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mandy-m-andersen.bsky.social
@mandy-m-andersen.bsky.social
270 followers 160 following 310 posts
International nomad.
Travel, collecting museums, photography, volunteering, writing, and researching family history. 🇨🇦🇬🇧🇺🇸
Happily married to the same man for 36 years.

All photos are my own unless otherwise indicated (eg. reposts), and copyrighted.
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mandy-m-andersen.bsky.social
Rounding to the 10th day of #ArtAdventCalendar, my ‘London’ creation was a two-for.

#ArtAdventCalendar #semi-precious #abalone #opal #onyx ##lavarock #necklace #anklet #goldstone #jewelry

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To reflect the excitement and sometimes glitz of time spent in London, I created this necklace and coordinating anklet. For the necklace I used faceted opal discs, black onyx beads, silver electroplated heishi lava rock discs, and Abalone shell beads. The symmetrical necklace from the small silver lobster-claw fastener descends around the neck in the following pattern: single onyx, silver lava spacer, twelve onyx, single opal, five onyx, single opal, five onyx, four opal, seven onyx to the center focal. Center-front focal is comprised of four heart-shaped abalone shell beads - two sets of two with a single silver lava spacer - creating the appearance of either two iridescent butterflies or bow-ties. They are separated by one onyx. The anklet is used in an alternating pattern of the same onyx beads but partnered with faceted deep blue [appearing black] goldstone discs and regularly interspersed with the same silver lava heishis.
December 10, 2025 at 12:23 PM
mandy-m-andersen.bsky.social
Some #stars for #ArtAdventCalendar day 9.

#Moravian #geometry #BlueSky #EastCoastKin #tradition #origami #creativity #Advent #DIY #Herrnhut #Christmas

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In this picture there are 3 origami-folded Moravian or Herrnhut stars - one large purple, and two smaller white ones. The largest is about 8” across, and the smaller about 5”. They are 3-dimensional with 16 points. They sit on a wooden floor in front of a glass door to the outside. Leafless trees can be seen in the background. Nearly 200 years ago in Saxony, Germany, a math teacher in a Moravian school created a star for his students to demonstrate geometric principles. That star went on to be known as the Moravian star, and today is hung in homes across Europe, during Advent, Christmas and Epiphany. These softly glowing stars in windows or hung from eaves, porches, and balconies, can represent different things to each of us. In the mid-winter celebration of light, the star can be a comforting reminder of brighter days to come. ******** A nomadic lifestyle of traveling ‘light’ means limited resources to spruce-up for Christmas [spruce up . . . get it?! Sorry - couldn’t resist.] As such, the Christmas season has become a bit of a decorative non-event, but last year in Dresden we kept seeing hundreds of these multi-pointed stars hanging from balconies, trees, doorways, bell-towers, and I got to thinking - I wonder if there’s an instruction book? And so these were born. This picture is a vignette of another Moravian star I folded - in a golden yellow.
December 9, 2025 at 9:06 PM
mandy-m-andersen.bsky.social
Day 8 of the #ArtAdventCalendar, and this is my ‘Norfolk Coast’ necklace, inspired by an extended stay in deep ancestral areas of East Anglia, in the UK.

Ongoing learning process.

#art #creativity #jewelry #beading #survivorship #artglass #semi-precious #metallic #lapislazuli

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As a nomad living ‘out of my suitcase', I am restricted to a small cache of supplies, and hopefully components purchased or ‘found’ [existing pieces I break up to repurpose] at different stops along the way. This blue, silver, green and pink design has the focal interest situated on the forward-facing half of the necklace. Using tiny faceted lapis lazuli beads [purchased in Norwich, UK] strung from a lobster-claw fastener at the back, the length continues with spaced art-glass beads in two different shapes [from an amazing creative re-purposing non-profit in Portland, Oregon]. They are of clear glass with random translucent bands of blue, pink, and green. Of the beads, four are a tear-drop shape the size of a thumbnail, and four are a barley-twist shape, the size of a pinkie thumbnail. The glass beads are interspersed with the same small lapis lazuli beads as earlier in the design, and silver electroplated lava-rock spacers, and then at three evenly-spaced spots in the focal section, there are single, solid metal cylinder beads in metallic royal-blue [from a store in Leipzig]. The blue sea and skies of the Norfolk coast, along with the rich greens and wild blossoms of local vegetation were my inspiration for this piece. Surprisingly - I find I wear this the most often.
December 8, 2025 at 9:45 AM
mandy-m-andersen.bsky.social
One of the joys of a culture that respects history is the wealth of #architecture for education and enjoyment by all.

