iceland i.

Derek and I left Iceland yesterday, him to return home, and I to continue on to Italy. But what a week! I am lamenting the fact that I do not have a wide-angle lens, because Iceland is all about the landscape and my 35mm lens doesn't always catch it very well.

But, for now, a few pictures from the beginning of the week + my favorite places in Reykjavik, mostly for my own memory's sake:

Reykjavik Roasters. By far the best coffee and best atmosphere. Also, the chai and the muesli!

Stofan Café. Another favorite. Both a kaffihus and a bar. Derek and I went here on our last night in the city to read and drink.

Kaffihús Vesturbæjar. A hip bar/café a little farther outside the touristy center of the city. A little noisy, and filled with very well-dressed Icelanders.

Cozy little house close to the sea. We stayed at this lovely AirBnB garage-turned-guesthouse our last night in the city. We both agreed we would happily live in a place just like this.

Hrim. So much of the downtown shopping seemed touristy and kitschy, but I really liked this small (and expensive) Scandinavian design store.

inspiring things | 11

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Speaking of book design, I am all about these newly designed covers for five works by Flannery O'Connor, completed by Charlotte Strick and June Glasson. The Paris Review shows the sketch-by-sketch development of the designs and earlier editions' covers, as well. I think Mystery and Manners is my favorite redesign (and, perhaps also my favorite O'Connor book).

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inspiring things | 10

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I am in Washington D.C. for the day, and I made my way to the National Museum of Women in the Arts precisely to see a tiny exhibit on the fifth floor: Vanessa Bell's illustrations for Hogarth Press and Virginia Woolf (Bell's sister). There were probably only 6-8 books exhibited, but I love them all. 

Also, this, from Eric Gill: 

"That if you look after goodness and truth beauty will take care of itself, is true in both worlds. The beauty that industrialism properly produces is the beauty of bones; the beauty that radiates from the work of man is the beauty of holiness."

flowing in both directions

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This is a creative project I completed for a course on Biblical Bodies in the Old Testament. You can read my artist statement here. The audio recordings are not as high-quality as I would like (for lack of better equipment), but I am working with a professor to turn these scripts into a live reading and panel discussion at DDS at some point in the future.

I am spending some quiet days in my Durham apartment before packing up and leaving for the summer. The walls are bare and white now, and I am slowly moving all my books into boxes that are too heavy to carry down the stairs. Most of my friends have left for their field-education placements for the summer, so I am at loss with how to spend my time most days. I go on runs (attempting to train for that half-marathon), read some (currently: An Essay on Typography by Eric Gill), wander the farmer's market, spend too much time on the internet, and cook elaborate dinners for myself. Last night was golden beets, fennel, and kale with brown rice and feta.

Other things, lately:

A Few Good Reasons to Drop Out of Art School.

Gentler by Aaron Belz.

These cups from East Fork Pottery, one of which Anna gave me, and which I love.
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on prayer | 15

"The fourth and last of our 'Christian essentials' is prayer, and in particular the need for us all to grow in prayer. Growing in prayer is not simply acquiring a set of special spiritual skills that operate in one bit of your life. It is about growing into what St. Paul calls 'the measure of the full stature of Christ' (Ephesians 4:13). It is growing into the kind of humanity that Christ shows us. Growing in prayer, in other words, is growing in Christian humanity."

(Rowan Williams, Being Christian)
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ten good things

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it's been awhile since i've done this, but it's always a good practice:

01. HGM with jackie last night at haw river
02. a sunny saturday morning after a week of cold spring rain
03. friends that are moving to asheville so soon
04. lemon mint donuts after class on friday
05. compline from the book of common worship each night this week
06. knowing that all these papers will get done somehow, someday
07. morning walks in walltown alone with a mug of coffee and the birds
08. summer plans that i am freaking out about: iceland with derek and orvieto, at last
09. father martin's prayer for a. and i last sunday in the back closet of all souls
10. dorothy day and edith wharton and dreaming about summer reading

[photo for a project in response to francesca woodman]
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Alfonse Borysewicz, Holy Thursday, 2009-2014, oil & wax on linen.
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