Baltimore Sonnets

There are three friends in this world: Courage, Sense, and Insight.   ~ African proverb Photographing an African Mask collected by German artist Otto Mueller  Lucky Color: Earth Brown Lucky Number: 14195

I love visiting the National Portrait Gallery in DC to see how artists have painted the faces President Clinton by Chuck Close, oil on canvas 2006  of the United States Presidents over the centuries. Photo of Chuck Close's painting of President Clinton  I have always admired  Chuck Close's  portraits and his use of negative & positive space as well as shapes & grids to define the whole.

Trapped Semi-precious Tourmaline  Inspiration comes in its rawest state. Ideas and thoughts . . . Images and stories . . .  Fragmented colored views. Raw clusters, waiting for us to understand the whole. Whatever view we see from our particular angle, with our particular magnifying glass.

solved the puzzles of the universe so her Love could soar through the skies. a page from an illustrated story book by Suzanne Coley

Preparing to print . . .

A letter from the heart can be read on the face.  ~ Swahili proverb hand carved Portraits by Suzanne Coley Lucky color: Mahogany Lucky number: 541

Reaching to the bottom of my fears. Actively working on them seems to make them lighter, allowing me to finally swim.

Scream. Крик, Baltimore Sometimes it's okay to let it out.

Wherever you are . . . Enjoy your Day!

It is never too late. Double Liberty by Suzanne Coley Lucky Color: Sky Blue Lucky Number: 954

One of my hosts in Germany is a scientist who works in Marburg, a small university town.  My first day there she took me to a cafe.  As we were walking through the cafe to the terrace, I saw the following:  Traditional hand carved wooden baking molds.  Some of them dated back to 1621 and were rare.  There were several cabinets with handwritten instructions, ingredients, and notes.  Finely carved antique molds and pans were hanging everywhere. One cabinet held an original Das Zuckerwaren - Laboratorium book. Das Zuckerwaren - Laboratorium means The Sugar Confectionery Laboratory, and it is a practical guide to all things sweet: Jellies, pastes, nougat, marzipan, and cakes. Some of the hand carved molds were large and rectangular.  Some were short with sequential stories,  Some were round and featured main characters from fairy tales by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Some were over 3 feet high and depicted folklore.  All...

Paralyzed tongues can't whisper their desires.   Too frail from heavy back hands.   Exhausted from repeated shouts of  shut up, be quiet, who cares what you think. Paralyzed tongues can't whisper . . .  There's nothing left to say. *Text: excerpt from Stolen Breath by Suzanne Coley, 2007

Strength does not come from physical capacity.  It comes from an indomitable will.   ~ Mahatma Gandhi Strength, linocut created in Berlin, Germany 2015 Lucky color: Blue-Black Lucky Numbers: 511