A summer #Stunday scene from Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, UK.

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#Tewkesbury #BlueSkyphotography #photography #UK #Tudor #waterway #EastCoastKin #history
A sunny day - with blue-sky and white cumuli clouds featuring in the top quarter of the image, behind a magnificent old Tudor building at the end of a row of historical buildings - sitting quayside on the River Avon. The second story of the building has the iconic half-timbered black posts with light-colored stucco between. The windows on this floor are not deep. The windows on the ground floor are taller. In the steep-pitched roof, there are two simple dormer windows. The older chimney stack at the front has four flues. This building appears to be at least two residences, being that there are two brown wooden front doors raised from the street by several steps. In front of the building are two full rose bushes in bloom. This corner view of the building shows that there is great depth. There are also two main doors on the side of the building, so it would be reasonable to think there might be multiple residences within. The blocky chimney on this side is more modern. Next to this large building there are smaller, old dwellings possibly of same period, with steep roofs and whitewashed walls with dark timbers. This view is taken from an adjacent mill (barely visible on the edge of the image) on the Severn Way (pedestrian crossing) across the river. The lower half of the image is about the river which is largely occupied at this spot by rushes and water-lily pads in the foreground, and behind them, moored to the quayside beneath the Tudor building, is a small pleasure boat. Also barely visible is a corner tower of Tewkesbury Abbey up towards the right corner of the photograph.
December 7, 2025 at 7:33 PM
mandy-m-andersen.bsky.social
Another of a series, for #ArtAdventCalendar

#ArtAdventCalendar #art #creativity #creative-passion #color #contrasts #shadowplay #lightinthedarkness #BlueSkyArt #EastCoastKin #photography #abstract

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An abstract photograph of a rainbow-hued ribbon and a white one, twisting in the air against a black background. They cross the frame from the top left corner down to the lower right of the frame. In places, the way they have twisted makes it difficult to see where either ribbon begins or ends - the color and light each lending to the other in harmony. Where the light catches the white ribbon brightest - it reflects in a scattering of iridescent fibrous flecks. The deep black background offers a perfect canvas of contrast for the almost lightning-bolt of twisted color across its expanse.
December 7, 2025 at 12:13 PM
mandy-m-andersen.bsky.social
#ArtAdventCalendar #art #creativity #jewelry #cancer-survivor #beading #survivorship
Several years ago I started making my own jewelry. Fast forward a few years, after surviving breast cancer, I decided to making shorter pieces to remind who I am, rather than what I had lost.

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As a slow-traveling, international nomad, I like to make at least one piece as a memento of each place we linger. This black, silver, and sky-blue necklace is called ‘Tirana’ after a multi-month stay in Albania. Unfortunately, a mishap on the first evening there landed me in the ER, with a bashed knee, two sprained wrists and double black eyes. Consequently, I chose elements for this necklace to remind me of that time: black lava rock [for the close-encounter my face-plant on the ground]; silver electroplated lava rock to represent the Albanian silver jewelry industry; and robin’s egg blue glass beads [cubes, faceted rounds, and ombre balls on wires] for the amazing blue skies we experienced nearly every day. The necklace pattern is of round black lava beads, interspersed with blue glass beads, and silver-colored lava spacers. In the middle-section at the front of the necklace, I have repurposed components of a second-hand bracelet of individually wired, ombre light blue beads, and spaced them with more silver lava-rock spacers. You may think it odd to create a reminder of a painful experience, but the smile I get when I look at it reminds me of the kindness of the strangers who came to our aid, and changed a difficult memory into something better.
December 5, 2025 at 12:34 AM
mandy-m-andersen.bsky.social
Four days late to the #ArtAdventCalendar, I’d love to participate by sharing some of my favorites that make me smile.
#creativity #color #art #photography #BlueSky #EastCoastKin #abstract-photography #contrasts #shadowplay

