Wayne Sadler

To image Venice at dawn I set my watch to awaken me at 4am. I descended the hotel stairs to a dark lobby and locked doors. I terrified the hotel concierge asleep on a couch when I woke him to let me out. I apologized and said in my broken Italian, “puoi aprire la porta?” (can you open the door?) to which he just stared at me still in shock. He finally understood from my gesturing that I wanted out. I walked the dark narrow calles (streets) (trying to look tough so as not to be mugged) to find a valporetto. I got on the first boat I saw even though I thought it was going the wrong way down the Grand Canal. Turns out it was the shortest route to where I was going – Piazza San Marco. Me and a few other dare-devil photographers had this magical city to ourselves. So worth it all.

Crystal: A 3 dimensionally ordered pattern of molecules I arrived at a mall as a “psychic fair” was setting up and a large crystal ball caught my attention. (I am a collector.) I asked the woman about her crystal and whether she really used it to do “readings”. She said she didn’t need it to “see” but a crystal is useful. As a demonstration she asked me to place my hands around the crystal and asked what color did I see. I saw a pale green that I said probably came from the sulfur in the glass. She said it was not sulfur; it was my green aura – the aura of a healer. Seeing my skepticism she put her hands around the crystal and asked what color did I see then. I saw a yellow gold like hue that I said was probably coming from the gold stand holding the crystal. She laughed at my explanation and said her aura was gold. I didn’t ask what a gold aura meant but we talked more. At some point she said she could “see” it was important that I talk to this more mature and “talented” psychic farther down the mall named Rose. I did.

I like your framing. I struggled with composing this scene.

I think we stayed at Hotel Falier in Venice. I didn’t know at the time Hotel Falier gets it name from the street (calle) Falier named for Marin Falier, the 55th Doge of Venice who was beheaded for attempting a coup d’etat. And the street in front of the hotel, Salizada San Pantalon, was named after the marytred Saint Pantaleon. Pantaleon was legended to have been unsuccessfully beheaded, burned, drowned, fed to wild beasts and subjected to other favored means of execution of the day. The last attempt at beheading worked. I guess if at first you don’t succeed…

Understand that even when I do not comment or rate an image every one of your creations evidences your masterful craftsmanship.

“One of the perks of being a musician is that we study music - which takes some of the joy out of it - but we learn to listen and experience a wide variety of emotion. And we internalize these emotions rather than experience them as merely extraneous sound.” – David Seiberling “Within the body there is played Music unending, though without stringed instruments That music of the Word pervades the entire creation Who listens to it is freed from all illusion” - Kabir

"Fading to black" makes the strength of this composition more evident. Brilliant work, Dave.

Probably few of us knew about the jubilee year of San Rainerius, the patron saint of Pisa, as we stood in the rain outside the Duomo in the Field of Miracles Pisa, Italy. Rainerius, was so venerated that in 1689 his body was transferred to the altar of the Duomo.

Uniquely creative. Brilliant work, George.

Ochre This earthen pigment of iron, clay and sand reigns supreme in Venice. One can almost believe the beautiful old palazzi along the grand canal would not exist if not for the texture of the brownish-yellow, orange and red hues supporting them.