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About the Written on the Wind Series
Free email postcards of the Psalm 23 paintings of the cardinals in the snow was one of the first public "advertisments" for UnGraven Image featured on another site. The first Seasons Greetings snail mail card was a composite of the images of the two paintings. In the USA an image of a cardinal in the snow where the strokes are Psalm 23 ("The Lord is my shepherd...") is a fairly one-size-fits most all religions holiday card. (Their thumbnail images in the left column below- click on them to see larger images)
However, they were but they were conceived and painted for a very different purpose.
The male cardinal was the first painting in the Written on the Wind series. The female was next. Along with a group of elephants, my local cardinals inspired the whole series.
Following the tsunami of 2004, my area was hit by an unusual blizzard. I was house bound, but busy painting while listening to the news of the devastation half a world away. In my backyard, the wild birds, who usually found plentiful forage, flitted about desperately searching for food that was buried under the heavy blanket of snow. From my window, the little red cardinal was the easiest to see against the white backdrop.
Psalm 23 seems to be one of the most fitting Psalms for this series, which focuses on perceiving the words of the Lord, on that “still small voice” that will lead us through difficulties or alert us to follow a different course to avert troubles.
Certainly, the wild animals who "knew" to flee the coming tsunami perceived something the humans did not. Last week, there was a edition of PBS's Nature , about scientists who are busy trying to figure out why most of the wild animals fled and survived the tsunami and other disasters, too.
The Written on the Wind series focuses on animals, primarily wildlife in their habitats, who seem to perceive the words of the Lord. Each painting is created using the words of a psalm, since a Psalms are prayer (and hymns) -- a communication we can say to the Lord or that the Lord, in the Bible , reveals to us. Prayer goes both ways. This series of UnGraven Image art, focuses on that communication, while continuing to adhere to the discipline and reminder that the Hebrew letters symbolically represent the smallest wave-like motions, the prematter of the universe - the words of the Creator.
There are many stories of times that individuals, even whole villages perceived of a threat and “knew” not to get on a certain flight, to vacate an area, to follow a “hunch” or our “intuition” in relation to another person or opportunity. Sometimes when we follow the Shepherd in a path that is uncomfortable, or where we find we have to confront difficulty, even unpleasantness, yet at the end of that journey we arrive at the destination of our dreams.
It was a warm, clear, seemingly beautiful day at the beach when the animals who survived the tsunami fled to the hills. In one reserve, docile elephants were walking their usual path with a group of tourists strapped onto their backs as their trainer led them along. Suddenly, and purposefully, they began to head for the hills. The elephants calmly disregarded the orders of their hapless trainer who trailed behind, commanding them to stop and turn back. Apparently they had perceived other “orders.” Those elephants, the tourists on their backs and the trainer all survived the tsunami. I heard this story on the news before they cleared my road of snow.
Once the roads and my driveway were clear, I went and bought a big bag of bird food. I tromped through the 18 inch snow drifts in my yard to an old tree stump that can be seen from some of my studio's windows. I cleared it off and began to feed the wild birds there. The cardinals were not the first to arrive, but very quickly, there was a quick dash of bright red as the male flew over the stump, checking it out. After a few more passes, he alighted, grabbed a sunflower seed and flew to the safety of the nearby hedge. He finished his seed. He also called, sang his song, before flitting in for another seed. Soon the female cardinal flew in for a seed. After a while, they relaxed and stayed at the stump eating. Other birds and other cardinals joined them. I continued feeding them, photographing and painting the birds throughout the unusually cold winter.
Last week we had a brief moring flurry and then it snowed on Thanksgiving eve, covering the ground gently before it melted away. I'm ready. I have a big bag of bird seed.
Note: for more on the Written on the Wind series CLICK HERE
November 20, 2006 |
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