This celestial piece honors the Moon Before Yule, the Anglo-Saxon name for the full moon that occurs close to the ancient winter solstice celebration. My rendition holds the spirit of the long night. It is made of hand-laid stone texture embedded with organic corn to symbolize plenty and painted with acrylic and iron oxidized to rust to represent fleeting time. It is smudged with wild prairie sage to welcome new beginnings.
A nod to limestone fence posts that dot the prairie land, built by pioneers because there were no trees. The canvas is 1930s Depression Era flour sack found in a rural antique store. I used hand-ground Kansas slate, sandstone and burnt wild sage to depict the rugged fields, leaving the sack logo as a full moon on a brightly lit night.
In the long winter evenings he talked to Ma about the Western country. In the West the land was level, and there were no trees. The grass grew thick and high. Laura Ingalls Wilder
The prairie fades to soft yellow just as winter arrives, the final iteration of tall grass that began long-ago as bright green shards. It is nature’s loving gift to us, this calm softness amid a season that is cold and harsh. At such times, the earth reminds us there is a season for all things, and now is the time for rest and stories by the warm fire. This piece has several layers of stone texture, paint and iron oxidized to rust to remind us time is fleeting.
If you ever wanted to live a simple life, try living on the prairie. The vast plain shows us we are but a small part of something larger. Here it is quiet and sublime, with a great canopy above and dark soil below. The prairie’s void draws you toward the earth, an invitation to root deeply into her embrace. My homage to living deliberately draws inspiration frost visiting autumn’s darkened fields. It has tiny hemp seeds in stone with acrylic, rust and earth pigments.
Autumn storms are not the bombastic rains of summer with load noises and light, but something else. Mature, resigned and filled with a coolness that reminds us to be patient and faithful. This piece has layers of thick stone texture, iron oxidized to rust, acrylic and earth elements, including limestone, soil and plant ash.
When the snow geese arrive at Fossil Lake, they descend in a great spiral, as if the breath of the north gently bore them toward earth. Snow Geese are said to be guardians of the North Wind and a teacher. For many weeks, I see them as they winter here, showing a beautiful sense of family, moving from the frozen pond to the warmth of the pasture grass and back again. When the icy wind arrives, they endure together with heads tucked into feathers, unmoving, quietly waiting for the cold to pass. Then when it does, they return to flight without dwelling on the storm. My rendition has iron oxidized to rust and acrylic with cuneiform-style marks cut in the hand-laid stone texture.
… the winter is kind and leaves red berries on the boughs for the hungry sparrows … John Geddes
My homage to snow-covered berries that feed the winter birds is constructed with several layers of thick stone texture indented with organic grain and painted with acrylic and an organic rust glaze.
The fading light reminds us that the divide between the worlds is shallow. My thoughts on impermanence hearken to Horace’s observation, “We are but dust and shadow.” This triptych is stone texture, grain, acrylic and layers of caramel-colored iron oxidized to rust to symbolize ephemerality.
I finished this piece during the energy of the autumn equinox when light and darkness are equal. It is a great turning point on the wheel as we move from harvest toward reflection and rest. A necessary pause before we renew our energy to begin again. My autumnal spirit is inspired by goldenrod with stone texture, layers of rust, salt for purity, fresh burnt plant ash for protection, earth pigments, rainwater and acrylic. It is cleansed with the smoke of freshly gathered prairie sage. May it inspire solace and rest. Canvas is 1.5 inch gallery wrapped and ready to hang.
I love late summer, because the prairie land is blanketed with sunflowers. They grow wild here in great bunches on thick green stalks. Before the wind changes to the north, nature provides us this one last show of glorious color to remind us of her goodness. My rendition has undulating stone texture, deep layers of rust, salt and acrylic. May it inspire happiness. Canvas is 1.5 inch gallery wrapped and ready to hang. SOLD to an amazing couple.