Tuesday, July 06, 2010

an Ancient Walk....

As a child growing up in New England,
our schoolyards, churchyards,
and sometimes playgrounds
....were usually located near the vicinity of an olde graveyard...
it is from these places that I have, and continue to,
reap inspiration for my Folk Art...

my circle of friends & I would spend hours in the quiet, grassy knolls...
between new & decrepit headstones.


we would bring chalk and brown paper-bags
and create rubbings from them,...
proudly hanging them in our bedrooms as 'pop-art'.

...always fascinated by the skill of the stone-carvers' hands
and use of crude tools,
that would create such works of Mourning Art...

...we would read their epitaphs...
the dates, some as early as the late 1600's,
were beyond comprehention
to our still-young minds.

the ages of the Dearly Departed usually were very young,
but occasionally we would stumble
(literally)
upon a stone that told the age
of one-who-had-passed to be in their 60's...
a person who was considered to be a wise-sage in those times,
...and very well-respected.

As I travel back to Connecticut every year,
I now see that some of these tablets have been vandalized
by unscrupulous and uncaring persons,
and have since been moved to a permanent place
near the old graveyards' protective stone walls...

....faces in stone peering out to us,
forever keeping a watchful eye over our youth....

Blessings from the Farm,
Lori

22 comments:

Peggy Lee said...

I love these old cemeteries too! We visit them when we go to the New England states often.

Sherry )O( AutumnTurtle said...

my friend and I do this often Lori, wander the cemetaries loving the old stones and wondering on their lives, it pains me to see the damage some people do to these old markers! Very disrespectful to the person laying there below.
Blessings to them and their families!!

janeu729 said...

Love these pictures. Now I can see why you are fascinated with these stones. You were definitely imprinted with this time period!
Maybe your skills came from the energy of these places.

Farm Field Primitives said...

Thank you for sharing such a beautiful post. I just love the simplicity of those stones. Like you said....perfect inspiration.
~Melissa~

HomeSpunPrims said...

How fascinating to be able to see and study those stones in person Lori. Thanks for posting the pictures of them. I find them very interesting too.

primitivebettys said...

Those are so cool & so very interesting! Here in Kansas, the older headstones are not any older than about the 1850s. They are still interesting, but not nearly as elaborate as the ones you have shown.

Thanks for sharin'!

Smiles,

Betty

Sea Witch said...

Love this post. I also can spend well loved time visiting old cemetaries. One of my favorite things to do. I don't understand why people do this, it is like taking their spiritual homes from these souls...I just read of a group of vandals who knocked down over a 100 old gravestones. My heart just aches. Sea Witch

Kim said...

Great post. I often take a morning stroll through our local cemetary. It is so peaceful. I stop and pull weeds etc from family and friend graves. Its a great way to clear your head and remember what is important in life.
Kim

prims by olde lady morgan said...

LORI, love you blog. I have been reding it for quite sometime now. I too love old head stones and cemetaries. When we traveled many years ago to MA, we went to several old ones. Just love them! Have a great day. OLM

Linda said...

What beautiful markers, the carving are amazing. I too love old cemeteries and when we travel I love to stop and visit them...once I was poking around in one and came upon a snake,they scare me, anyway I did get some beautiful rubbings before I runnning to the car:)....hugs, Linda

Catherine said...

Thanks for sharing such great pictures!

Robin said...

I wanna go, when do we leave? My bags are still packed from vavcation!! Don't forget our trip to the City Cemetary soon.
(millstonemercantile)

Pams Fiber from Dream Come True Farm said...

I love our little cemetery that is here in our neighborhood. . It brings be comfort to stroll through it. I leave feeling at peace. I would like to paint it one day.

Pams Fiber from Dream Come True Farm said...

I'm sadened by the vandalized stones.

Cat Nap Inn Primitives said...

those headstones were so prim and wonderful to see...thanks for sharing.;)

Lee Morrison said...

Your pictures are amazing Lori! No wonder you get inspiration from such beautiful engravings. I've never seen grave stones this old. It is unfortunate that there are people out there that find the need to destroy things. It is truly sad.

Thanks for sharing!

Lee at FSP

Nan ~ Threadwork Primitives said...

Wow, so awesome. I have never seen anything like these headstones. I can't believe they used to be carved like this. What a cool post. Thanks for getting pics of these.
~Nan

Queen Of The Armchair aka Dzintra Stitcheries said...

Hi there...wow, how historic are those stones!!! Love your blog...Dzintra♥x

Finegan Antiques said...

I'm with you. Everytime I go East to visit my New England friends there is at least one or two cemetaries on my list to visit. So far my all time two favorites are the cemetary in Marblehead, Ma and Old Burial Hill Cementary in Plymouth, MA

Luv the pictures.

Donna

Lauralee @ The Eclectic Stitcher said...

What absolutely beautiful grave markers ~ I wish I could find some graveyards like that in my area ~ the old ones are mostly hidden in the woods, etc. on private property. Love the pictures!

diamondc said...

When we were young we went to an old cemetry on Halloween and scared each other we never thought of vandelizing anything.
I love your paintings I should go over to Ebay now.
Catherine

Lisa said...

I too love wandering through old graveyards. It makes me so sad to see the stupid things people do.

and Donna, I want to go to Old Burial Hill! One day~~