Beauty can be found in the darkest moments ...

Hello everyone. This post is going to be about two sketches and how they come together full circle for me… and of course Lee’s AMAZING new song, “Blackbird Song” that was the perfect way to start and end the last episode of “The Walking Dead”. Everything I am writing towards today goes hand in hand I think. ….

 

First off, all of you know by now know that about 99.9% of my inspiration comes from Lee, his music, lyrics and of course you guys. I found some new inspiration a couple weeks ago on Instagram. Have you ever heard of Urbanex ? aka Urban exploration:(often shortened as urbex or UE) is the exploration of man-made structures, usually abandoned ruins or not usually seen components of the man-made environment.

 

I never heard of this before finding the work of this amazing photographer on Instagram; @ingodwerust , her name is Mandi and you should go follow her work now…I’m totally obsessed with it! There were a couple of specific photos that caught my eye because they made we think of some of Lee’s lyrics, so I asked Mandi if I could sketch some of them. **you can also visit Mandi’s Esty shop:http://www.etsy.com/shop/InGodWeRust

 

I chose to sketch her Photo, “ComingHome”, as seen below:

I was already enchanted by this photo… I had a few lines of “Fight” in my head for it… until I showed Mare (I love telling mare my ideas because she just gets it right away and I love that…it catipults my excitement for the project at hand) ; she looked at it and just heard, “Again”:  “And I know it won’t be long, ‘til I pack my things and I’ll be gone”… She is a genius, as soon as she replied back with that line I was so excited. It fit perfectly…and that’s all I could hear when thinking of the visual in my head. Here is my interpretation of Mandi’s photo:

 

 

Now here is where the circle starts to connect… After posting this sketch the night before we heard Lee’s new phenomenal Song, “Blackbird Song”, I rec’d several messages about how the beginning line of the new song fit this sketch… and it really does…. “Pack your things and leave somehow…blackbird song is over now…”It’s actually so perfect, that it’s eerie and beautiful.

Later in the post, I’ll post the video for you to listen to the song while looking at the painting…. It really is hauntingly beautiful…almost mesmerizing.

 

The next night I was asking Mandi about the photos, and fell even more in love with this photo and everything about the whole concept of Urban Exploration after reading about how she finds these places, the stories behind them, etc.

Below the link is part of the actual story behind that suitcase picture, which is fascinating on it’s own, but then add the backdrop of “again” or “Blackbird Song”…it comes to life!

 

Listen to “Blackbird Song” here, courtesy of LeeDewyzeOffical:

http://youtu.be/Wbgb3lgMluA 

 

“It's sad to see such beautiful places fall into disrepair and just left forgotten, and the things that people have left behind like that suitcase you drew. That was left in a building that was a home for nurses that sat across from an abandoned hospital. It was filled with suitcases! I learned that the nurse’s home was left abandoned in the late 70's, but why were all the suitcases left behind?”

 

…I love that! Don’t you?? I really wanted to share that with you because I find it soooo fascinating… makes me want to be photography to go on a road trip to find these things…. Maybe someday ;-) I think it also ties it to the “Blackbird Song” because the image and the question of “why were they left there”… gives it an apocalyptic feel to me…Again it shocks people sometimes to learn that I am so in awe of dark things, horror and mysteries because I’m so nice and bubbly all the time… can’t explain it, I just love it.

 

Now… on to the Blackbird Song sketch…. This one is self explanatory... lol. I did this to post when telling people to tune in… that’s it… short and sweet. My way of advertising I guess… some people just need pictures…. Lol….  Although it was done before I watched the episode… so I had no idea Daryl would end up alone… lol… score one for me!

 

 

I will say that the song is truly amazing and I can not believe he kept this a secret because it’s a big deal! The Walking Dead have never used the same song in the beginning AND end of an episode. It’s stunning, haunting, beautiful, dark, astounding and I love everything about it. It was the perfect choice for Bob’s theme song. I’ve never heard such a perfectly scored scene. Bravo to everyone involved. I’m also excited to read all the gushing reviews from people...to read all the love, seeing people finally see what we have seen all along…. Proud of you Lee!  And thank you Walking Dead for a show that gave me two of my favorite things in one hour.

 

-Jenn