Still life II

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Vergänglichkeit ist Beständigkeit der Natur / Fugacity is consistency of natureDina is still practicing still life “Rhu Sila – Norfolk”. 🙂

© Text and illustrations, Hanne Siebers and Klausbernd Vollmar, Cley next the Sea, 2017

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209 thoughts

  1. Ha – a blue bottle in your still life, well done! 🙂
    I suppose you know that the old masters used to add a live creature (e. g. an insect) to their still lifes? (Not still lives – I had to look it up…)

    Liked by 7 people

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  3. Fab Four;
    Still practicing? I’d like to see someone try to outdo her! Great job, Dina. The balance is perfect causing your eyes to encircle every item.
    Best wishes for you all!
    GP Cox

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

    • Thank you VERY much, dear GP Cox, you are so kind 🙂
      It’s always fun setting up such still lifes to produce the perfect stimulus for the eyes of the onlooker.
      We wish you a wonderful day. We are nearly off up North. Siri and Selma are already very much excited.
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 4 people

    • Dear Rob,
      thank you so much for liking Dina’s photo. Our inspiration were the early stil lifes of the brothers Hubert and Jan van Eyck in the 15th c. and
      the Baroque still life paintings in Flanders of the17th c. with their symbolism. And of course symbolistic pictures need low light, the darkness where all symbols come from, the mysticism.
      All the best
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 3 people

  10. Love the sumptuousness about it – rich colours and the black background has an allure of mystery. i recently received an ‘art’ scarf – a copy of Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder’s Still life of Flowers in a Wan-Li vase…. so luxurious. Love your creative photographic representations, Dina. Brings a new element to your work.

    Liked by 5 people

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    • I fully agree with you!
      These still lifes are a marriage of Baroque paintings and modern photography. I really like this combination of old and new and, of course, the symbolism mixed with a certain dose of mysticism. As you do I see Dina’s still lifes as new dimension and style in her photography.
      All the best
      Klausbernd 🙂

      Liked by 3 people

  11. Das schönste an der Vergänglichkeit ist, daß der Augenblick nicht zurückkehrt –die Erinnerung daran jedoch unsterblich ist.
    Wie Dinas Fotos und Kbs Texte, wunderbar harmonisch!

    Liked by 6 people

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    • Actually this still life is constructed by contrasts like dark and vibrant, the hard stone and the glass that easily breaks, the living moss and the dead plants … in the end it all refers to life and death like a classic Baroque still life. Well, you have this contrast already in the word still life as life is never still …
      Thanks and cheers
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 2 people

    • Dear Adrian,
      I absolutely agree! Dina should concentrate on still lifes. And that fits very well our blog, as in the still lifes of the baroque emblemata text and picture are equally important and the both reinforce each other.
      We are quite busy now as our holiday starts at the end of the week and we have a change of guests at the same time. But we are so excited going up North.
      All the best, take care
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 2 people

    • Dear Sheldon
      Thank you very much for liking Dina’s photography.
      Good idea to try out what it will look like in black and white. We were quite influenced by paintings of the 16th and 17th c. therefore we didn’t think of black and white.
      Love from
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 3 people

    • Danke, lieber Pit 🙂
      ich hätte ja nie gedacht, dass ich Dina mit meinem Wissen aus dem Grundstudium Germanistik helfen könnte. Ich spezialisierte mich damals auf Barock, die Emblemata und Sonette von Gryphius & Co. Ich hätte überhaupt nie gedacht, dass ich dieses fast vergessene Wissen noch einmal benutzen könnte. Aber jetzt kommt es gut zuammen, Dinas Fotografie und meine Texte und unsere Ideen zur Komposition. Mich fasziniert hieran auch, wie der “time gap” von 400 Jahren fein überwunden werden kann.
      Übrigens das Bild “Der Magus” vom letzten Blog war ja im Grunde auch ein Stilleben.
      Just before leaving for the North
      Mit ganz lieben Grüßen
      Klausbernd 🙂

      Liked by 3 people

    • Dear Pete
      before we go up North we thank you very much for your kind words 🙂
      Old meets new is one theme of this still life as it is light and shadow, focus and unfocussed …
      With lots of love from the sunny coast
      The Fab Four of Cley
      ❤ xxx

      Liked by 2 people

    • Dear Amy
      we are very happy that you like Dina’s photography 🙂 Siri and Selma like setting up those still lifes to be photographed by Dina and our dear Master gives his advice.
      With lots of love ❤
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 1 person

  29. Everything in this amazing still-life points to the ephemeral nature of life: the moss covered brick, the empty bottle, the shriveled rose hips, the dried up seed pods. Yet, all objects hold the promise of new life. Well done, Dina! I will check Instagram to see if your image is there too. Greetings from rainy Canada!

