"Lazy rhythm ... rumination ... August morning", Long Island Poem for a quiet summer Sunday

Joan Digby with Snowball

Watching Snowball Graze
Joan Digby

Watching Snowball graze,
I catch the lazy rhythm
of his rumination.
Stepping through the field
he buries his soft nose in grass
tasting the menu of an August morning.

Dew still hovers on the clover,
most succulent of flowers in the field.
I think of landscape gardeners
with their "Weed-Be-Gone,"
poisoners of a horse's richest fare.
They know nothing - he everything
about his pastoral land.

Tethered to his halter
I wander as his pupil,
learning to avoid the bitter plantain,
leave the blue cornflowers to adorn the fence
and bees to drink the roses.

Watching Snowball graze,
I catch the lazy rhythm
of sunlight spreading on the meadow,
feeling no urgency to leave this place
where the swishing of his long melodic tale
sings promise of a radiant day.

'Watching Snowball Graze' by Joan Digby from Snowball Caught a Bug published by Joan's own The Feral Press. Reprinted with author's permission.
Book is illustrated by Mollie Eckelberry.

Snowball, a pony from the North Shore Equestrian Center of the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, received quite some attention - C.W. Post published a story on Snowball - HORSE SENSE: ENGLISH PROFESSOR GIVES SPECIAL CARE TO PONY AT C.W. POST, which included the poem we have printed here.

Horses, though represented in various publications: I Rolled Today or Snowball Caught a Bug and important in her life and teaching - Joan had her class not only write poems on horses but also attend horse hair pottery making with Sue Adler, were not the sole topic of Joan's verses. She has a great affinity to camels, thus collection Camels and other Mammals, cats A Clowder of Cats and Oystermania CSI. She even wrote tennis poems Marks on the Surface: tennis poems'. With her husband, John Digby, poet and collage artist, she co-edited books on food & drink in poetry: 'Food for thought: an anthology of writings inspired by food' and 'Inspired by drink: an anthology'.

Joan runs the C.W. Post Poetry Center of Long Island University, established 1974. The Center organizes Poetry Awards Nights, Poetry Appreciation Day readings, and promotes a wide range of emerging and established poetry by local, domestic, and international artists.

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Previous Long Island Poem for Sunday - Seaside vignette, Long Island Poem for a beach perfect Sunday

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"O the horseman's joys!", horses at Think Long Island First

In the past we have presented birds in the works of the Long Island artists. We have seen the dog drawings from Mollie Eckelberry's collection. Today, horses.

"O the horseman's and horsewoman's joys! / The saddle, the gallop, the pressure upon the seat, the cool gurgling / by the ears and hair." Walt Whitman rhapsodized in 'A Song of Joys'. And so do many Long Island artists who celebrate horses in their art.

Joel Kanaravogel, wire sculpture

Joel Kanarvogel of Woodbury created a wire sculpture of a team of four horses with front legs high in the air.
Joel, a horse lover and Triple Crown aficionado since his early years in the Catskill Mountains, said: "I grew up with the smell of horses which I love to this day. I love the fluidity of motion of horses and how they gracefully run and prance and stride, and how they flick their tails when they are happy."

Regan Tausch, painting

Many paintings by Bayville folk artist Regan Tausch include peaceful scenes of horses pulling carriages, horses pulling sleighs in winter scenes, horses grazing in the pastures, horses watching the world through the Dutch doors of well kept stables, or horses muzzling each other contentedly. Regan was an avid rider in her earlier days.

Mollie Eckelberry, note cards

Mollie Eckelberry not only rode and drew horses but also authored an equestrian memoir 'Vest Pocket Farm' - a good read, overflowing with her love and respect for the animal. Mollie's first encounter with a runaway horse at a tender age of three made her want to draw nothing but stick horses. Horses are still a great part of her daily life in Muttontown.

AnnMarie Levin, note cards

We carry AnnMarie Levin's note card sets with beautiful horse prints in brown, green, and navy.
Horses are the favorite subject of the young Oyster Bay artist. She commented: "I have been riding horses since the age of 5, and have a lovely gelding named Lysander who inspires me everyday."

Sue Adler, horse hair vase

Sue Adler, Locust Valley potter and equestrian, specializes in horse hair pottery. She applies an old American Indian technique where strands of hair from horse's tail are draped and burned over a hot surface of a pot. The end result - a classic shape of white clay with subtle color accents, enveloped in a net of random black lines - is beautiful in its contrasts.

