Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Queen for a day!


button courtesy and design by Shin

Welcome everybody! Iedereen hartelijk welkom!
(een vertaling van deze blogpost staat helemaal onderaan)


Welcome to this surprise blogparty in honor of the very talented Susanna Gordon.
If you know Susanna because of her great photography and her winged messenger guerilla art, please continue to read. For those of you who know her but just cannot think of what at this moment: just look here and here. For those of you who are too lazy to follow a link; I will shortly explain what it's all about.


Me holding a winged messenger

Susanna Gordon is a very talented artist. I especially know her from her winged messenger project, so I will stick to that in this post. Susanna makes these beautiful pieces of art; paper winged envelopes with hopeful lines written on them, to leave them somewhere for somebody to be found, hoping that the message is an unexpected, but very welcome surprise.


My line 'You really are a friend' on top, Susanna's line 'Share your dreams with someone' on the bottom

Soon after she started, those little pieces of art were sent around the world to be spread by others. Now that is where I come to this stage; I was so lucky to be one of the people who were given one envelope ready to be spread by Susanna, the other given to me was blank and I could think of a line myself.
I made dozens of photos, in my hometown Dordrecht as well as in Rotterdam, finally leaving the messages in Rotterdam, you can read all about it here.



A little while ago, I was contacted through email by Angie Byers, who had the fab idea gathering the women, who were involved in Susanna's winged messengers project, to do something back for Susanna, as we all had so much enjoyed being part of this project. We decided to have a blogparty in honor of Susanna Gordon, Shin designed a blog button and while Susanna was sleeping I was writing this post for her.

In this post I'll show you some more photos I have taken for this project but which somehow didn't make it to the selection, which of course were not that many photos. It also reveals some of my thoughts of why these photos shouldn't be in that selection. Hope you will have fun!



This was the very first photo I made for this project: The winged messenger on a 19th century fountain, which wasn't working at that moment.
In this country we almost always have to deal with wind, so the wings were moving and making it harder to have photos without unwanted shades. I already knew that I don't like these kind of photos of a detail, it's not my style. For this project I wanted the message to be clear too:



In Rotterdam I started with this photo. Message clear, but again what are we looking at?



Next shot ^; I think it is just too bad that you don't see this:



But now^ you cannot read the messages anymore...:-(, actually you hardly see them.
There is always something wrong!



This would be better, you even see the famous dice houses from architect Blom in the background, as well as his 'pencil' building.



Here a shot in the courtyard of the dice houses. My lovely assistant had to go upstairs to put the winged messenger against the gate, then run out of site and hope that the envelope wouldn't be blown away by the wind, which happened, she had to run down, up again and that several times. while I was trying to make a photo. Thanks to my assistant too! These photo sessions wouldn't have been possible without them and a lot of chewing gum holding the wings in their place (credit chewing gum idea:the assistants!)



On other photos there was so much to see that I doubted whether the messengers would get enough attention.



I thought that the winged messengers were best in my photos of small things. But boy did I have fun trying things and walking and enjoying all comments of passers, who were all surprised by the messengers!






Maybe this^ one for Christmas?






I spent two days having so much fun, enjoying every minute of it, thanks to Susanna!
Thank you for letting me take part in this wonderful experience. And I love this blogparty in honor of you. I hope Susanna likes to have this little addition to the photos she already has, as well as an explanation of why I choose the photographs the way I did. These photos as well of all other participants should be in our Flickr group, the URL follows, sorry for that.
Do you want to visit the other participants just look at my blogroll to see whether their posts are up yet. Thanks to Angie and all participants for making this happen.
Thanks for visiting me, and a very special thank you for doing that to that lovely artist:

Susanna Gordon!

Even een korte vertaling voor de Nederlandstalige lezers;
Welkom op de blogparty ter ere van fotografe en kunstenares Susanna Gordon.
Ik schreef al eerder over dit project, waar ik ook bij betrokken was.
Enige tijd geleden werd ik benaderd door Angie Byers om gezamenlijk met alle vrouwen die bij dit project betrokken waren 'iets' terug te doen voor Susanna, omdat we allemaal zo van dit project genoten hadden en om haar te bedanken. Uiteindelijk is dat een blogevent geworden. Aan de rechterkant van mijn blog heb ik een speciale lijst gemaakt van deelnemers aan dit blogevenement.
Ik heb nog eens een greep gedaan in de foto's die ik nog had voor dit project, het project van de gevleugelde boodschappers. Kijk en oordeel zelf of het terecht was dat deze foto's de selectie niet doorstonden, ik vond het ook een zeer leerzaam project! Wij hebben als groep ook een Flickr album gemaakt, misschien ook leuk om eens een kijkje te nemen, veel plezier!
Bedankt voor je bezoek!

52 comments:

Lori said...

i love those winged messengers...i hope your messages were found by someone who needed a "pick me up"...this was such a great idea!!!

Miss Marple said...

Ach, die had ik ook zooo graag gehad! Na jouw eerste berichtje hierover had ik Susanna geschreven, ze wilde ook mijn adres hebben, maar ik heb jammergenoeg nooit iets ontvangen.
Leuk, dat jullie iets voor haar terug hebben gedaan!
Lieve groetjes - Irma

LW said...