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An abstract photograph of two ribbons dancing against a black background. Both curve from the bottom of the frame, up and over to exit the right of the image. The ribbon on the left is a rainbow ombre and the other white. The dramatic play against the background enhances the curves and twists of shadow-play on the ribbons.
December 4, 2025 at 12:25 AM
mandy-m-andersen.bsky.social
Rocks on #Stunday

#Germany #Saxony #Bastei #BirdsEyeView #rocks #photography #landscapephotography #BlueSky #EastCoastKin #landscape #nature

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An amazing rock formation in Saxony, Germany is the Bastei (“bastion”) - 636 feet above the Elbe River. This particular photo features the pinnacles at one end of the formation, like fingers reaching upward to the sky. On closer examination, but may not be possible to see on the BlueSky rendering, are tiny people standing on the top of the nearest pillar, and some at vantage points at the top of the rocks behind. This view is taken from another promontory of the Bastei - looking down on the adjacent pillars as a bird’s-eye view — giving an idea of just how high this towering formation is. We cannot see the ground in this image as the trees growing up from the valley floor, in their green-, amber- and russet-turning foliage, crowd the adjacent rock massive - almost like a dense barrier to a towering defense wall which–in fact–was a purpose it served for the mid 1700s rock Neurathen Castle (of which little now remains). In 1938 the Bastei became the first nature reserve in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains.* [See link below]. In the far distance we see forested hills in on the horizon in the late Autumn afternoon.
November 30, 2025 at 10:46 PM
mandy-m-andersen.bsky.social
Snapshot of a moment in time in #Baja #warmth even though I know I missed the deadline for the #BlueSkyArtShow; I had this lined up - and then forgot to post.

#LaPaz

#Mexico
#beachvolleyball
#sports
#paddleboard
#athletes
#photography
#EastCoastKin
This is my spectator side-on, action shot near the net line at the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour a couple of years ago in La Paz, Baja California Sur in Mexico. Across the image at first third down, the view of the sandy beach volleyball court [in the lower two thirds] is bordered by a temporary 5 foot high purple wall displaying white logo advertisements for the tour sponsors. At the top of the purple wall is a pedestrian walkway, supporting an art installation comprised of free-standing, blocky, artfully-decorated letters spelling ‘LA PAZ’. It’s a common public art form found in many cities. There are two, blue-shirted referees - one standing on the yellow-draped referee stand at the net, and three of the four players (in two-piece competition suits) in this women’s game are close to the net. One player, in the middle of the photo, is suspended in mid-air, with her right arm in mid arc before striking the ball which is camouflaged to the viewer by the arty ‘A’ of the La Paz art installation in the background. Above the purple wall and the arty LA PAZ letters, the rest of the image is of the calm La Paz bay in the background, broken only by a single paddle-boarder standing on his board trying to watch the game (which looks kind of difficult at that angle).
November 30, 2025 at 9:45 PM
mandy-m-andersen.bsky.social
#Scape #landscape #BlueSky #photographers-of-Blue-Sky #steam-locomotives #golf #English-landscape #Norfolk-coast #lazy-days #bygone-era #train-spotting

