Over 700 geo-political entities have issued stamps since 1840 from Andorra (where both France and Spain issue stamps) to Zimbabwe (featuring their  musical instruments). 

Stamps are functional art with images of everything from Chippendale chairs and circus nostalgia to Chinese drums on lunar new year stamps. Some countries have even embedded volcanic ash, embroidery, meteorite dust, cork, crystals, and chocolate into their postage stamps. In different lands, stamps tell local stories and preserve cultural heritage. The Prince of Venice stamps recently released in Cyprus, present scenes from an illustrated fairytale while Nordic stamps tell myths of light and darkness. Hungarian stamps illustrate parts of A Thousand and One Nights, while the genie Aladdin, comes to life on stamps from Guyana. Artistic stamps from Sweden tell tales of Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren and mermaids and the Monkey King are honored in stamps from Thailand.


The most popular American stamp is the Elvis Presley and in an attempt to be relevant and rekindle philately, US stamps now feature other well-loved popular icons ranging from Steve Jobs, Julia Child, Janis Joplin, and Jimi Hendrix to fictional stars such as Harry Potter, Batman, and most recently, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

-Iris Brooks

JANUARY 2015

ARTICLE AND PHOTO MONTAGES:

JANUARY ISSUE OF WORLD & I MAGAZINE

"POSTAGE STAMPS: NEAR AND FAR"


By Iris Brooks

Photos by Jon H. Davis and Iris Brooks

POSTAGE STAMPS FROM NEAR AND FAR


You've got mail? In this era of cyber communication, we often forget to appreciate our snail mail, adorned with miniature works of art serving as both postage paid and colorful, iconic symbols. From royal personages to pop icons, stamps celebrate people, places, myths, legends, arts, transportation, and the natural world. More than utilitarian objects, stamps embody history, geography, art, science, culture, and charity. 

ART EXHIBITION:

THE WAY OF COLOR: BLUE

PHOTOGRAPHY BY IRIS BROOKS

DETAILS TBA

FEBRUARY 2015

EVENTS 2015

ARTICLE AND PHOTO MONTAGES:

FEBRUARY ISSUE OF THE WORLD & I MAGAZINE

"CELEBRATING LOVE"


By Iris Brooks

Photos by Jon H. Davis and Iris Brooks

CELEBRATING LOVE





Love is the centerpiece of Valentine's Day, celebrated on February 14. But throughout history, noted writers of all varieties–from the wise philosophical musings of Lao Tzu, sonorous sonnets of Shakespeare, and classic verse of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, to the delicate poetry of Sappho, Pablo Neruda, and Khalil Gibran–have written about the fragility and power of love. 


Most societies partake in festivities with their own traditions and for much of the Western world, it happens in February. In the British Isles,  Valentine buns are baked and love poems are penned while others around the globe celebrate with carved wooden spoons, intricately adorned melons, and wearing hearts on their sleeves (literally). How will you celebrate?

-Iris Brooks

"Where there is love, there is life."

-Mahatma Gandhi

CHIHULY’S BLUES  -  MANDALA © JON H. DAVIS

MARCH 2015

ARTICLE AND PHOTO MONTAGES:

MARCH ISSUE OF THE WORLD & I MAGAZINE

"TEA TALES: FACTS AND FOLKLORE"


By Iris Brooks

Photos by Jon H. Davis and Iris Brooks

TEA TALES


In my tea travels, I have sipped spicy, aromatic chai in India, discovered a luscious blue tea in Thailand, relaxed over a metal engraved pot of refreshing Moroccan mint in Marrakech, and tasted local varieties of green teas from silver needle to dragon’s well along the Yangtze River in mainland China. I love the formal ritual of the tea ceremony, differing significantly in Japan from Hong Kong and learned tea trivia on a Celestial Seasonings tea factory tour in Colorado. Whether you prefer viewing the largest teapot in the world in London or harvesting herbal teas in Tuscany, there are many ways to appreciate this well-loved beverage. 

