24th Dec 2009
Holiday Greeting 2009
| This year, four days ago as I write this, a snowstorm finally ended that has broken all the records for my area since they began keeping them in the 1600’s. If snow was gold we’d be able to lift the whole country out of recession and pay the national debt we’ve got so much of the stuff.But snow is not gold. It is frozen water.
Schedules and plans were seriously impacted as many of us were busy tunneling out of our snowbound homes and into equally snowbound businesses, once they were reachable via the roads. People in Denver, The Dakotas, Maine and other far more snowy places take this kind of snowfall in stride but here in Southampton we are not prepared for such a record breaker. |
For larger image click: Psalm 23 (Male Cardinal) Print
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Our winter holidays celebrate light and inspiration, which is always a new beginning or birth
Usually it is a delight to tour our streets as shops and homes decorate with lights for the holidays. Now, with ice on the road there are little traffic and due to the snow many of my neighbors
are not displaying the lights they had up late last week.
While we usually think of light coming from the sun, moon and stars, snow can easily be viewed as a weather form of light. It is not only white– it reflects light to the extent that people who are out in the snow on sunny days are urges to wear sunglasses to prevent eye damage.
For larger image click: Psalm 23 (Female Cardinal) PrintCollect this print |
Biblically, water symbolizes the word of the Lord– inspiration– especially in the first five books of the Bible. I am not saying that the water mentioned in the Bible is not real water, but that it also represents the word of the Lord.In the time of Noah when people perish in the flood but Noah and his family safely float in the ark, when the infant Moses is floating in the basket in the bulrushes, when the red sea parts, and when Jesus turns water into wine and then walks on the sea, the waters mentioned can all be understood to also be the word of the Lord. Clearly some people benefit and are able to transform their circumstances while others who are seeking their own egotistical ways flounder or perish is suggested by the metaphors.
Again, snow is frozen water. The snow fell here equally on all, without respect to age, race, religion or wealth. It was an equal opportunity snow. While that last quip is a kind of a joke it is also true because the opportunity to benefit from the snow was equally there for each person. Some people were inspired with ways to benefit and make the record breaking snowfall with the delays, changes in plans and two snow bound days fulfilling. Others failed to be inspired or discover benefits for themselves. Psalm 23 (Male Cardinal) was the initial painting of the Written on the Wind series. It was inspired by the tsunami, which was followed by a blizzard and massive snowfall where I live and have my studio. Each is created using the strokes of Psalm 23 (The Lord is my shepherd…”) for each and every stroke. As the reports of the animals who survived, including those from a game preserve where there were many human deaths came in, I painted and watched from my window as a pair of cardinals flitted in the deep snow finding berries and forage somehow despite the heavy blanket of snow that seemed to cover everything. |
We were housebound during and for a day after the snow, while the news on radio and TV was filled with stories of the tsunami. One story was about the wild animals, most of whom survived as the somehow knew to head inland for higher ground. The animals managed to know something that so many human beings who were busy enjoying the beaches and the sea failed to see or hear.
The animals were in tune with their environment, including the water, naturally seeing or hearing the inspiration they needed to stay safe.
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Close up of Psalm 23 (Female Cardinal) |
Close up of Psalm 23 (Male Cardinal) |
Wishing you and your loved ones a Blessed and Inspired Holiday Season and New Year.
 Psalm 23 (Male Cardinal) Large Tote ForestGreen & Natural |
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MERRY CHRISTMAS, @judyrey !!!
Wishes for a NEW YEAR full of good health, good luck and good cheers!
Thanks for your presence in my twitterworld
@ploie
Happy Holidays to you . And thanks a lot!
There are very nice work of art. I hope to see more like this for the holidays 2010.