Massachusetts and More on an Ohio Street Corner

There are many ways to travel:  in dreams; in actuality; in books; in songs; in films, but on the breezy and chilly night of Saturday, April 21, 2012, other patrons and I visited many places that were new to us by way of an exhibition of photographs.  Snapshots by the brilliant eye of Rebecca Cummings, behind her Canon 5D Mark II SLR, this photographic tour was on view at Dreaming Tree Galleries (www.dreamingtreegalleries.com),  located on the corner of Broadway and Columbus Streets in historic Town Center of Grove City, Ohio.

 

Having operated the gallery since 2006, Rebecca and her partner, Rod McIntyre opened it initially as a venue to show and to sell Rebecca’s photography.  While this remains a vital aspect of the establishment, over the years it has evolved into a contemporary art gallery servicing photographers and artists of the area—exhibiting their work, making art prints, and teaching classes in art and photography.  The space is also available for special events.

Included in the fabulous exhibition of April 21^st were many bests of the USA, a dog-leg tour featuring city views of Ohio’s capital, Columbus, to breathtaking vignettes of Ohio’s Hocking Hills nature preserve, to incredible, interior shots of abandoned Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, among them an award-winning photo of a rusting and pitted, red-leather barber’s chair beneath a dust-misted shaft of sun from a skylight in the deteriorating ceiling of the space.  On to New England the colorful portals on this world led us, where in Plymouth, Rockport, and Provincetown, Massachusetts, we saw the trappings of this seaboard state:  buoys, nets, and other fishing gear; boats in abundance; “No Fishing” and “No Docking” signs on the sides of sea-worn shacks; seagulls on rocky shores; a lighthouse in Gloucester, and a summer courtyard in Salem, all of them infused with the astonishing light Rebecca manages to capture in her images. 

Next, we traveled to points south where we witnessed from a bird’s eye view, a breast stroke by a lone swimmer in Webb Pierce’s guitar-shaped pool in Nashville, and we climbed a stone staircase in Savannah, Georgia, the palms of our hands nearly tingling with the texture of its black wrought-iron railings.  And my favorite, of which I purchased a print, a red door viewed through four swirls of a black, wrought-iron gate in Charleston, South Carolina.  When later I showed the print to my cousin, Christina, her eyes misted with feeling.  This is a typical reaction to the photographs of Rebecca Cummings, photographs that are just that titillating to one’s senses and imagination.

I suggest that you log onto the gorgeous website indicated above just as quickly as your fingers will get you there.  Set up in eight galleries of photographs:  Architectural; Cars; Cityscapes & scenes; Eastern State Penitentiary; Flora; Gadgets & Gizmos; Landscapes; and Massachusetts, it will take you on your own mini retreat right there in your chair in front of your computer screen, a short break in your day you will savor, and never forget.

An award-winning artist, the online gallery of Linda’s artwork can be viewed at www.gallery-llgreene.com.    

A best-selling author, Linda’s next novel, Guardians and Other Angels will soon to be available in book form and digitally at www.Amazon.com and at www.Barnes&Noble.com.