Is It Over Yet?

This seems to have been the longest winter I can remember. Illinois was hit with a lot of snow and it just kept coming - foot after foot. As Wendy and I sat holed up in the house most of the past few months we wished that we had decided to take some vacation time and go somewhere warm. No where in particular - the place just had to have sunshine and temperatures above 60 degrees. Maybe 70.

Next year is our 35th. anniversary and we are thinking of reliving a trip we took together back in 1976. We were married in 1977, but the year before we backpacked around Europe for a month and visited many of the places that I had longed to visit since I was a child.

Our favorite place was Greece and we have just about decided to do Greece again though this time I think we'll stay in hotels instead of youth hostels and cruise the islands for a week instead of the one-day 3 island hop out of Piraeus harbor.

As we dreamed of being in the Greek sunshine, we recalled our 30th. anniversary trip - a Hawaiian cruise.

Now, what does any of this have to do with Lincoln statues? Well, many of you may be surprised to learn that there is a fine statue of Lincoln on the island of Oahu not too far from Pearl Harbor. The statueis located in front of the Ewa Plantation School in Ewa Beach. The statue is titled Lincoln the Frontiersman. The sculptor is the late Avard Tenneyson Fairbanks. Fairbanks is one of the more prolific sculptors of Lincoln during the middle of the 20th Century. His most famous work is probably the statue of Lincoln that stands in front of the Visitor's Center at Lincoln's New Salem State Park near Petersburg, IL. The New Salem Lincoln is featured on the U.S. Illinois quarter that was released in 2003. There is a similarity between the two works as you can see from the two pictures. In both works, Lincoln is seen a muscular young man carrying an axe. In the Illinois piece, Lincoln carries books in his right arm and the axe in his left.

Fairbank's strapping young Lincoln was erected at the bequest of the former teacher and principal of the Ewa School, Katherine Burke. Fairbanks was teaching summer school at the University of Hawaii in 1939 and the statue committee approached him about furnishing the Lincoln for the school.

Lincoln has a certain connection and significance to Hawaii. During his presidency Lincoln developed a personal relationship with the Hawaiian king King Kamehameha IV. Several letters written to the King signed by "Your Good Friend, A. Lincoln" are in the historical record.

Fairbanks' 9 foot tall "Frontiersman" was finished in his Ann Arbor, Michigan studio in 1941 but due to the war in the Pacific it was not dedicated until Lincoln's 135th. birthday on February 12, 1944. Every year on Lincoln's birthday the students of the Ewa Plantation School decorate Mr. Lincoln with dozens of multi-colored leis.

Happy New Year!

The day after Christmas, Wendy and I made our annual Christmas trip down to visit my mother and sister who both live in Springfield, IL. The family Christmas was held on Sunday at my sister's home just outside Springfield.

On Monday, I was up early anticipating a day of taking pictures of some of the statues of Lincoln in Springfield that I had somehow missed during previous visits or simply wanted to reshot.

First on my list was the Lincoln by O'Connor on the east side of the Illinois State Capital Building. It was my plan, based on the previous evening weather report, that I would have sun in the morning and it would be striking the statue and painting it with an early morning glow. The weather was just not cooperating and I decided that I would see if the Illinois State Supreme Court Building right across the street was open to visitors. Court was not in session but the building was open to visitors. On the second floor of the 1908 building is a large bust of Lincoln by noted Lincoln sculptor John McClarey of Decatur, IL. The piece is entitled Prairie Lawyer, Master Of Us All. The title comes from a line in the Vachel Lindsay poem Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight. This McClarey work was donated to the Illinois Supreme Court by the Illinois Bar Association and was dedicated in January of 2009.

This statue was particularly hard to photograph. The bust is located in front of a large stained glass window and the light from behind Mr. Lincoln makes it very difficult to get a good exposure. Recently I have been experimenting with a technique called HDR or High Dynamic Range Photography. In a nutshell, using a digital camera, a tripod and special software , the photographer takes a series of pictures using the same focus and f-stop but under and over exposing the subject across a wide dynamic range. Within the software (I happen to use Photomatix software) the series of photos, typically 3 to 5 pictures, are combined. Using this technique, the photographer can restore highlights and shadows; shoot in harsh and challenging light and can achieve remarkable tone and color results.

The situation at the Supreme Court was ideal for this technique and I was very pleased with the results.

After finishing at the Supreme Court, we went across the street to the State Capital to photograph the Leonard Volk statue of Lincoln in the second floor of the the Rotunda. Volk is the same sculptor that did the first life mask of Lincoln.

The lighting in the State Capital is poor at best and again I decided to attempt to capture the statue using the HDR technique. The results were good and I was able to come away with several good images to work with.

The real surprise in the Capital was not the Volk but finding another sculptural work featuring the Lincoln-Douglas Debates that is virtually unknown and appears in none of the literature. High above the fourth floor of the Rotunda is seen a series of plaster friezes that encircle the dome. Little is known about these nine panels, painted to resemble bronze.

The artist was T. Nicolai. I have found little on Mr. Nicolai and just as little on the friezes. The website http://www.ilstatehouse.com/ describes the works as "... a series of allegorical and historical pictures, in bas relief..." The artist reportedly died prior to the completion of the entire work and he left no key to the individuals in each of the none groups. Several of the key characters are easily recognizable - Lincoln and Douglas, Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee and George Washington.

Besides the above mentioned statues there are numerous others Springfield. There are four statues of Lincoln at nearby New Salem State Park in Petersburg, IL.

The next time you are in Springfield, take some time and visit some of these wonderful memorials and tributes to our 16th. President.