My husband and I were grabbing a bite in a local pub last week. I looked out the window and thought.. "I know that tree!" I think the complete thought is "I know that tree in that context with water behind it and its relationship to the other pines around it." Then remembered that I had made this watercolor sketch of it from another angle last summer. I find it a great joy that images can be imprinted on my brain in this way. The memory/relationship/association comes forward and I get a chance to explore a memory, usually involving other senses besides sight. This memory and imprint was only a year old, but I have had images/memories jump forward from decades ago because something I see bumps a dusty corner of my brain. I wrote about a few other examples here, here, and here... the first involving a 300 year old house near the home of my youth, another involving a color palette one of my students used in her still life and a John Alexander White painting, and another involving some quiet snowy trees and a favorite childhood book. When cognitive threads connect, I rejoice.
How about you?
We had our second real snow of the season yesterday. This one was heavy and wet, and resulted in loads of downed tree branches and power outages. We lost ours for about 30 hours, and spent the afternoon hanging at the local coffee shop because I had grad school work to do. We watched the sun go down, hoping we would arrive home to lights.
Stepping into the parking lot, the snow-covered trees caught my eye. I told my
husband they were the Arthur Rackham trees from "The Night Before Christmas". He saw it right away. We read the book aloud every Christmas Eve. Here are a couple of pictures of the trees, and the illustration from our book. The snowy angles are exactly the same, and maybe the trees in the coffee shop lot are talking to one another tonight under the starry sky.
And, we got home to the electric company trucks in front of our home. Nice crew, men and women, working hard. Our power came on within the hour!
This month's Girls Just Wanna Paint challenge was "ritual". Usually, when I hear the challenge, a thought jumps into my head... not this time. I mulled over daily rituals, the difference between "ritual" and "routine". Then I thought about annual rituals, seasonal, occasional. We read "Night Before Christmas" every Christmas Eve and each open one gift, a ritual my family has carried over from my home as a child. Yes, we use the Arthur Rackham illustrated version of the poem. His illustrations are beautifully eerie and convey the magic of that night.
Back to ritual... My conclusion is that there is something spiritual, or centering, grounding, about ritual vs routine. One dictionary definition is "a ceremonial act or a series of such acts". I love to rise earlier than my family on weekends, sit with coffee and my book on the porch - that's a ritual. I feed the kittens, and provide fresh water each day - more of a routine. The idea of spirituality and centering brought to mind my annual summer sojourn to the rocky coast of Monhegan, where I sit on the rocks, surrounded by sea, salt, and the sun, painting what I hear, taste, smell, and see and even touch. It is a ceremony, a ritual, in which I joyfully participate.
Here are the other GJWP challenge entries. Check out these interesting and varied takes on "ritual".
As always, thanks for looking. Love to read your comments.
