A year ago, the long-suffering wife and I stayed on the Welsh island of Anglesey. It was a great holiday. One day we went to the coastal village of Rhosneigr and spotted a weathered wooden face looking out to sea. Naturally I snapped photographs of him. One of them is shown below.
Partly inspired by Steve Reed's last post in which he shared a picture of a house edited with a phone app called Waterlogue, I put my picture through a free online photo editing facility and came up with the picture shown above. Results like this start to make painting feel like too much trouble.
By the way, that's a bird on top of the figure's head. For obvious reasons, he reminded me of Easter Island which I had the privilege of visiting almost nine years ago. It was a magical trip.
I love the modified version as much as the original!
ReplyDeleteEnlarged, the modified version would be very striking on a white wall in a gallery.
DeleteIt certainly is reminiscent of the statues - the moai -on Easter Island. How wonderful you visited the island, It must have been an unforgettable experience.
ReplyDeleteBack in the early 70s when "The Chariots of the Gods" was a part of everyone's conversation, the company (fashion industry) I was employed by at that time rain with the popularity ans when filming the TV and magazine ads, etc for the new line sent a couple of photographers and models off to Easter Island and Machu Picchu using those areas as backdrops. In our Qld office/showrooms we hosted a huge launch of the new lines. Some time ago I wrote a post about it all.
Do you know the story behind the figure shown?
I've just been doing some researching and discovered the following...which answers my question above.
Delete"Numerous megalithic monuments and menhirs are present on Anglesey, testifying to the presence of humans in prehistory. Plas Newydd is near one of 28 cromlechs that remain on uplands overlooking the sea. The Welsh Triads claim that Anglesey was once part of the mainland.
Historically, Anglesey has long been associated with the druids. In AD 60 the Roman general Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, determined to break the power of the druids, attacked the island using his amphibious Batavian contingent as a surprise vanguard assault and then destroying the shrine and the nemetons (sacred groves). News of Boudica's revolt reached him just after his victory, causing him to withdraw his army before consolidating his conquest. The island was finally brought into the Roman Empire by Gnaeus Julius Agricola, the Roman governor of Britain, in AD 78. During the Roman occupation, the area was notable for the mining of copper. The foundations of Caer Gybi as well as a fort at Holyhead are Roman, and the present road from Holyhead to Llanfairpwllgwyngyll was originally a Roman road.
The island was grouped by Ptolemy with Ireland ("Hibernia") rather than with Britain ("Albion").
British Iron Age and Roman sites have been excavated and coins and ornaments discovered, especially by the 19th century antiquarian, William Owen Stanley. Following the Roman departure from Britain in the early 5th century, pirates from Ireland colonised Anglesey and the nearby Llŷn Peninsula. In response to this, Cunedda ap Edern, a Gododdin warlord from Scotland, came to the area and began to drive the Irish out. This was continued by his son Einion Yrth ap Cunedda and grandson Cadwallon Lawhir ap Einion; the last Irish invaders were finally defeated in battle in 470. As an island, Anglesey was in a good defensive position, and so Aberffraw became the site of the court, or Llys, of the Kingdom of Gwynedd. Apart from a devastating Danish raid in 853 it remained the capital until the 13th century, when improvements to the English navy made the location indefensible. Anglesey was also briefly the most southern possession of the Norwegian Empire.
After the Irish, the island was invaded by Vikings — some of these raids were noted in famous sagas (see Menai Strait History) — and by Saxons, and Normans, before falling to Edward I of England in the 13th century......" And on it goes...a lot of history there....
Anglesey is certainly a very interesting island with a long history but the figure at Rhosneigr was carved in recent years from an old telegraph pole. I doubt that it is more than ten years old.
DeleteEaster Island was very special to me - somewhere I had always yearned to visit.
Thanks for that info on the carved statue, Yorkie. That's interesting.
DeleteWaterlogue may be a fun app to play with but I much prefer the natural weathered head
ReplyDeleteYou are the kind of guy who likes reality.
DeleteWhile both photos are interesting, like Red, I prefer your original. The copy has an interesting appearance and resemblance to the original but for me it does not have the warmth. I love your original particularly with the bird looking over the top.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this personal reflection Bonnie.
DeleteNot being a huge fan of water colour paintings, I do prefer the original. But to each his own - I can see this being intriguing for those who like the look.
ReplyDeleteDid you blog about Easter Island? I should go have a look.
Yes I did blog about Easter Island. Just put it in the search box to the top left of this blog.
DeleteWell worth the reading! What a feeling it must have been to stand on that island. I was caught up in your posts for well over an hour. It's so odd to see the pictures and see that, yes, they have no trees.
DeleteIt is a bit depressing and scary how creative some of these computer applications are.
ReplyDeleteWe human beings can sometimes still seem like apemen - still bashing rocks with clubs while the computer world glows.
Delete"Osterinseln!" was the first thought crossing my mind when I saw the thumnail version of the photo in my reading list on blogger. The modified picture does have something, but it would not be there without the original.
ReplyDeleteI thought that "Osterinseln!" was a German swear word until I went over to Google Translate!
DeleteI'm thinking I might be able to use this app for my needlework.
ReplyDeleteBriony
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You gotta think outside the box Briony - your needlework box!
DeleteExcellent results! Which app did you get? I agree that they make painting seem like too much trouble -- but as Vivian pointed out, an app can't reproduce the subtleties of the work of an actual artist.
ReplyDeleteI can't remember which free platform I accessed. That was yesterday. This is today.
ReplyDeleteRather bizarre.
ReplyDeletePerhaps I am Graham. Perhaps I am.
DeleteYesterday is ok. It's when you start repeating yourself within ten minutes that you need to get yourself assessed. Yesterday is ok. It's when you start repeating yourself within ten minutes that you need to get yourself assessed.
ReplyDeleteLove the "painting". I'd frame it and hang it on the wall.
ReplyDelete