sliver moon
A thin sliver of moon hung in the sky as dawn broke over Dublin this morning. I’d thrown the curtains open, eager to soak in the southern rays I hoped would arrive.
And arrive they did! In the full glory of God, the universe, and all that is good in the world.
This, my friends, is what Glen McClure calls “God-light.”
And all is good in my corner of the world today.
grlorious rays of morning
Dave and I put the final touches on our secret Santa project today.
Dave’s weekend was much more exciting than mine… I’ve been chained to my laptop writing all weekend. He went to two fun-looking holiday parties and so did Lucy and Matt.
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A fascinating discussion at the Embassy tonight.
An action-packed evening here in Dublin. After a fascinating discussion from an editor of Politico, I dashed across town in time to snag a seat at the Gate Theater for the play My Cousin Rachel.
It’s a stirring tale of that reminds us of the tragedy of assuming the worst in others when they’ve given no real reason for skepticism. It’s so beautifully written that you struggle along with the protagonist until the very end.
Fortunately for me, it’s easy to find one unclaimed seat even in a full theater house. On Monday nights at the Gate, all seats are bargain priced at €25. More than I usually pay for a seat in Dublin, but an opportunity to visit another famous play house and experience theatrical delight. Oh, and tragedy. Plenty of tragedy.
The highlight of my evening was meeting the folks from London who sat next to me–Diane and Lawrence Hanlon. Their family is Irish, dropped the O’ in front of Hanlon at some point, and must be related to Tom Mulligan. And thus me! 🙂
Gotta love the three degrees of separation in the isles!
Please take a moment to admire Lawrence’s beautiful tractor tie, which evidentially references Hertfordshire, an agricultural county, in some way. What it references for me is Dave’s dad, the late Gordon Chance, tractor mechanic extraordinary, who loved tractor memorabilia and travelled the world with his photographer son. Good memories.
A tragic play, showing at Dublin’s Gate theater.
My theater mates, Diane and Lawrence Hanlon. What a fabulous tie!!!!
Scene design for the second half.
You can view the whole set of boards I produced after our one-week trip by clicking here.
Here are some photos of the exhibit that my Hampton University architecture students assembled after our 2008 spring break trip to Prague. In addition to the exhibit, we also delivered a lecture on campus and another for the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Those talks were about the urban issues each of us studied on our one-week trip.
With the help of Lenka Schulzova, an alumna of our program who was born in the Czech Republic, I’d planned an itinerary that included lots of warm spaces inside where we could draw (Prague is chilly in March) as well as outside spaces.
It was truly amazing how this group came together during this trip. Everyone on the trip embraced the challenge to practice sketching as much as possible. Daisy Williams (a truly amazing teacher who is now working at the University of Oregon) provided instruction on drawing before and during the trip.
Each day of our trip, the students eagerly explored the city. They frequently asked to stop to make sketches. And they enthusiastically discussed and critiqued each other’s work. We developed so much skill and knowledge during this trip! And we brought what we learned home to share with others.
Prague is remarkable in that so many grand, public spaces are available indoors. It also has lovely courtyards embedded inside the blocks of streets. This is the case in many cities, but in Prague the courtyards are often accessible to the general public — which is a great treat for visitors and residents alike!
Discovering all this, I titled my series of boards “insideout|side spaces” and described different qualities of these Czech spaces on each board.
The modernism of Jože Plečnik.
Cubism is one of the aspects that makes Prague’s skyline so energetic. I’ve uploaded a gallery of boards I made following the week-long study abroad program I organized to the Czech city.
The travel group was energetic, too. We had such fun sketching and learning. I asked each traveller study one specific aspect of the urban environment. My own assignment was to capture characteristics unique to Prague.
I made these boards for the exhibit our group posted in Hampton University’s Bemis Laboratories building. We also presented the work at the Hampton Roads AIA Pecha Kucha Night.
Ireland by Chance 