Spanish Flu during the 1918 flu pandemic and became seriously ill, taking several months to recover. He aspired at first to a musical career after years of studying the piano. But ultimately, after his father gave him his first camera, a Kodak Brownie box camera, after his first visit to Yosemite National Park in 1916, he turned to photography as his passion and purpose. "The splendor of Yosemite," he wrote of his first view of the valley, "burst upon us and it was glorious...One wonder after another descended upon us...There was light everywhere...A new era began for me" (source).

And so, as I often do, I took a look at this man, Ansel Adams, and what he might have left behind in words as well as art. Highlights of my discoveries:

--"Suddenly I saw what photography could be: a tremendously potent, pure art form, and austere and blazing poetry of the real."

--"Photography is not only what you see, but also what you feel."

--"When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence."

--"How high your awareness level is determines how much meaning you get from your world. Photography can teach you to improve your awareness level."

--"I can look at a fine art photograph and sometimes I can hear music."

--"Today we must realize that nature is revealed in the simplest meadow, wood lot, marsh, stream, or tidepool, as well as in the remote grandeur of our parks and wilderness areas."

--"I hope that my work will encourage self expression in others and stimulate the search for beauty and creative excitement in the great world around us."

--"Life is your art. An open, aware heart is your camera. A oneness with your world is your film. Your bright eyes and easy smile is your museum."

And finally, a quote we writers can identify with:

--"One of the most important pieces of equipment, for the photographer who really wants to improve, is a great big wastepaper basket."

"In 1975," the exhibit noted, Adams "ceased making fine art prints for the open market. He selected 70 negatives he saw as his most important works--known collectively as the Museum Set--and began printing them for placement in museums." Six images in the Taft's gallery were among the 70 Adams selected, chosen from a field of over 2500 photographs attributed to his seven-decade career (source). What an agonizing process that must have been, to narrow such a wide range of images into only a few dozen for display. How does one choose one equally beautiful photograph over another?

September's inspiration: Ansel Adams, photography, poetry in photography, beauty in our world, dedication, passion. What artist--photography or other medium--inspires you? What has been September's inspiration for you so far?

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