Cameo Carving
What is a cameo?
A gem carved in relief
A brief appearance
A decorative object
Origins 3rd-4th century
19th century - Roman school
Always used hard stone
Cameos a work of art
The best masters
Did not consider shells precious.
Later, jewelry cameos
Led to mass production.
All unique pieces
Despite the fact that some are mass produced
Shells cannot be carved by hand alone
Every shell cameo is different.
Specialized artisans
Carving hair, hands, or noses
A whole team's experience and skills
A finished cameo.
Master Carver
His or her hands transform
A piece of shell
Into elegant precious sculptures
Delicate and diaphanous portraits
Mythological scenes
True collectables,
A difficult art disappearing.
According to old masters
This painstaking art
Out of step with the frenetic
Rhythm of our times.
The text for this found poem can be found at http://www.cascosrl.it/en.whatiscameo.htm
Cameo was the word I found during my dictionary hike.
What is a cameo?
A gem carved in relief
A brief appearance
A decorative object
Origins 3rd-4th century
19th century - Roman school
Always used hard stone
Cameos a work of art
The best masters
Did not consider shells precious.
Later, jewelry cameos
Led to mass production.
All unique pieces
Despite the fact that some are mass produced
Shells cannot be carved by hand alone
Every shell cameo is different.
Specialized artisans
Carving hair, hands, or noses
A whole team's experience and skills
A finished cameo.
Master Carver
His or her hands transform
A piece of shell
Into elegant precious sculptures
Delicate and diaphanous portraits
Mythological scenes
True collectables,
A difficult art disappearing.
According to old masters
This painstaking art
Out of step with the frenetic
Rhythm of our times.
The text for this found poem can be found at http://www.cascosrl.it/en.whatiscameo.htm
Cameo was the word I found during my dictionary hike.
Ooo... dictionary hike. How exactly does that work? I love this!
ReplyDeleteYou are clever to combine A-Z challenge, poetry, and dictionary hike. This all requires a very close look at words. Amorphous, Buccaneer, and Cameo Carving are all surprising choices. Looking forward to your next words and poems.
ReplyDeleteI have a very old cameo that has almost lost its face-special from my grandmother. I like hearing the story of the making, love your line "delicate and diaphanous portraits." And now that I see a bit of a pattern, I will look long at your last lines, interesting so far!
ReplyDeleteYou put together a great poem found from http://www.cascosrl.it/en.whatiscameo.htm. Thanks for sharing this with us. (If I wasn't in the midst of doing prizes for the SOLSC, then I'd be taking on this challenge too.)
ReplyDeleteAmy at Poem Farm http://www.poemfarm.amylv.com/2012/04/is-for-ancient-dictionary-hike.html introduced me to Dictionary Hike. You take your dictionary and open to the letter of the day choose a page close your eyes and point to a word. Open your eyes - that is the word that you need to include in your poem.
ReplyDelete