Winter Solstice 2015
Every December for the past few years I’ve curated a storm of snowflakes from white paper. I’ll accumulate a blizzard eventually. Try as I may, because they’re small, I’ve never been able to duplicate the same snowflake twice.
Each year seems to have a certain design theme…a defining scissors Rorschach test of sorts. Some years they’re gracefully hypnotic, one year like a child cutting with blunt scissors. Last year the flakes looked more like an archaic language waiting to be deciphered. This year I wanted to branch out and so I added glue, a pencil and a little paint.
There’s not enough peace in the world to feel giddy this year making paper snowflakes. Not that there ever has been enough peace in the world, but lately peace seems more fragile. I’m aware of the families sleeping in tents and under trees along the roadside. I think of the children as I draw.
I’ve also been daydreaming about the absolute quiet of snow. I wonder, what would it be like if the entire world experienced a few days of absolute quiet?
Drawing collage by j.h. white
I just came by to see what you’ve been up too
Your art work is beautiful
And the story about the snow flakes is timely
Have a Happy happy
And a Merry merry
And above all peace
As always Sheldon
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Thank you Sheldon…Merry Merry to you too!
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Quiet can be a great blessing too. Best wishes for a very happy holiday.
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Blessings to you Shimon… in what ever form they find you!
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A few days of absolute quiet yes that would be nice. It’s actually unseasonably warm here in the UK so snow seems unlikely. Wishing you a very merry Christmas Jana..
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Snow is actually mostly a memory Mark, but a strong one apparently! A sweet, merry holiday to you and Chris….
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I couldn’t resist the Neruda. Your beautiful Solstice child appeared as I was preparing my own Solstice Child for posting. Confluence. Your drawing and your meditation on snowflakes and where we are all at…nicely rendered and written as ever…so much food for thought, a pause from the madness…
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As always my dear…you see my heart. Wrap up Warm and stay dry!
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Oh Jana, this is beautiful, both the writing ( touching) and the drawing. Beautiful face, beautiful snowflakes.
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I wish you cool breezes! And a great new year Belinda… Let there be gracefulness in the fullness of our experience and the slowing of our tides….Still fierce though!
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Love the drawing, Jana! Have a great season and a happy new year!
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There is something about being unabashed and out and about on the streets isn’t there? Faces…you got to love em. Here’s to more of it Richard. All the best!
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The girl on your card has a most powerful face Jana; may I ask, was she originated from a photograph or purely by your own hand?
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You know Hariod…I’m not inclined to even following a recipe when I cook but there is something restful about looking at a photograph and using it as reference to take off from while sitting at my kitchen table getting lost and found in pencil dust and whimsy. This photograph I found reminds me of my grand daughter. Spicy lass and strong. Also of myself long ago singing hymns to the trees wandering alone through the snowy streets under street lights (Gregorian chant as a child alto in choir..they called me “foghorn”) Signs of aging? Good ones!
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I love your tradition of making snowflakes, it seems that your little girl has caught them on her collar with a blush of gratitude on her timeless face. It is a gorgeous drawing and I can hear the absolute quiet of snow that you speak of, the peace settling as I am sure it will xx
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Teri, your voice always seems to ring straight through me as natural as the wind and weather, as the sea that you love…. all the best my dear. xxoo
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Some would take the silence for rest and some would take it for plotting… But I believe all would be more open to the Divine. Wonderful thoughts… Thanks for sharing your art with the world. ~*~
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Oh so interesting…The ‘plotters”… We need to up it then. Indifference to life is a tough nut to crack.
Okay…Let’s envision a silence of silences… a silence of all thought! Everyone encapsulated in “not-knowing” BUT still responsive to natural stimuli…the winds, the waters, the sun, the sky, birds singing, a child’s cry….
Peace be to you and to yours my dear!
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Sitting at the kitchen table, pencil, scissors and glue in hand. curating a snow storm… over the years. Mind wandering in and out of the darkness and sorrow of our days. Yet… still… drawing, cutting, gluing and telling, as the snowflakes gather and drift.
This is a lovely post (drawing and writing). Somehow it contains… just about everything. Light. Shadow. Thoughtful hand and open heart.
May the quiet of snow be there when you wish… and a bit of revelry always within reach. Have a wonderful Christmas season Jana!
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Thanks for the wish Chris! But you’ll probably see snow before I will. Snow memory runs deep though. Say hello to it for me when you’re out making tracks, okay?
I wish you a bit of revelry yourself this season before sliding into the new year. Ah…hear it? It’s calling us….
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Love the drawing. Thank you for sharing, I am new to your blog and you can now count a new follower 😉
Have a great day.
OiB
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Welcome! And thank you so much for commenting.
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children and snow
~
it may not be quiet
but for me
it is exquisitely peaceful
~
thank you
for your friendship
the past years
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I hear you there!!!
I’m learning about friendships like ours Geo
we’ve often been each others mirrors
out in space
both from distant and different universes
finding our way home
Like I once said…
It’s a solo journey
but you never do it alone
Love to you and yours!
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Love your quiet and your snowflakes and your empathy and the face you drew. Snowflakes like an archaic language is very beautiful. A child at Christmas and snowflakes that look like stars.
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Each year at this time, Steven, I grapple with finding substance….as we all do. A worthy challenge of the season….exploring the parameters of gratitude and simple communion. Thank you for adding your thoughts to this!
All the best to you and yours as we (creatively!) slip into the seminal season of winter.
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Jana, I just discovered your name. A few days of absolute quiet and we would hear the screams of the hopeless.
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Hi Ellar… sounds like the plot of a good story….you have me speculating. This was written in December just about the time when the noise level reaches it’s fevered jiggle bells peak. I didn’t actually think that it was hard to hear the screams and cries of the hopeless a midst all the noise.
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I didn’t think you did, it is just what your words evoked for me, these “few days of absolute silence” would make it easier to hear, to feel, to listen amist the senseless blabber we’re now surrounded with every day.
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Well…that was my original thought. But I think you appreciate a good noir as much as I do. As a story line I was trying to imagine something unexpected. And then all that quiet just seemed too good…the story might need more than just a few days of it. Ha! Thanks Ellar…
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Gorgeous illustration, and … I’m with you regarding the fragility of peace. sigh.
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Thank you Peri…. and thanks for stopping by today!
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