Thursday, December 9, 2010

A Blanket of Peace

Since my last post I have been to Hawaii to visit my family. When I returned, winter had come to my zen gardens. We actually had a white Thanksgiving. Yes, snow and ice is beautiful to look at, and very cold and icy if you have to go out and especially drive on snowy, icy roads. But when it is snowing, there does seem to be a quiet silence all around, like the snow is muffling the sounds and a purity is covering everything.


The following art works are by artists who work mostly in wood cut and print making. You can find more of their works at the Ren Brown Collection here. You can also find more of these artists and their works at The Tolman Collection, Tokyo here.


Rei Morimura, relief print/woodblock

Solitude is a way of waiting for the inaudible and the invisible to make itself felt.
-- Peggy Pond Church


Kawase Hasui, woodblock


Werner Bischof, photograph

I await the birth hour of a new clarity.
--- Rilke


Joshua Rome, woodcut

"And remember that the light is within
if it is anywhere
and you must paint from the inside
Start with purity
and pure white"
--Lawrence Ferlinghetti


Saito Kiyoshi, woodblock


Miyamoto Shufu, wood block

"The pure white of gesso
the pure white of cadmium white
the pure white of flake white
the pure virgin canvas
the pure life we all begin with..."
---Lawrence Ferlinghetti


Joel Stewart, aqua tint


Lucy Arai, mixed media/collage/sumi ink

Come away from the din.
Come away to the quiet fields
Over which the great sky stretches
and where, between us and the stars
there, in the stillness
let us listen to the voice
that is spreading within us.
--- Jerome K. Jerome

Peace for everyone everywhere.

47 comments:

lyle baxter said...

mmm lovely. love the wood block prints. If the politicans would listen to the silence they might understand peace! enjoy your beautiful garden in the snow!

Tess Kincaid said...

Your blanket of peace is lovely, as are these wintry images.

Leslie Avon Miller said...

Beautiful and rich silence Donna.

Laura said...

I love the silence snow brings...we are still waiting for our first blanket here. These are lovely works of art. I am quite drawn to the Lucy Arai piece...beautiful!

gentle steps

zendotstudio said...

feels very seasonal! Love the little jizo (I think) statue with its white cape of snow. And some wonderful snowy woodcuts. And of course the delicious quotes. a true wintery treat.

Suz said...

so much beauty
I am always amazed how one piece of art can enter a being and stay
having hit its mark

r.bohnenkamp said...

I love your work, it is very inspiring and full of rest.
Thanks, Ralf

Hannah said...

Donna,

Your "blanket of silence" which opens your post is gorgeous and so deftly expresses that still, cold beauty of winter. So much thanks!

india flint said...

that snow-silence is unlike any other kind of quiet...

George said...

Beautiful images and thoughtful, insightful quotes, Donna. Thanks for sharing these gifts with us, and may you and your family enjoy the holidays.

ArtPropelled said...

There's nothing quite like that silence after a snow fall. Beautiful images, Donna. I love the slice of blue above your zen garden repeated in your collage.A blanket of peace indeed.

Petra Eller said...

I like your work very much. It is really peace . The round, the central, the little blue, the branches ,that forms ... all this has a peacefull effect on me. Very nice.
Blanket of peace - yes like the blanket of snow, which swallowed all the sounds.;)

Ian Foster said...

Thank you for these delightful depictions of snow, I particularly like the wood block images. The shots of your garden are very similar to conditions here in the UK where we have been experiencing very hard weather unusually early in the winter.

Fiona Dempster said...

So calming and still and beautiful Donna. The wood block prints were marvellous and I can't believe that your garden has so much snow - doesn't it add magic and mystery to things you look at everyday? They appear so very different with the snow...Peace to you also

Sophie Munns said...

I can only imagine what its like with snow around you where you live. We are just getting into the hot weather now... so this is a very point of departure...lovely to see all the artwork and to see your garden!

sukipoet said...

I smile at your Ferlinghetti quotes. I have heard no one mention him for years. back in high school, he was one of my inspirations. and i traveled post college to San Francisco hoping to meet him and go to City Lights bookstore. I did the latter, not the former.

woodcuts are among my favorite art forms. these are lovely.

thanks you for the peace and quiet snow of your post.

Unknown said...

Thank you for this aesthetically calming and beautiful tribute. Your considered approach makes the reader's path smooth and pleasurable.

BLACK AND WHITE said...

BEAUTIFUL!

Caterina Giglio said...

welcome home Donna, which island did you go to? I bet it was wonderful to visit. your post is amazing as always, love all the pieces and the Jerome quote is wonderful.