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

    • Dear Peter,
      actually nearly all of the classic still lifes of the 16th and 17th c are based on the topic of life and death. You are absolutely right we wanted to express death, hope, resurrection – memento mori but do remeber there is always something new born – like this inspiration from 400 years ago being revived with modern low key photography. Actually we suppose there are hardly any painters around who are able to paint like the Flemish painters of the Baroque.
      With warm greetings from the sunny coast of Norfolk
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 1 person

    • Thank you for the explanation of the deeper meaning of a still-life! Dina’s photo was so well done that I instinctively sensed the original intent of this art form. It is both inspiring and satisfying to be able to communicate one’s innermost feelings without words. Canada from coast to coast is plagued by heavy rainfalls. Warmest greetings to sunny Norfolk! Peter and Biene

      Liked by 3 people

    • Thanks, dear Peter,
      we desperately need some rain here. But actually it’s every year like this as we are situated in the shadow of the western parts of England. Send some rain over to Norfolk, please!
      Wishing you and Biene a happy weekend. We are off for a holiday up North, Orkneys and the northern coast of Scotland.
      All the best
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 2 people

    • Lieber Linus,
      klar, du hast das richtig geschrieben. Vielen Dank Tusen Takk 🙂 🙂
      Das finden wir aber echt toll, dass dir unser Blog so gut gefällt. Das gibt direkt Schwung, fröhlich und emsig weiterzumachen.
      Wir fahren jetzt allerdings erst einmal in den höchsten Norden der Insel, zu den Orkneys und der Nordküste Schottlands, worauf wir uns schon sehr freuen. Vielleicht wird Dina einige Fotos von dieser kargen Landschaft posten. Aber wir werden auch einfach nur faulenzen und das Nichtstun genießen.
      Alles Liebe dir und bis dann.
      Halte dich wacker, lustig und munter
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 1 person

    • Good evening, dear Sally,
      thank you very much! 🙂 We are always looking for things we can use and combine – oh dear, our conservatory gets more and more full of junk.
      We especially love to merge opposites in those pictures.
      Have a cosy evening
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 1 person

    • Good morning, dear Clare,
      we are happy that you like Dina’s photography 🙂 🙂
      We started building this still life with this mossy brick from our garden and then went from there.
      We sure having a great holiday. We have never been that far north on this island here before.
      Wishing you a happy weekend
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 2 people

    • Good mornig, dear Sue on the other side of the world 🙂 🙂
      We are VERY happy that you like our art work. We love still life paintings very much as well. It’s amazing how well those Baroque artists were able to paint and the mood they produced in their paintings. It were times when lots and lots of people were dying and one can feel this morbid atmosphere in those still lifes of the 16th and 17th c.
      We wish you a happy weekend
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 2 people

    • Hello Fab Four. Yes, I think part of what attracts me to still life paintings is the knowledge that they have such deep meanings and can tell us so much about the life and culture of their time.
      Wishing you a very happy weekend.
      From Aotearoa, my little corner of the world, Nga Mihi Nui (my best wishes).