A #summer memory
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A deciduous forest marks the horizon of this summer pastoral view captured near the north Norfolk coast in England. The landscape harks back to a bygone era due to a locomotive pulling five burgundy and cream, curtained coaches across the middle horizontal line of the photo, trailing snowy white clouds of billowing steam, as it heads toward the small town of Sheringham. An open-scape golf course occupies most of the swath of close-cropped, natural-green grass - making up two thirds of the view in front of the viewer, who stands on a gentle slope looking down a shallow slope toward the train tracks in the distance. In the middle foreground, we see three relaxed golfers with their golf push carts as they make their way around the circuit. Interspersed within the green expanse are large growths of gorse - in its flaming seasonal yellow display - those cheerful summer blossoms hiding vicious thorns.
November 28, 2025 at 8:29 PM
mandy-m-andersen.bsky.social
An #Evening stroll through the park as the sun drops toward sunset
#BlueSkyArtShow #EastCoastKin #Norwich #England #Spring #photography #parks #silhouette #shadows #goldenhour #public-art #bandstands
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An early evening view through the park towards the west. This is Chapelfield Gardens in Norwich, UK. The viewer stands at the T-intersection of the pathways. It’s May and the leaves are bright green, as is the grass. However, because of the low sun in the distance beyond the park, color is retreating into shadows. There are two trees in the foreground: on the left we see the young leaves with still much light and space between the branches. On the right, nearer the viewer, is an already flush large tree with branches that reach out over the path that passes between the trees. At this Golden Hour, this tree is now almost completely in silhouette. Near the tree on the left, and beside the path where it takes a corner from the left, is a large cement ball on a flat plinth. There is no sign, and so it is difficult to know if it’s a deterrent for bicycles cutting the corner across the grass, or an artistic element added for fun. In the middle of the image, further along the path, we see two individuals walking away into the ‘almost sunset’, approaching a large central circular open space. This is where community meets. Soon, on the left, they will pass a quiet, white-pillared bandstand, wrapped with an X-design balustrade, and encircled by luxuriant flowerbeds. It's topped with a red-tiled, peak-roof - and is, again, topped with a louvre-paneled cupola, with it’s own echoing miniature red-peaked roof. Around the edge of the large open circle there are regularly spaced benches facing the bandstand; here people gather to enjoy entertainment from featured guests during festivals and other special days.
November 8, 2025 at 10:14 PM
mandy-m-andersen.bsky.social
#día-de-los-muertos #ancestors #loved-ones #photography #remembrance #reflection #gratitude #BlueSkyArt #EastCoastKin #cultural-history #indigenous-tradition #family-traditions
A close-up picture of a basket of fragile glass Día de los Muertos skull ornaments in metallic greens and oranges, with big eyes and grins and decorated with flowers.
November 2, 2025 at 11:52 PM
mandy-m-andersen.bsky.social
Light extinguishes the dark.
May we all find the courage to add to the great beacon of light - be it physical, financial, spiritual, emotional support, or kind word.

#light #hope #kindness #love #Spain #gardens
#courage #BlueSkyArt #EastCoastKin #Stunday
#photography

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Perhaps one of the hardest things is to find light or hope when all around is dark. If we have the reserves, we can add to the light for others . . . This photo of one of the walled-gardens at El Escorial, the monastery in Spain, is set out in geometric designs, picked out in low (possibly boxwood), green hedges. Most of the garden is in shadow cast by the buildings, out of picture, on the right. Yet in the middle ground, slightly right in the photo - still in the shadow - a dark-trunk tree glows with early autumn-turning leaves of yellow and light bronze. It’s large shape - a beacon of light in the dark section of the garden seems lit from within, without the assistance of direct sunlight. It reminds me that even in the darkest of times, we can be part of the light.
November 2, 2025 at 3:18 PM
mandy-m-andersen.bsky.social
And finally - need I say more?
#spiders. #Halloween #spiderweb #arachnids #nature #BlueSkyArt #EastCoastKin #photography
An upward shot against the grey-siding of a residence, taking up two-thirds of the image across the page. The third on the left is of green trees in a sunny garden in the background. Smack bang in the middle of the photo is a fat-bodied, thick legged spider hanging in the center of its immaculate web strung across a footpath. The body of the spider is brown with white speckled markings, and hangs inverted, and picked out in bright sunlight. Barely perceivable is the right half of the web that is blended into the coloring of the grey siding. This spider was the bane of my existence as it would return and build across the pathway even when disturbed and encouraged to spin elsewhere. More than one I had to duck my head to avoid a collision.
October 31, 2025 at 11:59 PM
mandy-m-andersen.bsky.social
I can’t find my lovely warty pumpkin photos before midnight strikes, so this is my #Halloween contribution.
#Portland #spectres #blackandwhite #ClassicMono #street-photography #BlueSkyArt #EastCoastKin #mood-lighting #PNW
This black and white photo was taken one Halloween night as an experiment with exposure. The view is along an urban residential street, where the glowing orbs of street lamps, house lights, and flashlights pick out traces of a recent rain shower on the sidewalks and road. The exposure setting of the camera has lent three characters walking away from the camera, an ethereal quality as we can see partially through their bodies as they move ahead, yet blend with their surroundings. The picture is at a T-intersection, and there are revelers on the road turning off to the left, where we can see a light-painted house partially hidden from view by the dark silhouette of a tree losing its leaves to the Fall carpet below its branches. What could be a cold and questionable night seems softened by the street lights’ glow and safe lights from the house windows.
October 31, 2025 at 11:45 PM
mandy-m-andersen.bsky.social
A peaceful #urbanscape in Lan Su, #Portland, #Oregon for #scape day.

