Gargoyle Girl News

Due to some unexpected events, I'll be taking a short break from posting new photos to Gargoyle Girl.

I'll be back before too long, and at that time I'll also be making some updates to the site. Several people have told me it's been difficult to follow the blog with the current set-up, so I'll be adding more and better ways to follow the blog.

Have a great summer everyone, and I'll see you soon!

--Gigi

Cemeteries of London: Brompton Cemetery Part II

Below are different views of a some of my favorite angel statues at Brompton Cemetery: cherubic child angels.

It was an overcast day, so the sky was close to white. I was shooting with my lensbaby camera lens, allowing me to focus on different details in each image. With these detailed carvings, I like how the soft focus can almost make it seem as if the angels are about to take flight...

--Gigi

Cemeteries of London: Brompton Cemetery

Brompton Cemetery is one of the "Magnificent Seven" Cemeteries in London. It's the most central, walking distance from Earl's Court tube stop (and also the West Brompton tube stop, but I've never found myself on that line). It has a beautiful long, narrow layout with a central path lined by trees, creating the feel of a serene park. Intricately carved stone angels sit atop many of the graves.

Beatrix Potter once lived near the cemetery, and she apparently got the ideas for her character names from the gravestones at this cemetery. One of the names on an old headstone here: Peter Rabbitt.

--Gigi

Cemeteries of London: Highgate Cemetery Part II

Moving on from last week's photographs of the angels of Highgate Cemetery, here's a second set of atmospheric Highgate Cemetery photos.

Highgate is a sprawling Victorian cemetery in north London that was opened in 1839. The population of London had exploded, and Parliament dictated that several new cemeteries be created in the 1830s and '40s. In addition to Highgate, the new cemeteries were Kensal Green, West Norwood, Abney Park, Brompton, Nunhead, and Tower Hamlets. (I'll be posting photos from Abney Park and Brompton later this month.)

Highgate Cemetery is said to have inspired Bram Stoker's Dracula, and in the 1970s rumors abounded about the "Highgate Vampire," creating a new urban legend. The entrance to the Egyptian avenue of vaults, directly below, shows how such rumors of vampires could be believed...

 

I didn't notice at the time that this photograph of me taking photographs had been taken.

--Gigi

Cemeteries of London: Highgate Cemetery Angels

In the spring of 2008, my mom was a visiting professor in London. The opportunity to visit was too good to pass up. This is a photo of us in front of her Islington flat.


One of the things I did on that trip was to visit London cemeteries. I'd previously been on a tour of Highgate Cemetery, but I hadn't gone further in my exploration of the city's historic cemeteries. In addition to their mystery, I love the peace and beauty of old cemeteries. So on this trip, in addition to returning to Highgate I went on walks through Brompton Cemetery, New Southgate Cemetery, and Abney Park Cemetery.

This month I'll be posting photos from my 2008 visits to these London cemeteries.

Below are angels from Highgate Cemetery. Next week I'll post other views of Highgate Cemetery along with some history.
 

--Gigi

Delightful Doors of Paris

This month I've been posting some of my more mysterious photos from a trip I took to Paris in May of 2010, when our trip home was delayed due to an Icelandic ash cloud that is again disrupting European air travel. These are my last Parisian photos for now, moving on to something new in June.

Below are some stone, wood, and wrought iron carvings on and surrounding unique doors in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. I love the bright red front door of my house outside San Francisco, but I've gotta say it would be mighty cool to have a lion carving greet me when I walk through the door...

--Gigi

Details of Paris

 No gargoyles today, but some other images of Paris that caught my eye last May.

The wrought iron sign for a hotel on a side street

Bicycles for rent along the side of the road

Riding the metro (wish all public transportation signs were as beautiful!)

 --Gigi