Jo Reimer said...

You certainly captured the blanket of peace with this lovely piece, Donna. I do love your art, all of it.

mano said...

your collage shows a wonderful winter landscape - and the snow pictures are beautiful. in germany we have so much snow this week. in my little village it's so fabulous: really a " blanket of silence"!

Kelly M. said...

Beautiful entry to share at this time of year, Donna. Love the "return to white" quotes from Ferlinghetti and the exquisite woodblocks.

Clare Wassermann said...

What a beautiful post

Donna Iona Drozda said...

your collection of quotes and the snow/white images are soothing at this hunker-down time of year...

I miss the snow now that I live where it is a rarity but I don't miss driving in it....after 40 years of that ;-)

Debrina said...

Superb and sublime, Donna. We don't get snow where I live unless it is VERY cold and only then we get it on the foothills.

ruma said...

The scenes seem to be sumi drawings.
The contrast of the black and white.
They let me feel the depth.

Your Zen garden may express a state of the Zen with the pure white still more.
It is a fascinating decoration.

Thank you.
ruma

Noela Mills said...

Beautiful images Donna. Thank you for the peaceful messages. I would love to be in the quietitude of a snowy landscape instead of the summer rains, floods and humidity of tropical Queensland. xoxoxo

Lucky Dip Lisa said...

I imagine it must be so peaceful in the snow sitting in your garden. Although I think it would be hard to stay there long!
Such a different world from Hawaii!

Did I spy a portrait of yours in Dale's exhibition... I think I did!

shayndel said...

Gorgeous peaceful snowy white post.
I love how your collage connects with the colors of sky and snow in your photographs of your garden.
Happy peaceful December days to you...
xo
PS thank you for your comment about my game!

.Trudi Sissons said...

Hi Donna,
Snow came early here as well - shortly after Halloween. I love how you took the opportunity to bring to your readers these lovely and varied art pieces. Always an inspiration or two found here!

Susan Tuttle said...

your blog and artwork are very soothing in nature. i enjoyed my visit very much.

Barry said...

D - great to see you are back - hope the family trip went well. Your snow clothed Zen garden is such a contrast to that you shared with us some months ago. Nature sure finds ways of offering us different ways of looking at our familar worlds. B

Lisa said...

brilliant piece Donna...beautiful and serene photographs. love the photographs of the women walking in the snow in their kimonos..such reverent silence...

Di said...

The Peggy Pond Church verse resonates with me. What a craft woodcut block is - the essence of patience and beauty!

Sharmon Davidson said...

I know what you mean about the purity and silence of snow. Lovely collage, and thanks for sharing all the great prints!

Lisa Ursu said...

I love your collage. That shade of blue speaks to me. I love the bare branches as well. I have been taking photos of branches lately.
the Werner Bischof photograph
is incredible.
Another thoughtful post Donna, thank you so much for sharing.
Peace to you as well.

mansuetude said...

a perfectly balanced post with peace inside it.

am so happy you mentioned a book on Seth's blog about Celan and Kiefer--i am going to google it, my heart breaks to think of the two in one place. So much condensed energy and power.

rivergardenstudio said...

The snow looks so clean and pure here, laying over your blue waters, and your quotes are very moving. Thank you so much for all the beauty you share. roxanne

Gloria Freshley Art and Design said...

Always such beauty and inspiration to be found here. Thank you, Donna, for all of it!

ELFI said...

cette touche d'arbres.. pour nous rappeler la nature dans sa simplicité..j'aime beaucoup ce travail!

annell4 said...

A wonderful post as usual! I love woodblock and I love the quotes you have selected! Thanks so much!

Seth said...

Hope you had a wonderful visit. Your photographs and the prints you have highlighted here are very, very beautiful.

Leovi said...

Extensive and very interesting post as all of this blog. Of the quotes I choose:
"And Remember That The Light is Within
if it is anywhere
and You Must paint from the inside
Start with purity
and pure white "
- Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Any artist has to take into account. and how to choose aa wonderful work of Lucy Arai abstraction. Health and happiness.

Gwen Buchanan said...

Peace to you Donna... your garden exudes it.

ruma said...

Yes. Profound of the layers. . .
There seems to be the peace.

Thank you.
ruma

Priya Sebastian said...

Hello Donna, thank you for visiting my blog and leaving a comment. Your blog and your works are beautiful. I see that there are lots of quotations too. I have to sit here for a while and spend some time going through everything. And I will most definitely be visiting often.
Best wishes for the New Year.
Priya

Leovi said...

Splendid Christmas card with a nice design in subtle tones as you like. Is thin and stylish.