Frank Cammarata, paper cut

Holbrook's Frank Cammarata brought us a paper cutout of a grazing horse. Black paper, white background.

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Private dog show, by Mollie Eckelberry

Photo by Ewa Rumprecht

Here we find Mollie Eckelberry, Muttontown artists, working on new drawings.

Her cards with nature themes are very popular - horses, foxes, cats, birds, seagulls, exotic creatures, and homely dandelions.

We have asked Mollie for a selection of dog drawings. Enjoy!

Idggy	Cork Dog
Flower Dog	Pug
Home Alone	Nap Time
Puppy with Rabbit	Setter
Bench Puppies

All images you see here were digitally processed by Minuteman Press in Syosset, NY.
All images are copy righted and not for distribution.

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Birds at Think Long Island First

Today is the 226th birthday of John James Audubon. This prompted us to look for works represending birds in our store. We found quite a few.

Rooster by Christina Kneer. Matted photograph on paper.	Kingfisher by Bob Schiff. Wood carving.
Hello Spring by Cathy Nichols. Print on wood panel.	Sand Pipers by Don Dailey. Wood carving.
Feather pins by Mike Denaro. Wood carving.	Bird by Mollie Eckelberry. Printed card, hand colored.
Rooster by Jewelry 10. Ceramic pin.	Shovel bird by Tom Malloy. Metal sculpture.
Bird feeder by Sue Adler. Clay feeder with leather hanger.	Chicks by Gerry Corrigan. Matted photograph on paper.

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Mollie Eckelberry, author and illustrator

Photo by Ewa Rumprecht

Mollie Eckelberry of Muttontown, NY, author and illustrator, draws almost exclusively animals. She draws some animals because their expressions or poses strike her interest, some as illustrations to her books. Mollie avoids anthropomorphism, her portrayals reflect years of discovery, first-hand experience, and keen observation. 

Photo by Ewa Rumprecht

Mollie's love of the animal world started rather dangerously at a tender age of three: "... a seventeen-hand horse named Buster careened rider-less down a narrow farm path straight toward ... me. ... I never moved - just stood there in awe of this wondrous creature that somehow managed not to trample me into hamburger as he went by. ... Horses were never to be far from my mind from that moment to this. I solemnly crayoned red dots on every one of my dolls, told my mother they had measles and that I couldn't play with them any more and I didn't. I made little stables out of shoeboxes, and when my parents gave up on the dolls and gave me toy horses, I bandaged their legs with adhesive tape and made little halters and bridles our of thread and saddles out of bits of cloth."

An avid equestrienne and nature lover, she retained the childlike awe for the smart, amazing creatures surrounding her. She devotes a good portion of her day to the animals in her care.

Photo by Ewa Rumprecht

Her creative pursuits get their fair share of attention, as well. Mollie draws almost every day, always with Mozart's music in the background. The studio is her sanctuary where time plays tricks, it usually passes too fast.

Mollie's mother, Louise Stark Wolf Arnold, an oil, pastel, and watercolor painter, encouraged her young children to experiment with drawing on butcher's paper available by the roll in her studio. Mollie covered miles of that paper with stick horses, eventually progressing to more advanced depictions. In time Mollie signed up for live drawing and anatomy sessions at Art Students League of New York where she took classes with Bill Barnet, Robert Beverly Hale, and Louis Bosa, among others. She was advised to follow her instincts and concentrate her work on things she loved most, the animals. Mollie's brother, Robert Warbrick Stark Jr., became a renown luminist painter of Nantucket landscapes and marines. Until this day Mollie seeks his advice and critique.

Photo by Ewa Rumprecht

Mollie published four books: 'Vest Pocket Farm' from which the above quote was taken - an equestrian memoir full of captivating stories in her own vivid language, 'The Foxes of Kirby Hill' - an eulogy to the beloved Kirby Hill estate where she rode surrounded by the wild life of the area, 'Willa' - part introduction to the seeing guide dogs, part love affair with her dog Willa, and 'The Cat Burglar of Castor Bay' - a mystery book for children with the cat at the center stage.

She is invited to read the last three books at schools or nurseries. She appreciates when children laugh at the right places, but, even more so when they grasp her message of the animal care, appreciation for nature, and importance of land conservation. 

Think Long Island First carries her interesting books, her very popular notecards and paper weights.

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