Studious Waves from Cezanne

Collage by Gemma Wiseman ~ My own tapestry of a clown +
Mont Sainte-Victoire by Paul Cezanne (1900) +
Young Italian Girl Resting on Her Elbow by Paul Cezanne (c. 1900)
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Simply Snickers prompt ~ clown + country + consider
This week, we celebrate the birthday of French Post-Impressionist painter Paul Cezanne, who was born on January 19, 1839.
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Serious country
Stormy waves
Consider clown time
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Celebrating Edvard Munch's birthday

Collage by Gemma Wiseman ~ Dromana pier, Mornington Peninsula + Edvard Munch's The Scream ~ 1893
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Simply Snickers prompt ~ just + joy
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Expressionism
Bridging joy of love and death
Just a silent scream
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On the wings of morning cloud

Collage by Gemma Wiseman ~ Scenes around Port Phillip Bay, Mornington Peninsula + La Grande Famille ~ Rene Magritte ~ 1963
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Simply Snickers prompt ~ horizon + hover + human
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Footprint shadowlands
Human shapes hover by seas
Tempting tomorrows
~
On the ripples of morning seas
Swimming means seeing the heart of living
~
On the wings of morning cloud
Flying means breathing the soul of freedom
~
Limpid horizon
Mystifying somewhere land
Possibility
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Racing or Rocking Balance

11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month ~ Remembrance Day

Collage by Gemma Wiseman ~ Around the Bay bike riders in Dromana + Jean Monet on His Hobby Horse by Claude Monet ~ 1872
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Ruby Tuesday prompt
Simply Snickers prompt ~ balance + bold + bright
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Bold bright red sport shirts
Intense balance of riders
Two wheeled race to win
~
Bold fancy costume
Rocking balance of a child
The joy of nowhere
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Commercial Wealth

Collage by Gemma Wiseman ~ Scenes from Arthurs Seat, Mornington Peninsula + Rooftops and Trees by Charles Demuth ~ 1918
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3WW prompt # CX ~ hope + gravity + nuance
Simply Snickers prompt ~ fade + favour + fifth
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Tomorrow's brave hope
Chained to today's gravity
Nuance of world peace
~
Commercial wealths fade
The fifth day is Poet's Day
Dreams favour Eden
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Miracle of Prayer

Collage by Gemma Wiseman ~ Cows at Red Hill, Mornington Peninsula + Milkmaid by Jan Vermeer ~ 1660
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Simply Snickers prompt ~ people + pose + port + pray or prey
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People feel moved to pray
When a port is bare of moored ships
When a cascading river is a memory
When a smile becomes a pose for happiness
~
People feel moved to pray
Desperately
When the milk of human kindness
Curdles
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Rise or Fall

Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ Stairway to the sea at Point Leo
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Simply Snickers prompt ~ stair + step + start + stop
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Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ Stairway to the sea at Mornington
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A stair is a fabricated
Rise or fall into
A new level of
Space
~
Many stairs are like a
Subconscious
Temptation to
Step
Down or
Up into
A new frontier ~
To explore
A sense of wonder
A sense of curiosity
~
But sometimes
There are stairs
Masquerading as
Possibilities ~
A false
Start
A disappointing
Cue ~
Those stairs which may once have led
Somewhere
But now
Stop
Halfway
~
Maybe
A broken landscape
~
Maybe
An aloof treasure
A little out of reach
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Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ Stairs at Arthurs Seat that once led to a ride on the chairlift up the mountainside.
Rumours say that the new owner may have it operating again this summer.
Rumours said the same thing last summer.
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Sacred Space

Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ Roofline of Presbyterian Church, Dromana, Mornington Peninsula
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Simply Snickers prompt ~ sacred + secrets + self + scorned
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A sacred space is
Often marked with
A cross ~
But too often
In the same landscape
There is a hint of
A false
Wired
Charged
Cross
Lurking ~
Like holy light
Scorned
~

~
However
If self is
In charge
Then the inner eyes
Hold to
The precious secrets
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Pic by Gemma Wiseman
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And electrified crosses
Are left for
The black birds
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Secret Dance

Pic collage of Edgar Degas' work by Gemma Wiseman
Edgar Degas broke with a classical sense of beauty and a formal sense of balanced composition. In the 1880's, he painted the sacred ballet world, imbuing it with a sense of real, every day humanity. Posed, stiffly seated subjects bent a little under his brushwork. He caught them off guard, it seemed.
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Simply Snickers prompt ~ Edgar Degas' birth + standing + still
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Degas' art of dance in the wings is
A secret dance ~
Like a peephole window on
Private ablutions
~
Standing
Crunched
Twisted
~
A strange kind of
Alternative
Fragmented
Still
Beauty
Like the pause of a film frame ~
A cut ~
Stylised movement
Trapped in
A microscope slide
~
Motion
Motionless
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No more time

Pic collage by Gemma Wiseman ~ including Simply Snickers prompt pic Christina by Andrew Wyeth (c.1948)+ my own pics of landscapes from Main Ridge, Mornington Peninsula
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Simply Snickers prompt ~ wait + wonder
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There is no more time
No more yearning time
No more time to wait for
Your gate to open
To welcome me
Home
~
I see the colours of your world
Ebbing and flowing
One gate yawns wide
But sadly
Not for me
~
There is no more time for
Your gate to open
To give me a home
~
You wonder
Perhaps
Who I am
Who I am to you
~
But reality claims
You have no more time
To be
Who you should be
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From rookie to master