-Iris Brooks

"Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves — slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future; live the actual moment."                    -Thich Nat Hahn                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

ART EXHIBITION:

THE WAY OF COLOR: BLUE

PHOTOGRAPHIC WORKS BY IRIS BROOKS

UNION ARTS CENTER

2 UNION AVENUE

SPARKILL, NEW YORK


OPENING RECEPTION  3-6 PM

SATURDAY   MARCH  21, 2015 

ARTICLE AND PHOTO MONTAGES:

APRIL ISSUE OF THE WORLD & I MAGAZINE

"EARTH ART"


By Iris Brooks

Photos by Jon H. Davis and Iris Brooks

APRIL 2015

SATURDAY,  APRIL 11 AT 4:00 - 6:00 PM

INTERACTIVE GALLERY WALK, TALK, & SHARING

THE WAY OF COLOR: BLUE BY IRIS BROOKS

UNION ARTS CENTER

SPARKILL, NEW YORK

MAY 2015

ARTICLE AND PHOTO MONTAGES:

MAY ISSUE OF THE WORLD & I MAGAZINE

"FARM TO TABLE EXPERIENCES IN NEW YORK’S HUDSON VALLEY"


By Iris Brooks

Photos by Jon H. Davis and Iris Brooks

"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything in the Universe."

-John Muir

JUNE 2015

SATURDAY,  JUNE 6 AT 4:00 - 6:00 PM

CONCERT & CLOSING RECEPTION FOR

THE EXHIBIT, THE WAY OF COLOR: BLUE

BY IRIS BROOKS


UNION ARTS CENTER

SPARKILL, NEW YORK

JULY 2015

ART EXHIBITION:

SHADES OF BLUE

PHOTOGRAPHIC WORKS BY IRIS BROOKS

NOW FEATURED AT

ROOST

623 MAIN STREET

SPARKILL, NEW YORK

JULY 4TH CELEBRATION

AT NORTHERN LIGHTS STUDIO ON THE HUDSON

AUGUST 2015

NORTHERN LIGHTS STUDIO ANNOUNCES:

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC/CENGAGE

HAS LICENSED THE FILM, ICE MUSIC  BY BROOKS & DAVIS

AND BOUGHT ONE OF THEIR PHOTOS OF ICE INSTRUMENTS

FOR INCLUSION IN AN UPCOMING PUBLICATION!

FACE-TO-FACE

GOLD - Art Exhibit

Neuberger Museum

Purchase, New York

Inspiration for our forthcoming book on color came from attending a museum exhibition. GOLD, currently featured at the Neuberger Museum in Purchase, New York, showcases 22 international artists, who challenge our expectations of gold. It is a substance symbolizing the highest achievement (Olympic gold medals), a standard for measurement against other commodities, and a refined adornment found around the globe. This highly sought after mineral is treated in unexpected ways in an exhibit where artists have crafted gold both physically and conceptually.

The striking, 2012 untitled work by Rudolf Stingel (born in Italy), draws me in like a magnet. Both as an integrated whole and up-close, examining the details, this expansive piece is mesmerizing with anonymous inscriptions, unidentifiable markings, and deep scratches embedded into it. He transformed scribbles by the public on insulation panels to copper and then continued the process by electroplating them into gold. Both the process and the result make Rudolf Stingel a contemporary alchemist.

Another highlight is a piece by Jim Hodges, "The Good News/Al Arab Yawm." Appearing as a gold manuscript, it is actually newsprint, with every page coated in 24-carat gold. This work is part of a larger series in which Hodges sources newspapers from many countries and then sheathes the pages in gold, in effect burying the layers of languages and ideas, which may separate us. This three-dimensional work also buries the bad news, covering it with beauty, as a disposable, everyday object is transformed to a valuable artwork. He has applied the same process to newspapers from China, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Greece.


-Iris Brooks

PHOTO © JON H. DAVIS

PHOTO © JON H. DAVIS

PHOTO © IRIS BROOKS

WAY OF BLUE 

Recent Art Acquisitions

Some of the photographs from the WAY OF BLUE, an exhibit by Iris Brooks, have found new homes. The metal planograph, Slate has been acquired by art collectors who also have original works by established contemporary artists including Chuck Close, Alex Katz, and Red Grooms. The piece, Indigo has been purchased by a healing center and is hung in a treatment room along with Tibetan medical scrolls. And the Water Series: Shades of Blue is currently on view at Roost, 623 Main Street in Sparkill, New York. 

These limited-edition metal planographs capture different textures as well as hues of blue water from New York's Adirondack region to northern California and the islands of Madeira and Okinawa. These predominantly blue art works, which have been called, "refreshing, serene, contemplative, and calming," are part of an on-going book project focused on color, which is inspired by the travels of Brooks and Davis as they journey around the world.

PHOTO © IRIS BROOKS

SLATE

Contact the artist for pricing, information, and availability of her work in this limited-edition series. NORTHERN LIGHTS STUDIO, 845 353 6082.

