by Dezzo Darling

Created on: November 02, 2009

A poem may, at first thought, be a peculiar place from which to start your Christmas Village. But just as poetry is used to paint pictures with words, so too a Christmas Village is but a picture painted with store bought items, a physical manifestation of a memory, or a dream, our chance to create an Utopia where everyday is Christmas and where time, having no meaning, allows the present and the past to co-exist in harmony.

My favourite village, vintage 2005, was inspired by the musical theme of an old movie "Somewhere in Time" composed by John Barry, with Rachmaninoff's "Rhapsody on a theme to Paganini". The haunting melodies, and the movie too, reminded me that most often, when we create our villages, we choose to portray that one single moment which has carved itself indelibly into our sub-conscience and become a part of who we are. I have been lucky in that I have had many such moments and they have been brought to the fore most often by poetry or good music. That is why, when I conceptualize a village, I work to both a musical and poetic theme.

For my Christmas 2009 village, an excerpt from Tennyson's "Lotus Eaters", sets the tone beautifully:
"There is sweet music here that softer falls
Than petals from blown roses on the grass,
Or night-dews on still waters between walls
Of shadowy granite, in a gleaming pass;
Music that gentlier on the spirit lies,
than tir'd eyelids upon tir'd eyes;
Music that brings sweet sleep down from the blissful skies".
For music, the theme from the 1997 movie "Sabrina" by John Williams will be most apt. "In the Moonlight" by Sting is a favourite.

Once you have found an underlying theme for your village, assembling it is purely a matter of mechanics. How closely the final result fits the theme determines the success, or failure, of your efforts. By its nature, a village is a static display, animated at best by a few pieces that incorporate music and motion. Within any single viewing session, the scene remains static and the story we are trying to weave out of the cast of characters has to be told without recourse to the ever changing rhythm of life. But a painting, capturing but a moment, is considered art, so too our villages can be considered a work of art. By incorporating music and a story, we more closely imitate cinematographers than painters.

I hope this perspective will inspire you to approach your future endeavors in a different way, perhaps a bit more enlightened, perhaps not. But if nothing else, it should make it that much easier to not use every single building and accessory you own into every village you build. More is not better - most often more is just too much!

I leave you with the link to my YouTube video mentioned above. Enjoy !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c48ZeXmJUMs&feature=PlayList&p=54AAABD65524FAA6

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