#LanSu #BlueSkyArt. #EastCoastKin #urbanlandscape
#garden #photography #Chinese-gardens #water-flowers
#waterlilies #floral #architecture

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This is a view across Zither Lake in the Classical Chinese Garden–Lan Su–in Portland, Oregon. Situated downtown in the heart of the commercial district, and beside the mighty Willamette River, the garden provides a tranquil escape from the bustle of life. In the foreground of the green-hued lake [caused by the the reflection of the prolific vegetation of the garden] is a large waterlily mat sporting plump white and pink starburst lilies above the green floating pads. Behind the lilies in the back of the image is a small covered Chinese bridge crossing the lake from the Knowing The Fish Pavilion [just out of sight on the right] to the Scholar’s Courtyard, where visitors cross from one courtyard to another, to explore the different garden rooms. The bridge has a many-tiled roof that mimics the curve of the bridge - as do the carved, open-work wooden rails and matching wooden, open-work curtain-screen hanging from the roof timbers. In the water behind the left side of the lilies, there is a peasant’s small, brown wooden fishing boat with a curved hull that mostly rides above– and is perfectly mirrored in– the water’s glass-like surface. It is moored to a low, light-colored stone wall, above which we can see the outer wall of the Scholar’s Courtyard. In front of that wall, a majestic Taihu stone, stands like a sentinel among the lush bushes and early Fall-turning leaves. Taihu limestones come from near Lake Tai in Suzhou, China, and owe their dramatic appearance to constant erosion by rushing water. Featuring grooves and large holes, they lend a pleasant contrast to the leaves, flowers, and architecture of such a cultivated space.
October 31, 2025 at 9:38 PM
mandy-m-andersen.bsky.social
An #abstract, and one of my favorite fun subjects for #ColorADay #RedWed

#BlueSkyArt
#EastCoastKin
#furniture
#translucent
#jewel-colors
#Autumn
#Fallchores

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A complicated image to describe, but this is a close-up of an outdoor chair formed entirely of a rich red open web of plastic. The beautiful translucency of the plastic is what makes this so attractive to me. This image is zoomed out a little where there parts of 5 individual chairs are visible for context. The chairs were unstacked at the end of the season for power-washing before winter storage.
October 22, 2025 at 11:43 AM
mandy-m-andersen.bsky.social
Keeping the weekend’s good vibes going . . . a capture for #TagTuesday from #DeepElum, #Dallas some years ago.
It made me smile when I saw it - and kept me on a high the rest of the day.

