Artist Garden

For the northern lights photos, I went to North Park in the wee hours of the morning on May 11th, 2024, with some friends and took some long exposure photos of the incredible and rare northern lights display over the Pittsburgh area. The photos were taken with my Canon EOS Rebel T7 DSLR camera with an 18-55mm lens at 800 ISO and 10 second exposure. 

For the total solar eclipse, my mother and I traveled up to my alma mater, Allegheny College, in Meadville, PA, and went to the top of the Vukovich building, which has a green roof with benches and plants. I brought my DSLR camera, Celestron 6SE Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope with a solar filter, and a camcorder to capture the generational event. The photo of the Moon traversing the Sun was taken with my Canon EOS Rebel T7 DSLR camera through my telescope. The photo of the total solar eclipse was taken with the same camera with a 300mm lens at 800 ISO and a 1/50 second exposure.

Both of these events were some of the most incredible experiences I've ever had in my life and they both occurred so close together. Simply amazing.

 "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."
—Philippians 4:8 (English Standard Version) 

I've always enjoyed creating. I think the act of creation can be a meaningful way to imitate God, the original and ultimate Creator. Philippians 4:8 has long been an inspiration to me as I strive to create works that are pure, lovely, or just plain fun to look at, as I believe doing so is a way I can honor God with the gifts He gives and bless other people, if even in a small way, at the same time. This is the driving force behind my jewelry designing. 

Oddly enough, my passion for jewelry design was born out of my love of video games and my interest in 3D modeling. Since childhood, I've had a fondness for fantasy role-playing games, and I was always particularly interested in the designs of the magical arms and armor — and enchanted jewelry — usually found therein. In college, a close friend introduced me to 3D modeling software for the first time, which opened the door for me to experiment with creating my own designs. I quickly found that jewelry was a particularly interesting and beautiful art form.  

Mary Patricia Mengato is passionate about sharing creative, fully embodied, and nature-connected movement experiences with people of all ages and abilities. She is a Unity in Motion teacher, Movement Artist, and Body/EnergyWork Practitioner. Her book Remembering Light is her first foray into sharing through poetry. Mary Patricia loves walking in wide open spaces and planting gardens. She lives in Pittsburgh, PA with her husband Larry.

Larry Rippel has been active in the arts and photographic community in Pittsburgh for forty years. A freelance photographer since 1994, he specializes in commercial, technological, industrial, editorial, and political photography and has worked for many artists and non-profit arts organizations. His work has been shown locally and internationally.