This is a wonderful project and I enjoyed looking at your photos…
I first read about Susanna in a Somerset magazine. What an amazing
thing for so many to take part in…

A few kind words can go a long way…

Louise

somepinkflowers said...

wonderful!
aren't the wings magical?

and
held in place
with chewing gum!

:-)

how bright of your assistants!

{{ note to self-->go find
1 or 2 bright assistants. }}

Victoria - Florence and Mary said...

What a lovely idea

Victoria xxx

aliceinparis said...

Lovely blog post and fun to see your pictures! Have a great day:) Cheers, Shelagh

The French Bear said...

I think that was so fabulous, i still talk about it when I get together with friends. We should do that across the world all on one day!!!
What fun!
Hugs,
Margaret B

rochambeau said...

Hi LiLi,
If not for Susanna,
We would never have met.
So glad we have!

xox
Constance

christina said...

oh what a glorious tribute!
i love it over here! so nice to "meet" you!
xo

Leslie said...

Your post for Susanna's party is brilliant! I love visiting all of the places you took her wonderful wings! And yes, assistants with chewing gum. Good idea!

Cape Cod Rambling Rose said...

What a truly wonderful idea! Winged messagse of cheer! I hope they were spotted by someone who needed some cheerfulness in their lives!

Unknown said...

What a delight!! to see Susanna's wings in your hometown!!

susanna said...

You have me cracking up out loud with this post, LiLi. You have a terrific sense of humour!

I am beyond thrilled with your surprise post this morning. It was completely unexpected and I had to reread Angie's email three times to understand who, what, where, a queen? And then I started hopping from one blog to another and could NOT believe what I was reading. YOU ROCK! Do you know that? YES, YOU ROCK! Who knew I was going to have such a fabulous day today - I didn't but I AM! Hurray!

And thank YOU for battling the wind and thank your assistant for giving up his or her gum to make my project so much better! I love your photos.

susanna said...

PS: From now on, I'm going to sleep with one eye open. ;p

June said...

Hi Lili,
This must be such a wonderful surprise for a wonderful woman. Spreading hope across this city would have been a ton of fun. I know I had a ton of it looking at your photos.
Years ago a group of us put messages in helium baloons and sent them in the air hoping they would find their way to people. Our version of message in a bottle.
Hugs,
June

Isabel said...

Smiling as I see all the photos you took. My daughter and brother also held the wings with gum when they took the photos in Portugal.

gum, tape...I think what actually keeps these wings in place is FRIENDSHIP, don't you think?

I'm so glad Susanna and her wings linked us all!

xox

Isabel

Shin said...

Wat leuk, een mede winged messenger deelneemster uit Rotterdam. Ik heb vroeger in Capelle gewoond. Dank je wel voor het vermelden dat ik de button heb gemaakt. Erg leuke "blogpost". :)

De Ruijsbroekjes said...

ik probeer het te begrijpen, maar ik snap het niet. Ik denk dathet voor mij net te hoog gegrepen is ofzo..'t ziet er wel heel leuk uit, en ik zie dat je bijna voor m'n deur langs gelopen bent in Rotterdam ;-)
Grappig, volgende keer kom ik weer at vaker zodat ik het beter ga begrijpen hoor, sorry hoor. Fijne avond!

De Ruijsbroekjes said...

oh wacht hahaha ik lees het nu net nog eens..maar het gaat me dagen..tjongen wat een sufkop ben ik. Wat een leuke actie!

Olga said...

Good evening to you!

How nice seing a bit of YOUR world!
My attempt was really the same - to show a bit of Stockholm. But the intentions of the wings I got was different :-)

All th best to you Lili!

Your blog is beautiful!

/Olga

Relyn Lawson said...

I had so much fun imagining Susanna's messengers flying so many miles away from their creator. And then having such wonderful adventures with you.

Angie said...

Beautiful LiLi, just beautiful.

Thank you for your help and input - this never would have gotten accomplished without your help!

And it IS wonderful to see the people behind the images. :o)

-Angie

barbara said...

That is just so cool. It would be so great to just stumble across one of those messages.

Anonymous said...

Oh what a wonderful idea. I bet you did have a wonderful time. There is a wonderful lady who just lost her young daughter in Arizazona, USA. Go to http://womanofwisdom-peggy.blogspot.com to read about her and my tribute to her. You can comment and join in our support of her. You can find this site on my profile too.
QMM

Elyse said...

how cool, LiLi!

xo

Andrea said...

How fun! Those little messages are adorable!

Kristin said...

what beautiful pictures. I remember seeing some on Susanna's blog. You should definitely make a Christmas card out of the one in the holly! Nice to meet you too!

Marja Rijnsburger said...