#streetart #OPTFOROPTIMISM #good-trouble #mural #BlueSkyArt #EastCoastKin #street-photography
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This is a photo of a cheerful, encouraging mural on the side of a tidy, red brick modern building. In block white letters, on a bright blue background are the words: STAY ON THE BRIGHT SIDE Around the text block are bright abstract circles, stripes, arches and blocks in blues, yellows, oranges and green. This 1 storey mural is so tightly fit on the building, the text block is immediately flanked by two large, draped, square windows, and four narrow vertical windows across the building on the storey above the mural. Also in view, the tag: #OPTFOROPTIMISM @FROSTBANK I don’t know if the mural still stands, but I was grateful for the encouragement that day, and for every time I see this photo reminder.
October 21, 2025 at 11:45 AM
mandy-m-andersen.bsky.social
#BlueSkyMonday and a tiny bit of Oregon’s magnificent 300 miles of public beach!

#OregonCoast
#Oregon
#photography
#blueskies
#PacificOcean
#coasts
#BlueSkyArt
#EastCoastKin
#lighthouses
#public-spaces

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The point-of-view of this bright blue sky photo of Oregon is of leading lines stretching away northward across the image to where it meets the Pacific Ocean and the green headland at the horizon. At the end of the headland, a white lighthouse sits as a beacon. In silhouette, a line of trees mark the spine of a hill on the headland. A long line of white clouds runs parallel above the white breakers of the blue ocean on one side of the vast sandy beach. With a footpath, beach scrub vegetation and residential properties on the near side, together they make a wide open vista that beckons the viewer to come on in and enjoy one of Oregon’s protected natural treasures. Dotted across the stretched sands are people doing just that - walking, playing, relaxing - building memories, and leaving temporary footprints.
October 20, 2025 at 8:05 PM
mandy-m-andersen.bsky.social
Some years ago I saw for the first time, this piece by Raffaelo Monti, at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. ‘Stunned' would be an understatement - was I really seeing through stone??!!

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#Stunday
#BlueSkyArt
#EastCoastKin
#museum-art
#sculpture
#mindtricks
#marble
#Italian
#beauty
The young woman wears a circlet of flowers that fix a light veil to her head, from where it drapes across her face and gently swirls to her left shoulder. It is a vision of lightness and delicacy. The almond-white marble bust of the ‘Veiled Lady’, sculpted by the Italian artist, Raffaelo Monti (1818-1881) around 1860, incredibly gives us a view of a young woman clearly visible beneath folds of a light veil. But wait! How can we see through the marble veil to her face beneath? Monti, demonstrating technical mastery of his medium, brings to life a delicateness through the use of light and polish. The parts of the lady’s face that we can see have the shine of youthful skin, but Monti has left the folds of the marble veil with slight texture - less polish - to suggest the light fabric. The effect tricks our mind into thinking we are, indeed, seeing through stone.
October 19, 2025 at 6:35 PM
mandy-m-andersen.bsky.social
The beautiful Lan Su Garden right in the middle of downtown Portland, Oregon, is aways a #Stunday peaceful haven.

#BlueSkyArt
#EastCoastKin
#Chinese-garden
#Portland
#Oregon
#borrowed-view
#windows
#doors
#gardens
#Lan-Su
This is a ‘borrowed view’ through an circular opening in a white wall in Lan Su, the Portland Classical Chinese Garden. Above the opening is a scroll plaque bearing Chinese characters. Flanked by traditional shrubbery, the opening offers a view of the courtyard beyond where we see more of the same, with tiles on the roof of a room, and the pebbled, massaging floor of the courtyard. Having lived more than 20 years in this city, I and my camera wandered downtown the last time lies and exaggerations about civil protest in the Portland-scape were pushed for political agenda. I’m heartsick that this is happening again. https://lansugarden.org/
September 28, 2025 at 8:53 PM
mandy-m-andersen.bsky.social
#WaterfallWednesday - and the majestic Multnomah Falls in Oregon.

