TITLE: Thorncrown Chapel--Subtlety of Shade

Thorncrown Chapel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, US is one of three glass chapels in Arkansas.

The light play on these rafters among trees and amid seasons offers an exceptional opportunity to revel in rich tonality and creative perspective. By stacking the images, I achieved great clarity throughout that turns this marvel of architecture into a fine study in abstract architecture.

The surrounding woods offered a quiet calm beauty and breeze-stirred trees are rest for my weary soul. However, Thorncrown Chapel was a beautiful gem amid it.

This chapel rises 48 feet into the sky with over 6,000 square feet of glass and 425 windows. The chapel is made with all organic materials to fit its natural setting. The only steel in the structure forms a diamond shaped pattern in its wooden trusses. The building has a native flagstone floor surrounded by a rock wall. To preserve the natural setting, no structural element could be larger than what two men could carry through the woods.

Its architect, E. Fay Jones, who was mentored by Frank Lloyd Wright, was recognized as one of the top ten living architects of the 20th century. Thorncrown was listed fourth on the American Institute of Architects top ten buildings of the 20th century, making it a crown jewel of workmanship and craft.

AUTHOR: Y. Hope Osborn (United States)

Y. Hope Osborn is an author, photographer, digital artist, and editor residing in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA. Her published writing includes ecological experiences that educate and entertain and personal traumas that encourage survivors and expose victimization. She relies on God’s strength to photographically document space and time of natural color environment; historic often dilapidated black and white studies of built; and more recently, where they intersect. Her absolute art is the fusion of photographs and texts of history and her story, weaving art with how she/we think, feel, believe, connect, and care.

Hope has an MA in Professional and Technical Writing and is published as author and artist with Woods Reader, Plants and Poetry Journal, Whitefish Review, University of Arkansas at Little Rock Writers’ Network, Awakenings, The Sunlight Press, and online Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Her works are exhibited and awarded, including Monovisions Awards, Neutral Density, Julia Margaret Cameron Photography Award, International Photography Awards, Architecture Masterprize, See|Me, internationally, online, and off in Portland, Oregon; New York City; Santa Paula, California, Arkansas—USA and Barcelona, Spain. She won Not Real Art Artist Award and $10,000 Mid-America Arts Alliance Catalyze grants.

Hope believes being a great author and artist is to be entrusted to express reality and imagination that captivates, inspires, or informs while enriching lives.