Wat een geweldige post weer. Het vleugeltjes idee doet me denken aan de Turkse cabaretiere Nilgun Yerli. Zij was afgelopen dinsdag gast bij Pauw en Witteman. Zij vertelde daar dat zij een soort van liefdesoffensief zou beginnen naar Geert Wilders, om hem door middel van bloemen en brieven van Turkse en Marrokaanse studenten te laten voelen en weten dat er heelveel medelanders zijn die heel wat in hun mars hebben. Volgens haar de enige manier om mensen anders te doen laten denken en doen. Ik vond het een geweldig idee. De aanhouder wint. Maar goed ik dwaal natuurlijk weer heel erg af (of toch eigenlijk niet).
Meer naar vrouwen luisteren zou volgens mij heel goed zijn.
Women Power!!!!!
Groetjes en bedankt voor een heel gezellige maandag.

Heleen said...

Wat prachtig al die gevleugelde berichtjes.. ze zouden door het hele land op onverwachtte plekken mogen opduiken!

Castles Crowns and Cottages said...

Bonjour Lili! What a great, great artist and the photos are so much fun. Oh, there is so much art and beauty to be had, n'est-ce pas? So very, very glad to know you and share your art and dreams! Bisous ma chère, Anita

margie said...

a lovely tribute.

Rostrose said...

I love this idea!
Und ich kann mir den Spass, den du dabei hattest, sehr gut vorstellen!
Hugs & groetjes, Traude

Decor To Adore said...

Oh Lili I just adore this idea!

Often I will pay for the drink of soemone behind me in line as a similar gesture of sharing love.

It's fun isn't it?

What swaps are you doing for Christmas?

Castles Crowns and Cottages said...

Oh my dearest Lili! Your extra visit has made my day! Sometimes being a teacher has its hard challenges, and I have had a couple lately, but your kindness will not be forgotten this day! ( I just love that picture of the river, or canal? in the middle of the city....so beautiful!) Have a beautiful day out there in the Netherlands! Anita

casa nostra said...

ik hoor dus bij die lazy persons, hahaha, maar omdat ik er geen sikkepit van snapte heb ik toch maar op de link geklikt en nu snap ik het helemaal. een erg leuk idee! ben er weer vandoor, want heb weer eens heel wat in te halen. fijn weekend alvast.

Anonymous said...

Lovely photos with these wings !

Fete et Fleur said...

This is what blogging is all about. The winged messengers are wonderful!!

Hugs!
Nancy

Laura @ 52 FLEA said...

This was such a wonderful tribute to someone who has inspired and contributed so much to others...It was a generous and thoughtful project and you were a part of that! So thank you Lili! A wonderful post with great photos!
:) Laura

María Elena said...

Hi Lili, great fun it must have been looking for where to put wings and then hit the objective.
Hugs

Betty said...

That is so wonderful!! I can just imagine you and your assistant having so much fun with your wings!!

Splashes of Pink and Mint said...

Ik had er natuurlijk al eerder iets over gelezen bij je (en in de Somerset) en vind het echt een prachtig idee! Kan me voorstellen dat omstanders af en toe raar naar je hebben staan kijken!
Maar als ik hier, gewoon op een boom of brug of zo,zulke vleugels tegen zou komen, dan geloof ik dat m'n hele dag goed zou zijn!

Betzie said...

Simple but so sweet and hope they touch others lives as she touched yours...

rochambeau said...

Have a great weekend LiLi!
A deliciously sweet one too!
xox
Constance

Mo'a said...

The Winged Messengers have certainly traveled the wold over. I love the photos of where your's landed.
I am so happy to have been able to take part in this great project :)

Unknown said...

What a great way to lift up people's spirits! I just love it!!

Sandy :)

Jeanette Nord said...

Lili My dear friend! You are a wonderful person and if I had a winged messenger I would have put it right on your door!

Lots of love to you
Jeanette

Castles Crowns and Cottages said...

Ma chère Lili, Oh, your visits are a treasure to my heart as well! I agree, there are some blogs where you can visit and feel the spirit of the person writing it; I feel that way when I come to visit your sweet space. I just showed my husband your photos of those gorgeous canals and buildings and he sighed and said, "OH, in my wildest of dreams as well, I would love to visit the Netherlands." I have three beloved friends there; you are one of them. Have a magnificent day, Anita

Marianne said...

Ik vond je gevleugelde bodes al leuk toen ik ze de eerste keer zag, maar nu zijn ze nog veel leuker! Wat een geweldige foto's, mislukt of niet de lol spat er wel af.
Goed gedaan deze tribute!

Unknown said...

Those Winged Messengers are certainly special! It makes for a marvelous experience to say the least! Thanks for sharing the awesome photos!

Anja said...

Ongelofelijk hoe actief jij blijft in blogland. Echt heel leuk! En zo te zien word je er ook nog mee verwend, top!

Fijne week en ik kom wel weer eens kijken...
Groetjes, Anja

basiclabelSweden said...

Dank je voor je lieve berichtje, hier ook eerst niet op het eiland, maar die gene die ziek werd was net van vaste land verhuisd ach hahaha.. zul je altijd zien!

We hopen dat het daarbij blijft, de hele lagere school en middelbare school is nu vervroegt geent!

Catharina Maria said...

Prachtige plekjes heb je er voor gevonden !
Liefs Rini