Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Quote of the Week: Henry James on stone circles

"It is indeed immensely picturesque. I can fancy sitting all a summer's day watching its shadows shorten and lengthen again, and drawing a delicious contrast between the world's duration and the feeble span of individual experience. There is something in Stonehenge almost reassuring; and if you are disposed to feel that life is rather a superficial matter, and that we soon get to the bottom of things, the immemorial gray pillars may serve to remind you of the enormous background of time."
Henry James, 1875

I chose to use a circle of stones to begin my fantasy series, The Watcher's Quest Trilogy. What is it about these stone circles which are scattered across  the British Isles, Ireland and parts of Europe? They have caught the imaginations (and passions) of generations of human beings. I chose two small and fascinating henges to recreate the one that Emma's dad is building on the bee farm. But I think Henry James said it best when describing the impact of these strange and magical circles, when he wrote about one - Stonehenge.

Here are two multi-media images I created to show how I see the stone circle in The Watcher. I have added these images along with other photos and artwork to my Watcher's Quest book tab. I'm planning on adding more images in time....








7 comments:

Monica Kulling said...

I loved the stone circle in The Watcher. Did you paint the second image, M?

Margaret said...

Hi M,
I started with pretty basic photos. I cropped and photo-shopped them, printed them off and worked right on the photo with paint etc, scanned them again and reworked them in photoshop again! I wanted to use all mediums available to me to get the idea of a magic circle. I doubt, in fact I know - I could never replicate them again exactly as they are. It was me just playing. The first one went through less change than the second one, but still many stages. In the second, I wanted to show the lightening storm that brings the characters from the other "times" to Emma's bee farm.

Margaret said...

I never get the word lightning right!

Deniz Bevan said...

I can't look at a stone circle anymore without thinking of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander.

Margaret Buffie said...

I haven't read Outlander, Deniz. The stone circle in my Watcher's Quest Trilogy is made by Emma's dad, an environmental artist, and the circle is inadvertantly placed over an opening to another world. The circle creates the powerful energy to reopen the portal. Like many writers and artists, I've always been interested in the strange and wondrous things that humans have created - and the large number of various stone circles across the British Isles and into Europe has always fascinated me. (and clearly Henry James!)I'll have to get a copy of Outlander one day!

Deniz Bevan said...

Oh, I like that idea of a portal. Gabaldon's involves time travel instead. I find the circles fascinating, too.

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