A Suburban Oasis

Plus more Woodland Microcosms and the close of Art Drop #13.

The Celery Farm has been very good to us over the last 4 years – we first visited on an autumnal day, the duration of our walk dictated by our then 2-year old daughter’s pace collecting one vibrant leaf after another. Its varied ecosystems keep things interesting for a little kid and for photographically-inclined adults.

Depending on the time of year we’ll see herons and egrets, frogs and muskrats, water striders and turtles, cattails and skunk cabbage… honestly it’s a lovely place and gave us a destination in the depths of covid that felt special and healing.

On a particularly frigid day we bundled up and arrived to find that the parking area was overflowing with cars. The mud on the paths was frozen solid into sculptural reliefs of footprints, and we discovered that the lake was frozen solid as well.

The reason for all the cars in the parking lot was soon made apparent – we had no idea this place was so beloved by hockey players and ice skaters! We marveled at the community coming together with sticks, pucks, nets, and skates for a day of winter sport and sunshine. It’s a little surprising that you are not permitted to go running on the trails at the Celery Farm but playing hockey in winter is 100% allowed and encouraged. We took our chance to join in the fun and walked out onto the ice in our boots.

WOODLAND MICROCOSMS

It appears that Tom is developing a collection of Woodland Microcosms so I thought we’d lay some out on the digital table in front of us and ask him some questions about them.

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Diana: What drew you to these reflected scenes and why do you think they keep capturing your attention?

Tom: I think what it boils down to is that the water, leaves, reflections and the underwater realm all form multiple layers, as well as different planes to focus on – which can lead to interesting visual opportunities. They are also an alternative way for me to try to capture the essence of forests and woods, when perhaps the straight scene doesn’t inspire me so much. No matter where you are, looking down can often be very fruitful.

Diana: What makes a woodland microcosm worth capturing for you, how do you know you’ve found a good one?

Tom: I suppose primarily it’s about some combination of light and shadow providing the ability for you to see some of that magical world under the water. For this reason I’m not sure the image above-left fits the series. It’s a bit of an outlier, but I thought it was worth including here as it can still be part of the conversation. Sometimes you get the ‘portal effect’ as with The Celery Farm, Late Spring, but not always, and I like them either way. But any hint of the upside down always interests me.

I want to give some credit here to Philip J Brittan’s Autumn River series which I only recently realized has probably provided some inspiration here on a subconscious level. I bought his book on that amazing series back in 2013, and when I pulled it off the shelf a few days ago it occurred to me that it likely played a role here.

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It’s early days for the series that is shaping up here and I for one am looking forward to seeing what portals to other realms Tom will encounter in the Berkshires once we relocate there and are besieged by natural beauty all around us.

On that note, Art Drop #13 closes tomorrow so it’s your last chance to order a print and let your eyes travel all over the composition like a visual meditation. We just got our first print back from the lab and it’s looking lovely.

The Celery Farm, Late Spring
Allendale, New Jersey, USA
by Tom Bland

Prints of this photograph are only available through June 7, 2024, with no further production of this work for at least a year. To learn more about the paper, sizes, and pricing click the button below to visit the art drop page on our website.

Thank you for reading. The rest of the month is a pretty big deal for us as we start to officially transition from New Jersey to the Berkshires – our countertops are getting installed and we need a working sink to get a certificate of occupancy. I guess it’s time to finally start packing? We’ll be back on July 1 with Art Drop #14, which may actually be sent out to you from our new studio. But don’t be surprised if it comes your way from New Jersey. Can’t rush these things.

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