      Liked by 4 people

    • Thank you very much, dear Su
      we are leaving now to our favourite areas of the world, the North.
      From the way up North warmest greetings from
      Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma, the happy Bookfayries

      Liked by 3 people

    • Dear Su
      thank you 🙂
      We send lots of love around of the world to Aotearoa (oh dear, we had to look it up in our encyclopedia).
      All the best
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

    • I should have provided a translation! Maori is such a beautiful language and I am trying to learn it and use it more. It is our second official language, but not used enough.
      Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    • Good morning, dear Hjerter ❤
      thank you very much!
      We learn quite a bit answering all the commentaries and, of course, producing our posts. Therefore we love this communication on our blog and thank you all for it!
      Thanks for wishing safe travels. We are sure having a great time up north and that we will come back home happily.
      With a big HUG ❤ and xxxx kisses
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 1 person

    • It was all set up on our kitchen table with natural light from a big window facing West in the afternoon. Light was partly blocked off and lead by black and white cardboard. We were inspired by our Masters studies of Baroque emblemata and constructed the set up following symbolistic ideas of the Flemish artists of the 16th and 17th c. There we learned how to direct the light and about clear and un-clear parts of the picture. Besides the early Flemish still lifes we studied Albrecht Schöne’s classic “Emblemata” for symbolism and special effects
      All the best, good luck
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 3 people

    • Actually the set up of the objects is at least as important as the photography. To get the right dose of harmony and tension and the hidden philosophy of those still lifes. Still lifes have always been a philosophical art, not just “nice pictures” and this philosophical background makes their magic and rules the set up.
      With fairy dust from
      Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma, the clever Bookfayries

      Liked by 4 people

  44. Apologies for repeating myself, but your (Dina) photography just gets better and better. I have never attempted a still life and I think it is harder than it looks to get the balance right. Love the moss-covered brick! And have a fab holiday fab four in the Orkneys, I can only imagine the wonderful photos you will bring back from there. Just make sure those girls are well tethered as I suspect it will be a little windy up there!
    Jude xx

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

    • Your are so kind, Jude❣️ Thanks a lot. I’m packing now and my first concern is my photo gear. After making sure Siri and Selma 👭 are all set, of course. We bring clothing for two seasons. Our first stop on the way to the Farne Isles will be Barter Books and the girls are overexcited, counting their fairy money and making lists of books to look for… (we too)
      Lost of love to you in Cornwall. xx

      Liked by 2 people

    • Hi, dear Jude,
      I just packed special ropes for our sweet little Bookfayries in our car’s boot. Those ropes are colourful, weight nothing and are a bit like rubber bands. They hold our dear ones safely. Siri and Selma are already sooooo excited. Actually I as well.
      I wonder how we will get all the equippment in our estate.
      Harmony and tension is the key to still lifes as well as life and death in the end. It’s a philosophical art always hiding a deeper meaning. We started with the moss covered brick and went from there.
      Have a great time
      Klausbernd 🙂

      Liked by 3 people

    • Hey Jude
      Dina bought us big funny hats in bright red and yellow against the dive-bombing birds and we will hold long sticks as we read in our fairy books that the birds always dive down to the highest point. We hope for the best. We can tell you we are so excited …
      Lots of finest fairy dust from your little friends
      Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma

      Liked by 3 people

  45. This is lovely. What catches my eye immediately is the colour green – the branches of the rose hips, the vibrant moss, the soft green of the rosemary and the wonderful, almost frosted green of the bottle. So cleverly put together!
    Dina I connected with you yesterday on Instagram, but then remembered why I don’t use it. I use my PC for all my photography, and don’t own a smart phone. When I signed up with Instagram I didn’t realise there was no app for a PC! 🙂

    Liked by 5 people

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    • There’s no app for a pc and that’s what kept me away too, Jude. But I have found a way to use Instagram on my iMac!!😇 I bought Flume (10$) and no it works easy peasy. You can post all your photos by drag and drop. Klausbernd has an Instagram account too now (selma helped him) and he used his iPad to insert a photo.
      I don’t know what to think about Instagram actually. I had an account for two years or more and never activated it until this week. We want to stay happy bloggers and at the same time, not spend so much time on the net. When we blogged about Instagram, we immediately lost 10 followers. Coincident? On the other hand, I have seen many ex-bloggers (the ones that suddenly stop from one day to another without a notification) now happily posting their photos on IG.
      Maybe you would like to give it a try? 😊
      Best wishes, Dina x

