~Dostoevsky
Cyganeria is a Polish word meaning, essentially, an artistic bohemia. It is a place of beauty, a place where beauty is made and nourished. An artistic, free space. I suppose I created the blog in order to share the beauty I’m trying to live, and to have another way to reflect, discuss, and grow in my artistic life. Cyganeria has evolved since I began it, though, as my life has altered and settled. It began more as a collection of images - moments in time, writ large; it has become, I hope, more thoughtful, with more effort given to individual posts. This is in part, I think, due to my family’s move out of the city and off the grid. Internet access and time online is limited for me, so I try to use it well.
..To Masha:
“I have nothing to declare, except my genius.”
~Oscar Wilde
I am young. A wife, a mother, a potter, and a poet. I am pursuing beauty with a passion, drinking too much coffee, wearing too much eyeliner, and reading too many bad books in my spare time. I hope daily to get an extra three hours of sleep each night, but rarely make the sacrifices necessary to make that a reality. In the summer, I think longingly of autumn leaves, in the winter I plan gardens and spring days full of fun. I live on the blurry line between dreams and reality, often loosing objects and ideas over one side or the other.
On Sundays and holy days I sing psalms and eat God; on the days between I feed chickens, pigs, and a neurotic dog while my daughter imitates the elves and my husband labors to sustain us all.
..To my inspirations:
I tend to come back again and again to particular writers for inspiration. A few of the most important are:
Rainer Maria Rilke: A German lyric poet of the early 20th century. Rilke’s poems feed my soul more than any other writer. I feel at home in his images and they are always in my mind, giving a rich softness to the world I see.
Soren Kierkegaard: A Danish thinker of the mid-19th century. Considered the father of existentialism by some, certainly of Christian existentialism.
Cyprian Norwid: A poet of the Polish-Romantic movement. 19th century. Scarier in photos than Rilke, but absolutely lovely poetically
Kathleen Norris: A contemporary American poet. Her reflections on writing, monasticism, and daily life are fascinating to me.
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