SEPTEMBER 2015

To read the full article, click here

NOVEMBER 2015

TO Read the full article, CLICK HERE

ARTICLE AND PHOTO MONTAGES:

NOVEMBER ISSUE OF THE WORLD & I MAGAZINE

"SOUTHERN OREGON: HISTORY AND THE NATURAL WORLD"


By Iris Brooks

Photos by Jon H. Davis and Iris Brooks

FACE-TO-FACE

EXPLORING SOUTHERN PORTUGAL

Time and space take on new dimensions during our recent trip to southern Portugal. I am not referring to the thousands of timepieces we linger over at the Watch Museums in Evora and Serpa, but the ancient megaliths dating from pre-history, some 2,000 years older than Stonehenge. In the Algarve we watch the sun set into the ocean from the cliffs of Sagres, a place once called "the edge of the known world" by the ancient ones. And in a designated "Dark Sky" area–in the Alentejo region, with little light pollution–I shoot my first astro-photographs. The stars never seemed brighter and I can almost hear the music of the spheres . . . 


-Iris Brooks

MILKY WAY PHOTO © IRIS BROOKS

MEGALITH PHOTOS © JON H. DAVIS

DECEMBER 2015

ART EXHIBITION - CLOSING EVENT

SHADES OF BLUE

PHOTOGRAPHIC WORKS BY IRIS BROOKS

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18 - 5:00 PM


ROOST

623 MAIN STREET

SPARKILL, NEW YORK

“. . . blue is the cool, contemplative color . . .”

                                                  - Dante

ARTICLE AND PHOTO MONTAGES:

DECEMBER ISSUE OF THE WORLD & I MAGAZINE

"APPLE MYTHOLOGY, FOLKLORE, AND SEASONAL TRADITIONS"


By Iris Brooks

Photos by Jon H. Davis and Iris Brooks

“Surely the apple is the noblest of fruits.”

                          - Henry David Thoreau

The next time you bite into a crisp apple, savor a slice of its iconic pie, or sip some aromatic cider, consider the storied past of this legendary fruit associated with love, war, temptation, immortality, and holiday traditions in many lands. Apples have been called upon for their divine inspiration in paintings and poetry (the Welsh describe the apple tree as the noblest of all trees) as well as for their breadth of healing properties. 

The apple–which now has many thousands of varieties from the Albany Beauty and the more common Baldwin to the less known Zabergau Reonette–is the oldest cultivated tree in Europe. Enjoyed from prehistoric times, petrified apple slices have been discovered in 5000-year-old tombs. According to “pomology,” the science of apple and fruit growing, apple trees live about 200 years, taking about 4 or 5 years to first produce fruit. Early American settlers were required to plant 50 apple or pear trees, at a time when apples were also known by fanciful names such as “winter banana” and “melt-in-your-mouth.”


-Iris Brooks

Excerpted from  "Apple Mythology, Folklore, and Seasonal Traditions.

FACE-TO-FACE

DOCUMENTING TIBETAN TRADITION

WORLD PEACE SAND MANDALA 

TARA INSTITUTE,  VALLEY COTTAGE, NEW YORK


Photo Montage by Jon H. Davis and Iris Brooks


Tibetan Monks from the Tashi Kyil Monastery in India are currently touring the U.S. They created a sand mandala for world peace at the newly opened Tara Institute, a wellness center for Body, Mind & Spirit in Valley Cottage, New York.  We were able to document their visit from the opening ceremonies with resonant, overtone chanting punctuated by traditional reed and percussion instruments. 


We observed and recorded the painstaking and intricate construction of the art as they remained focused, precisely applying colored sand through long, tapered funnels with different diameters. After several days, this temporal mandala evolved. It echoed impermanence in our lives with the deconstruction of the dynamic artwork in richly saturated hues. 


This was followed by closing activities including a ritual distribution of the sand and a symbolic send-off with prayers accompanied by the sounds of cymbals, bells, and Tibetan reeds. On the verge of the winter solstice, this offering for world peace took place along the Hudson River in Nyack, north of New York City.


-Iris Brooks

NORTHERN LIGHTS STUDIO ANNOUNCES A

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC LEARNING PUBLICATION

HAS ACQUIRED A NORTHERN LIGHTS STUDIO PHOTOGRAPH

FOR INCLUSION IN A NEW NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC DVD 

ICE HARPIST SIDSEL WALSTAD IN NORWAY                       PHOTO © IRIS BROOKS