Silent Retreat at Gethsemane Abbey


A couple of weeks ago I went to Trappist, Kentucky for a four day silent retreat at 
Thomas Merton's Gethsemane Abbey. People come from all over the world to visit.
www.monks.org


On the way, my husband and I visited Daylily World the daylily gardens of David Kirchhoff and Mort Morss. They are among America's preeminent hybridizers, and their gardens and home are out of a storybook.


For 43 years they have been coming up with some of the world's most dazzling hybrids. 


On the retreat I spent my days taking walks though the gorgeous Abbey grounds, having some luxurious time to myself, and appreciating the atmosphere created by over 150 years of monks at prayer.


The grounds had farm fields, surprisingly steep forested "knobs," and lakes.


I liked the way the light streamed in to my room one late afternoon. I have time to appreciate this kind of stuff when I'm not cramming my day with activity.


The architecture of the Abbey was stark and modern. We were welcome to join the monks at communal prayer at extremely regular intervals, eight times a day. They start at 3:15 in the morning! The bells of the Abbey rung throughout the day, reminding us of when prayers started and ended. The monks keep the Abbey supported by selling their homemade bourbon fruitcake, bourbon fudge and various cheese. I bought a bunch of all of it, and can report that all of their products are certainly worth it. 


The tip of the Abbey peeks (and peaks) above the trees the morning I left.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Creek Village Painting

Image
"Italwas"   48" x 60"  2009 I painted this image of a Creek Indian Village as a commission for a collector. He lived on a hill above a bend in a creek where a Creek Village reportedly existed long ago, and he wanted a historically accurate representation of what the village might have looked like from his house. His home is near Talladega, Alabama.  I did months of research. With the help of the now late Miriam Fowler who worked at the Birmingham Museum of Art, I pulled together the image with references to the customs, culture, and village layout. I also used as a reference "Bartram's Travels" written by William Bartram, a detailed description of encounters with Native Americans in 1791. It is one of the very few bits of info about the lives of the Creeks back then. (As noted in Wikipedia, the original title to Bartram's book is:  Travels through North and South Carolina, Georgia, East and West Florida, the Cherokee Country, the Extensive
Read more

Featured Artist at the ALCC: Chris Gryder

Image
The Alabama Clay Conference , to be held in February, 2012 in Birmingham (and hosted by my husband, ceramic artist Scott Bennett) will feature three well-known ceramic artists who will give all-day demonstrations and exhibit their work.  Here is the work of Chris Gryder, one of the featured artists. I've included an article below about his work, a piece I wrote for Ceramics Monthly magazine, November 2006. I'll blog about the other two artists in the next couple days.  Negative Impact The Work of Chris Gryder Chris Gryder began his exploration of art by studying architecture. A sincere and dedicated commitment to the subject led to his acquaintance with artists, methods, and concepts that later became the inspiration for his work in sculpture and clay. From the visionary designs of Antonio Gaudi and the philosophy of Louis Sullivan to experimental work in mold-making for architectural pieces, Gryder pieced together a singular aesthetic and a
Read more