Sept 3rd- a day / life captured – Chris Ritchey

I have some of your work from Cleveland Institute of Art http://www.cia.edu/

displayed appropriately in most rooms , even the bathroom.

One of your first tries at glass making- the glass frosted and slightly wonky but it holds the Daffodils of spring, red Roses and Lavender of summer and the Chrysanthemums of fall , reminders the seasons and years as they continue to pass.

Your work has brought me comfort, longing, as well as tears. I went through your portfolio in those first “tearing” weeks when we all were so fragmented – one didn’t know where we began and ended, lost in a maelstrom of disbelief and pain. I found the photographs , “another assignment” – A Day in the Life of a College Student. There you were in those photos brushing your teeth, making breakfast – such as it was- all the things that are so everyday- studying , taking care of the garbage ,

playing X- box –

working on projects, having a beer – all there . These simple acts of living archived and not meaning much of anything to anyone else but to us the world.

The wall of your apartment adorned with another photography assignment , and the subject Angela- http://my.clevelandclinic.org/staff_directory/staff_display?DoctorID=16147 less the angelic person her name implies (in my opinion .)

DEC. 4th- How Cold is Cold -Lombardi?

The work showed another side to this young woman – one I came to know all too well during the dying days and afterwards. You captured in the lens of the camera something hidden to the eye. I remember saying to you

“there is a darkness in these photos- Chris and I don’t think her mother would be pleased so I wouldn’t show them to her .

There they are on the wall frozen in the camera lens and time . A part of your day and your life but one I would so like to forget.

I have a day in your life , the simple acts of living, stopped by the camera just as your life was stopped and now we are frozen in the loss of you. In amongst all the projects , drawing, design a very special piece of your work has given to us something that is always lost when someone dies – captured in the amber and gold glass – your breath. This work is cherished above all else because it contains the breath of your body locked in beauty.

Breath of Life – Celtic Knot – Chris Ritchey

We have such a lot of YOU but not enough to take away the pain, only YOU walking through the door once more could do that …. I love you