To support the arts on the coast I created a Sonoma Coast Art Facebook page as a companion to the www.sonomacoastart.com website.
Members Show 2013 Sebastopol Center for the Arts
My photo Golden Hills is on display at the Members Show 2013. The photo is printed on canvas by Harvey Mendelson of Gold Coast Digital. The show runs from December 5, 2013 - January 4, 2014 Reception and 25 year celebration party Friday,
December 13, 6-9 pm. Address: 282 S. High Street, Sebastopol, CA 95472. Gallery hours: Hours: Tuesday - Friday 10am - 4pm Saturday 1 - 4pm
Photography Copyright Francesca Scalpi
New Black & White Gallery
I love black and white photography. I used to shoot in black and white film all the time back in the day. During the rush to digital color was all the rage. I selected some photos that I shot and converted to black and white. For these photos color would of been a distraction.
Some of these photos are available on high quality paper and come in a limited edition series. Photography Copyright Francesca Scalpi
New By The Sea Photos
On a windy day with large waves pounding the shore I headed to Wright's Beach. The waves did not disappoint. There was one area where the wave crash with such force it sprayed water straight up over a hundred feet in the air. The colors showed the coldness in the air. There was a marine layer fog creeping in adding to the atmosphere of the photos. The waves had a tapestry of textures and colors. This part of the Sonoma coast is blessed with large sea mounts off shore and cliffs on the shoreline. This adds dimension and drama that I love. Photography Copyright Francesca Scalpi
New Dolphin Photos
I added to the dolphin gallery Risso's Dolphin Grampus griseus. They are 8 to 12 ft in length. They have distinctive body markings and they have only 7 or fewer pairs of teeth in the front of the lower jaw, and typically none in the upper jaw.
This is a relatively robust dolphin with a rounded head, similar in shape to the more familiar pilot whale. They have an unusual external vertical crease in the melon (the organ in the rounded head used to direct sonar clicks) that runs from the front of the forehead to the mouth.
Adult Risso's dolphins are usually dark gray with extensive white scarring. The scars can be scratches, splotches, or circular marks and, in some animals, can be so extensive that the entire body appears to be white. This scarring may come from bites from other Risso's dolphins, squid bites, or parasites. Photography Copyright Francesca Scalpi
Sedlec Ossuary The Church of Bones
I know there will be a lot of discussion around the photo I posted of the Sedlec Ossuary The Church of Bones in the Travels portfolio.
Sedlec Ossuary The Church of Bones
It is a small chapel located in Sedlec, in the suburbs of Kutna Hora, in the Czech Republic.is one of the most amazing and unique churches in the world. The Sedlec Ossuary is artistically decorated by more than 40.000 human skeletons.
How did they get all of those bones?
It is said that in 1278 the King of Bohemia sent the abbot of the Sedlec Cistercian Monastery to Jerusalem. When the abbot came back he brought with himself a jar of soil from the Golgotha, that was known as the “Holy Soil”. Soon people from all over the places desired to be buried in Sedlec, thus the cemetery there had to be expanded.
In the 15th century a Gothic church was built near the cemetery and its basement was used as an ossuary. The bones stayed there for centuries till 1870 when a woodcarver named Frantisek Rint was appointed to place the bones in order.
It is not like anything I have ever seen in my life.
Photography Copyright Francesca Scalpi