In the Light of Stillness— At Principle Gallery
Being is not a steady state but an occulting one: we are all of us a succession of stillness blurring into motion on the wheel of action, and it is in those spaces of black between the pictures that we find the heart of mystery in which we are never allowed to rest.
—Russell Hoban, Fremder (1996)
The new painting above is included in the 30th Anniversary exhibit at the Principle Gallery that opens on Friday, March 22.
It is titled In the Light of Stillness and is 18″ by 24″ on canvas. As in this piece, I have myself employing snow in several new pieces recently. I often associate snow with stillness. There is something wonderful in the muffled quiet it produces.
Walking down our long driveway on a snowy night has such a sense of stillness. No traffic sounds from the road and when a vehicle does pass its sound is muted and soft. A whisper. Sometimes the quiet is so absolute you can hear the snowflakes rubbing against each other as they fall or as they land on your hat.
It is a comforting feeling for me, like the universe, and I along with it, is taking a moment to catch its breath. That might why I try to create a sense of warmth in these snow scenes.
I understand that snow might not have that same effect for many people. Traveling in it or not being able to travel in it, shoveling it, plowing it, slogging through its melting slush, its cold sting when the winds blow it, etc.– there are a lot of negative associations attached to it.
There have been many times in the past when I have stood trembling with wet and cold hands and feet and an aching body from dealing with the snow for hours. My perception of it then is much different than what I see in this painting. But a short stroll in a quiet snowfall erases all those negative connotations and, absorbing the stillness, I feel as one with the universe.
For me, there is nothing better.
Redtree Times 