Pic collage by Gemma Wiseman ~ Marc Chagall paintings incl. Flowers and Lovers and The Blue House + my own images ~ Russian-French painter Marc Chagall was born to a humble Jewish family in White Russia ~ July 7, 1887
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Simply Snickers prompt ~ 2 Marc Chagall pics + magnificent + moments
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A rookie artist
Dares to leave
The civilised wilderness
Of greys and dark silhouettes
And treks the unknown
Cubed
Symbolic
Dazzling
Expressionistic
Colours
Of new
Primal worlds
~
And may become ~
Like Marc Chagall ~
A master of
Magnificent moments
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Silent Sentinels

Pic on Flickr by Gemma Wiseman ~ Ghostly sentinels
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Simply Snickers prompt ~ secret + silent
Writer's Island prompt ~ Guardian
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Springing from a tiny road ~
(Weaving away from
The gleam and sway of
Bay waters) ~
A secret
Surprising
Elegant
Driveway
Leads to
The colours of dreams
~
A serene lake
Teeming with wildlife
Is wine for the eyes
And a cellar door ~
Laced with lemon trees
Ringed in casks ~
Offers boutique wine
For the spirit
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Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ Casked lemon trees
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But the silent sentinels ~
Gracing
All comings
And goings ~
Seem like mystic
Bemused seers
Guardians of time
Who have seen it all ~
Watching a cast of actors
Play a part
Perform a moment in time
And leave with bubbles
Of memory
Tightly corked
In a bottle
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Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ Trees lining the Stillwater Crittendon Estate driveway
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NOTE: These trees almost gleam with a ghostly, grey-white glow. As I drove out of the beautiful Stillwater Crittendon Estate winery, (at Dromana on the Mornington Peninsula), there seemed to be quite an intense drama emanating from these trees. It could have been the chilly winter afternoon, broken only with brief bursts of rain and sunlight. It could have been the fact that I only came to the winery seeking new pics and felt a little over-awed with the beauty of the place ~ with its villa accomodation by a lovely lake and rather up-market restaurant and cellar door. It could have been I longed to stay a little longer, but felt like an intruder.
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In the world of one magpie

Pics by Gemma Wiseman
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ReadWrite prompt ~ Exercise in Comparisons
Simply Snickers prompt ~ cordial + company
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Meet Norm the amazing magpie who regularly visits our home. If he's not getting attention, he politely knocks at the door. In the next stage, if that fails, he not so politely decides to shred the front door mat. And then! He calls! Very very loudly and non stop like a warbling "coo-eee" in the base of the throat! After his morning photo shoot, (see pics below), he decided to check out the competition. I was trying to photograph some musical figurines, but he just had to get in on the act! So there he is (see above)! Big Norm and the little music man!
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He struts like a professional model ~
His curiosity is always sharpened
With blatant nosiness ~
And his impeccable ego is like a stubborn
Petulant child
Who simply will never understand that
Wrong is wrong and
Manners are manners
~

But when Norm
Edges closer
On the arms
Of a chair
That he claims
Is his
There is a strong sense
That he needs
To be wanted
To be loved
And there is a strong sense
That company
Could be
A two way street ~
In fact
It is hard to say
Whether Norm
Or we
Offer the cordial welcome
~
But quickly
That small
Sensitive moment
Melts
When he checks
The call of
Wild
Freedom
And he flies
Into the skies of
Just another
Common
Magpie
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Elements of Light

Pic on Flickr by Gemma Wiseman ~ Rosebud pier with light on water
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Simply Snickers prompt ~ hope + happens
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There is something about
A ribbon of light on water ~
Inspiring
Softening
Smiling
~
There is something about
A stream of light beneath greying clouds ~
Hope
Warmth
Promise
~
There is something about
A shaft of light
Leading to intersecting pylons ~
Choices
Diversions
Alternatives
~
And if a stream of light
Happens to lead to a misty mountain
Over fluid landscapes
There is
Faith
Courage
Potential
Waiting for
Magical
Miracles
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Well-Heeled

Pic on Deviant Art by themiller ~ You Olde Boot
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Simply Snickers prompt ~ boot bid blame
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Diamond raindrops on roses
And sharp whiskers on kittens
Bright coloured metals
And warm fluffy mittens
Wild songs that spin with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my night-life things
~
Gals in black dresses
With red velvet flashes
Stardust that sings
On my lips and eyelashes
High boots that slink to sensual strings
These are a few of my night-life things
~
When some dog bites
When some bee stings
When I'm feeling bad
I simply blame my night-life things
And then I don't feel so mad
~
Black suited bankers
And sly politicians
Bid me to slump
Into humble submission
Beauty is bought for a cash-flow fling
These are a few of my night-life things
~
But when the dawn breaks
When the day wakes
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember a promise of spring
And then
I try to feel glad
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Remember puddle dancing?

Pic on Flickr by Gemma Wiseman ~ Port Phillip Bay glimpses on a winter's afternoon
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Simply Snickers Prompt ~ umbrella under puddle promise
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Under powder skies
Limping with stray thoughts of rain
Moody blue waters
Simmer with stormy heartbeats
Glistening in pools of light
~
Leaves cramp in darkness
Hoping the promise of rain
Answers summer thirsts ~
Too long dreaming of old days
When life was free to be green
~
And I remember
In days of youthful delight
When rain was normal ~
An umbrella was ready
And boots danced in a puddle
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