      Liked by 1 person

    • We use Linux operating systems on our PC’s, and I have got the IG app on my Android tablet. But it seems like too much faffing around to xfer photos from the pc to the tablet! I must be like Klausbernd – a bit stuck in my ways. Also I wonder about the benefits of IG for me. I love blogging but have been reluctantly dragged into social media to some extent. I refuse to use Twitter! It’s used by people like D. Trump!!! 😬😵😨

      Liked by 1 person

    • Dear Jude,
      we are so happy that you like this still life. It all started with the moss covered brick and then we went from there following and partly breaking the priciples of the classic Baroque still lifes. Tension and harmony of the colours is one level, as you noticed.
      Our dear Master doesn’t use his smart phone as well. It’s not his style, how he puts it. So we, Dina and the clever Bookfayries, are in charge of his instagram account. We suppose he doesn’t really understand what instagram is for. He prefers blogging, whereas Dina likes instagram for presenting her pictures – not iPhone-pics but real pics!
      Wishing you all the best xxx
      The Fab Four of Cley ❤

      Liked by 2 people

    • HELP
      We don’t know what it is, but exactly since we mentioned that we are on instagram we lost already 15 followers until now and that in 2 days. This is very unusual as the highest number of losses in 2 days was 2 followers until now. Is instagram the devil, you are not allowed to mention? Are we naiv bloggers being active on instagram as well? We have no idea how to understand this effect.
      We know this that exactly as our dear Master keeps a statistic of or blog every day for the last 6 years.
      Has anybody an idea how to understand this effect?
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 3 people

    • Not a clue! I can’t think why anyone would stop following you because you use Instagram – it makes no sense. Maybe a bunch of your followers have simply gone on holiday. I sometimes don’t make comments on blogs because I’ve become too busy with other things. Your blog has so much, I’m sure your followers will return. 😀😘

      Liked by 2 people

  46. This is very nice. Such a beautiful composition with low light and thoughtful wording. Still life photography can be really interesting, but too often we see dull arrangements and most of all the light is not right.
    From the comments, I take it that you are on your way to the North. Have a great holiday!
    Love from Paul & Amy. x

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    • Good afternoon, dear Paul and Amy
      thank you very much for liking our post. We absolutely agree, still life photography is quite often boring because it’s only seen from the technical aspect of photography. But of course since the beginning of such still lifes in the 16th c it was always an art expressing a philosophical message. Without such a message a still life lacks dimensions and tension and it’s not that differen from modern advertisment-photography. We suppose that digital photography seduces the photographer just to go in more and gadgets forgetting about other dimensions of a picture and especially the philosophical dimension that’s part of every artefact. Therefore all “nice” pictures look alike. The photographer plays around with a dramatic horizon or an unnatural sun as it is in nowadays. But why?
      This kind of still life photography is the opposite. The photographer reflects what he/she wants to express, why he/she arranges the objects as he/she does. And isn’t this more interesting than thinking about filters and computer programmes for post production?
      Here we want to bring an old school of art together with modern technologies. We try to revive photography with the Baroque demands on art. Our dear and clever Siri sees this as a move against “mindless photography”, as she calls it.
      We and especially our dear Dina surely will go on in this direction.
      And now we are on the road up North
      Thanks a lot for inspiring
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 1 person

    • Hi, dear Paul and Amy 🙂 🙂
      to make it clear, what we were laughing and complainig about: In most of the photoblogs you find commentaries like “great”, “what a nice picture” and other meaningless commentaries. On the other hand the photographers are quite often speechless as well.
      We Bookfayries want to give photography a sense again. And we push Dina in this direction.
      With lots of finest fairy dust
      Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma, the clever Bookfayries

      Liked by 1 person

    • Dear Klausbernd and Siri
      if I understand your very interesting answer right, you and Siri are the “brain trust” of this blog or should I say the chief-idologist 😉
      Your thoughts about blogging as the combination of words and pictures and your thoughts about an iconographic language are very important. I am with you with your critique of the mindless pictures flooding many blogs. What makes a picture meaningful is the basic question or with other words what makes a great picture. Does a picture needs a text? How can combining pictures with texts create something new, a new dimension?
      Your blog is really special as it reflects blogging on a high level. I hope you go on in this direction. Should I say you are writing a prolegomena to a theory of blogging? You do and I am happy about your thoughts. They transform blogging to an interesting way to find a language beyond cliches. After I read your answers to the comments I will blog in different way. Thank you!
      Last not least I admire Dina’s photography. The language of her pictures stands out of the masses of “nice pictures”. I really like how you are on the way to your own individual language. Go on! Fabulous you are!
      Now enjoy your holiday
      Paul

