Scanography is one of those pursuits that sound easier than it is. It took me quite a while to get the hang of it and “plan out” my inspiration. I had some successes early on but they were often accidental, with some of my best happening by circumstance versus any specific planning on my part. Shibumi is one such happenstance, where a storm-dropped flower had just a touch of a curve to the top that adds a nice visual interest but was nothing I did consciously. (Shibumi was just honored with 3rd place at the Blackstone Valley Art Association’s open show from January 13th through February 26th at the Alternatives Gallery in Uxbridge, Massachusetts.)
That happenstance often comes from lots of work that may not be immediately apparent. I was doing a bit of hard disk cleaning, deleting test scans or images that didn’t measure up and thus warrant the time required to do the detailed editing. I noticed that I’ve now captured over 530 scans – a fair amount of flowers cut, so no wonder my wife looks askance whenever I head out with a knife. That 530 translates down to only about 100 images that I’m happy enough with to consider publishing and making available for sale.
Today my wife and I had the pleasure of a attending the “Onstage at Symphony” program at Boston Symphony Hall. This is a community orchestra event for people that do not play professionally but have the talent and love of the music and want to perform. Musicians from all over Massachusetts participated (including our younger daughter) and put together a delightful program with works from Tchaikovsky, Coleridge-Taylor, Grieg, Mascagni and Saint-Saens. I’m certainly no musician but I dare say few would have been able to find fault with the result of this melange of people from across the region.
(The conductor, Thomas Wilkins, was a delight with his intros and insights into the pieces as well.)
What made it more impressive? Only three sessions of practice. Yes, they got together for the first time on the Wednesday before, a second session Friday night and a last one in the morning before the Saturday presentation.
OK, only three days of practice is probably not a full representation of all that went into the production. There were 80+ musicians, ranging in age from in their 20’s to into their 60’s or so, representing tens of thousands of hours of lessons and practice spread across a lifetime and no small investment in lesson fees or college music class tuition. The experience of those teachers should be added into the mix as well, as the talents of the orchestra came about through the experience they imparted into the next genertion.
Ah, what about the instruments? Countless years of learning and plying their trade were needed to master their craft, no doubt with quite a few violins, cellos and basses not measuring up and becoming firewood,
The sum total is incalculable but few would quibble that this “three sessions” of effort was actually the culmination of hundreds of thousands of hours, if not well north of a million, that pooled together resulted in the talents on the stage this afternoon, delivering an hour’s listening pleasure.
Did I mention that the concert was free? Well, not really – just the hour sitting there. Everything that brought it together was a hefty, but well spent, investment.