Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

A Happy Medium

Home
New Visions
A Grave Affair

A Grave Affair

Last updated on: March 2, 2013 at 7:28 am by Kristy Robinett

A Grave Affair 2013-03-02T07:28:38-07:00 Kristy Robinett

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

As a child, I loved old cemeteries. In order to get to a local shopping area, my mom and I would walk through the cemetery and wonder about their life stories, sometimes making it up as we went along. When I was older, I took a job near several old cemeteries, and would spend most all of my lunch hours sitting in the graveyards, meditating, listening to the birds sing their songs as the dead rested. In one of my favorite cemeteries, I knew every name and every headstone as if they were family. I have traveled around the United States in pursuit of the most unique grave markings and friending forgotten ghosts.

When Johna and I met, one of our outings was to a cemetery where we bonded over our love for grave art. Today, Johna is my guest blogger.

~Kristy

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

~ George Santayana ~

In the spring of 2005 I was taking an art history course at BGSU as part of my degree requirement. It was American art before the Civil War and I wasn’t exceptionally enthusiastic about it because I was in a phase of obsession with Artemisia Gentileschi and the Italian Baroque. Early America was just going to be a thorn in my side. Or so I thought.

As it turns out I had a wonderful professor, Dr. Jeffrey Schrader, who made the class interesting and enjoyable and my pal E was there to learn with me. Art history, while fascinating to me in general, can be really dry and tedious in a lecture hall. This wasn’t the case in Dr. Schrader’s class that semester. An interesting non-studio art class with a good friend taking notes next to me was a rare thing in my college experience and it’s fair to say that this particular class changed many things for me.

Grave of Timothy Lindall. Burying Point, Salem, MA. Photo copyright Johna Gibson Bowman

One of the slides in a lesson was the gravestone of Timothy Lindall who is interred at Old Burying Point, Salem, Massachusetts. The suspected carver of this particular stone is William Mumford. The carving is breathtakingly detailed, the lettering is pristine and the stone itself is in phenomenal condition for something 300+ years old that endures the weather of the east coast. There is also a fabulous representation of the transition from the Julian to Gregorian calendar. The Lindall gravestone, like so many others belonging to our ancestors, is both a piece of art and a lesson in history.

Lindall graves at Burying Point Cemetery, Salem, MA. Photo copyright Johna Gibson Bowman

There are many places in which you can read about Lindall’s grave and the early American stonecutters. I wrote my term paper about them and maybe I’ll publish that one of these days, but that was that slide that changed the way I thought about art and history and how they commingle. I’ve always been drawn to cemeteries and gravestones, but thought they would only be a part of my genealogical interests and not a part of my art and other writing.

One of my other passions is genealogy and my enthusiasm for art, sepulchral sculpture, cemeteries and the death practices of early Americans has become a way for me to bridge those interests. Unfortunately, it isn’t always easy to make public an interest in these subjects. I’ve been called names by people who think my work is disturbing or even sacrilegious. I’ve also been attacked by a person who sent me scathing and grammatically horrifying emails for using a word figuratively – never mind that my usage of the word is correct. Things like that used to bother me, but I believe that everyone – good and; bad – should be remembered. If enduring a little crap from the narrow-minded and ignorant has to come with trying to help do that, I’m cool with that.

I have a lot of photos to go through from trips I’ve taken to cemeteries. I’ll post them on my website as I get to them.

Meanwhile, the Higher Intuitions Oracle Deck that Kristy Robinett and I have created is about a month from release and a there is a very good price on Amazon.com. I also have several new paintings that I’m working on along with all of the Hazel Fern Soap and Candles products. There will be many new fragrances released including Lord of the Manor, Blue Moon (not the beer!), Clarity – Higher Intuitions scent, a line of coffee house scents in sturdy ceramic cups and new handcrafted hot process soaps.

ABOUT JOHNA:

For Johna Gibson Bowman it was the childhood spent surrounded by emerald woods, cerulean skies and tanned patches of shaded ground that ignited the pursuit to the path as a painter of abstract, fantasy, whimsical, macabre and ancestral works.

Johna was born in Ohio on a ridiculously hot July day a few decades ago and currently lives there with her husband, Jason, and their cats. She spent most of her school years in the art room before moving onto Bowling Green State University and graduating with a BFA in Fine Art/Painting. Her work has appeared in both online and brick and mortar galleries.

Previous Post

February 26, 2013

Make Space

Next Post

March 3, 2013 Higher Intuitions Oracle - SEA STAR - Week of 3/3/13

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Book Reviews Client Stories Full Moons motivational New Moon Oracle Paranormal Podcasts Spirit Visits Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2024 June 2024 February 2024 January 2024 November 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 December 2022 June 2022 April 2022 March 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 September 2021 July 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which Christian denomination practices the sacrament of Confirmation?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Baptist Jehovah’s Witnesses Methodist Catholic