Barbara Lydecker Crane
Threat
Clouds over the Castle, 1939, Gabriele Münter (Germany)
May those in power miss the larger threat
I paint in dark claws of clouds that beset
our peaceful mountain town of Murnau.
"It's folklore," I glibly fabricate, "how
this cloud with bird-like head and upraised wings
suggests a griffin. That magic creature brings
courage and strength." Our officials nod
each time I add, "It's an ancient reminder of God."
With that I touch the tiny cross I wear
these days, a talisman and fervent prayer.
May it protect me from the current claws
snatching some and stifling many: laws
that throttle freedom, strangle art's expression.
To Nazis, most of modern art's transgression.
They see the Fauves as Bolshevik or Jewish;
I see the Nazis as predators and brutish.
To sell my work, I have to paint in code
the cloud and shadow darkening the road.
Narrows
Fjord with a Steamer, c.1900, Elisabeth Gruttefien-Kiekebusch (Germany)
For years I’ve sailed to Norway every June,
up to the fjords that slice the mammoth cliffs
in splendid mirror image. I sigh and swoon
to paint today the distant steamer and skiff
that ply this narrow finger of the sea.
I’d gladly live in Norway’s mountains if,
back in Berlin, my parents did not need me.
Their only daughter, I am duty-bound
to care for them, and now they’re elderly.
Will I paint here again? I hear the sound
of the rumbling engine as this steamer nears,
and shiver in the glow of my surround.
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
| Brittany Vogel is an award-winning, New Jersey-based painter known for her bold color and beautifully expressive line. Her Powerful Women series has struck a chord well beyond the gallery walls, earning inclusion in multiple exhibitions including a Monmouth Museum x Smithsonian Exhibition and coverage in numerous press outlets, including Yahoo! News and feature spreads in TapInto and 07030 Magazine.
Vogel's work lives in public spaces as much as private collections. She created a 12-foot interactive mural, Suffragists Marching, in the Columbus Circle subway station, and has delivered artist talks at the Bruce Museum and the Hoboken Historical Museum. Her achievements include the competitive Merit Scholarship from the Art Students League of New York and features in three consecutive Monmouth Museum Annual Juried Exhibitions. She has mounted solo shows of both her Powerful Women and Order vs. Chaos series in New York City and New Jersey.
Whether she's covering a subway wall or a canvas, Vogel's aim is the same: command attention from across the room, then reward a closer look with a rich, layered story worth lingering over.
Brittany continues to paint, exhibit, and expand the Powerful Women series from her studio in Hoboken, New Jersey, adding new women and new stories to the collection.
For additional information, please visit www.BrittanyVogelArt.com.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