      Liked by 3 people

    • Dear Paul,
      please, may I have a word? I, Selma, have a brain as well. And that brain of mine is something more than merely mortal, as time will show. 😉
      Yours kindly, Selma, the creative spirit of the Fab Four

      Like

    • Dear Selma,
      mea culpa, mea culpa – please forgive me! My mistake, I was of course answering Both of you clever Bookfayries. 🙂
      Mea maxima culpa, Selma.
      Your devoted follower,
      Paul x

      Liked by 2 people

  52. Ohhhhhhhhhh! MAGIC!!!!
    It’s absolutely fantastic following you. Your talents are unendless.
    Knowing you personally makes your blog for me super interesting and special. It’s like a ” lucky bag” every time. I always think “this is the best ever” and then the “next, even better” turns up.
    You won’t loose me as a follower even if you prefare Instagram.
    Maybe you can explain it to us bloggers ( who don’t exactly know what it is). Would really appreciate hearing about it in your words.
    Oohhh! I can hear some strange comments!!
    🙋🇮🇪👼🏼🍀

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Dear RH, we are at the very northern end of Scotland, sitting in the cosy hotel lounge in front of the open fire 🔥 and enjoying life. It’s like in Norway 🇳🇴 at some places here.
      Thanks a lot and all the best
      💃👭🚶
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 1 person

    • Dear Brenda,
      we are already at the very northern end of Scotland. Great 👍 landscapes, fine whisky 🥃 and cosy hotel.
      Unfortunately we had quite a wind at the Farne Islands so we could do our planned round trip by boat 🚣 but we had been holydaying at the Farnes before.
      Thanks 🙏 for your good wishes
      💃👭🚶
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 2 people

    • We enjoyed the very north of Scotland very, very much and had a great time on the Orkneys. Weather was more Italian than Scottish 🙂 Coming back south is a kind of a culture shock.
      All the best and have a great time on the Orkneys as well
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 1 person

    • Dear Denise
      Dina took this photograph with natural light from a big west facing window.
      The combination of objects followed our studies of Baroque emblemata. It took us quite a while to combine all those objects in the way of a philosophical idea.
      Thanks 🙏 for commenting
      💃👭🚶
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 2 people

    • Liebe 💗 Pia
      Von den Orkneys sind wir nun weit südlicher gerade am Loch Ness angelangt, Nessie gucken. Wir werden noch zwei Wochen unterwegs sein, etwas am Loch Ness verweilen und im Lake District. Neben Nessie möchte unsere liebe ❤️ 💃 noch Herdwick Schafe streicheln und fotografieren, weißt du, die vom bedruckten Kissen, das uns geschenkt hast.🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑
      Grüßen vom Liebsten von uns und Nessie
      💃👭🚶
      The Fab Four Of Cley

      Liked by 1 person

    • Dear Madhu
      thank you so much for your kind commentary 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 that made us very happy.
      Wishing you a happy weekend
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Like

    • Good morning, dear Robyn,
      thanks for your commentary. We love still lifes as well and try to persuade Dina to do more.
      With lots of love from the sunny sea
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Like

    • Dear Reocochran,
      the classic still lifes you find in Dutch and Belgium museums, as there was a tradition painting still life in Flanders.
      With lots of love and thank you
      The Fab Four of Cley

      Liked by 1 person

    • Thank you for your lovely painting examples and the interesting details found in the classic still life paintings. Dutch and Belgium museums would be so thrilling for me, since art is one of my true interests, (passions!)
      Flanders would be a beautiful setting to also paint outdoor scenery. 🎨
      Even though not the same place, my Grandma (Paula Hilmida) was born in Germany. She always seemed to be doing needlework and sewed beautifully. She admired Johannes Vermeer’s portraits.
      Hugs to the girls, you (Klaus) and Dina. xoxo 💞

      Like

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