#waterfalls
#Oregon
#indigenouspeople
#landscape
#photography
#majestic
#PacificNorthwest
This image is of the two-level drops of the Multnomah Falls plunging down the cliff face, located in the prehistoric Columbia River Gorge, on the Oregon side of the state line. The point of view of the image is looking up from ground level to the waterfall which drops from the upper edge of the photo down through the center to a large natural pool below, at the bottom of the image. The upper falls are 551 feet falling to a pool, which then spills again a final 69 feet to another pool below. Across the chasm that flanks the falls, above the lower drop, a pedestrian bridge supports members of the public viewing the Falls above and below, surrounded by lush Pacific Northwest vegetation. The legend told by the indigenous Wasco people of the region, tells of how falls are named for a beautiful maiden who made the ultimate sacrifice to save her people.
https://www.gatheringthestories.org/2013/10/21/a-legend-of-multnomah-falls-a-wasco-legend/
September 17, 2025 at 12:05 PM
mandy-m-andersen.bsky.social
A 1612 suit of armour for #Stunday.
Another candidate for my never-will-happen study on why weapons of destruction are embellished with beauty?

#BlueSkyArt
#EastCoastKin
#Dresden
#Rüstkammer
#Saxony
#ceremonial
#metalwork
#armour
#photography
In 1612 seven suits of armour, crafted by Christian Müller, were presented to Elector Johann Georg 1 of Saxony by his wife. All are exquisitely etched, each unique to the other, with various scenes of battle, trophies, or florals. Of the seven, only one is gilt, as well as etched. This close-up view of the gilt torso, shoulder and hip areas of the armour reveals the richly-detailed scrollwork and floral emblems. Such stunning suits were used for the foot tournaments, typically held as part of a celebration, as demonstrations of battle skills, and as a means of keeping standing troops in readiness. In 1613, the Elector wore this gilt suit in the tournament to celebrate the birth of his son. It resides along with five of the other six suits, in the Rüstkammer/armoury in Dresden, Germany. This image shows the full armour flanked by two of the etched silver metal suits of armour. Each includes a fitted helmet with openings for eyes, nose and mouth (called a Savoyard burgonet), the metal gorget worn over the armour to protect the throat and upper chest, the articulared pauldrons to cover the shoulders, forearm covers and gauntlets, and knee-length leg armour (called tassets).
September 6, 2025 at 10:24 PM
mandy-m-andersen.bsky.social
For #SleepySep #CuddlyToy, my favorite serendipitous photobomb.

#babydolls
#photobomb
#EastCoastKin
#BlueSkyArt
#recycling
#documentary-photography
#photography

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I used to volunteer at the most amazing creative re-use center in Portland, Oregon. One day while filling the shelves with paints, paper, old photos, maps, and art glass, I happened to glance out the corner of my eye at a new large container on the floor, and burst out laughing. This close-in image is of two soft-bodied baby dolls, each with a solid vinyl head with realistic expressions on their faces. One doll fills the photo - brown fabric body above the visible edge of a doll’s diaper, and a beautiful expression on the baby doll’s brown face. The brown, shiny eyes are focused to something out beyond the right edge of the image, and the mouth is open in an expression of wonder or anticipation. But in the bottom right corner of the photo, a small pale face peeps through the space under the outstretched arm of the other - looking straight at the viewer (pulling you into the moment) with wide eyes and round open mouth in an expression of surprise. To me they totally looked like two characters, and I almost believed they’d get up to merry mischief at the end of day, in that magical world where toys become real when no-one is looking.
September 6, 2025 at 10:13 PM
mandy-m-andersen.bsky.social
Certainly #ClassicMono, and #SelfPortraitSunday and maybe #PastMeetsPresent

#BlueSkyArt
#EastCoastKin
#contrasts
#athlete
#generations
#family
#strength
#abstract
#photography
#survivors

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A view down upon two outstretched legs (from the base of the vertical photo to the top). The legs are exposed by the wearing of shorts, and each foot wears a sock and running shoe. But there the visual similarity ends. Two generations . . . 33 years between. The leg on the left [a right leg] is pale and hairless - the other [a left leg] is tanned, and not. One peaked at running 100 miles a week during high school, and as an adult survived a non-heart disease heart attack; the other, survived double cancer. So different - yet one part of the other. Mother and son. Survivors.
September 6, 2025 at 10:10 PM