Winter Solstice Plans

It came to me – in bed, early in the morning, just coming out of sleep – one of my best times of the day to ponder and dream and plot and plan.  A new year is coming and I always tend to reevaluate what I’m doing – and look ahead to what the year might bring.  There are many unknowns in life – so having a ‘plan’ is my guardian against all of the off-the-cuff things that can happen in any given year.

My requirements at this time (always subject to change of course) would be to work more on 'small stuff', making critters of one kind or another. Perhaps a bit more hand stitching will work its way into my life.  And of course have fun (always my first prerequisite).

As Winter Solstice finds me here in my studio - I plan to take a bit of holiday time off from my blog.  Just until January 4th when I'll be back -- hopefully full of energy, ideas and maybe even a few completed 'smalls'.  Have a beautiful holiday season.

"Flow with whatever may happen, and let your mind be free.  Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate." - Zhuangzi, Nan-Hua-Ch'en-Ching

Winter Solstice

I'm not sure why I am always drawn to this season change.  Is it the silence and solitude that it represents for me?  Is it the slowing down of everything, even my heart?  Is it the nesting feeling that I always have as days and nights get colder and seemingly darker?

I'll let William Carlos Williams speak for me as we greet this year's winter solstice.

Winter Trees

by William Carlos Williams

All the complicated details

of the attiring and

the disattiring are completed!

A liquid moon

moves gently among

the long branches.

Thus having prepared their buds

against a sure winter

the wise trees

stand sleeping in the cold.

Winter Solstice

Winter has come a bit early this year - beginning just before Thanksgiving.

A lacy looking bench changes the landscape with just a little bit of snow.

Although water is still running here - this little grotto pond doesn't look at all like itself.  Are the toads buried deep in the mud below - trying to stay warm?

Nature has outlined the bricks on this path - making it look like the path on a board game.

"In a way, winter is the real spring, the time when the inner changes happen, the resurgence of nature." - Edna O'Brien

[To each of you a Happy Holiday -- I'll be back after Christmas.]

Winter Solstice

 

 

Look to this day for it is life.

The very life of life.

In its brief course lie all the verities

and realities of your existence:

The bliss of growth,

The glory of action.

The splendour of beauty.

For yesterday is but a dream,

and tomorrow is only a vision.

But today well-lived,

makes every tomorrow a vision of hope.

Look well, therefore to this day.

 

 

The Salutation of the Dawn

from the Sanskrit

 

 

 

 



The Shortest Day

Andy Goldsworthy

I am a child of light!  The light of day awakens me, the darkness means sleep.  I am most alive when the sun is shining, when a shaft of sunlight crosses the floor or hits my face as I step out the door.

Andy Goldsworthy

I welcome the Winter Solstice -- because I know that the shortest day will soon be past and I can look forward to each day getting a little longer, second by second, minute by minute until light is over the land for hours at a time.

I will walk today as if I were opening a door onto more light with each passing day.

"In every winter's heart there is a quivering spring." - Kahil Gibrah

Winter Solstice

Once again we come to the shortest day of the year, which seems like a strange thing to celebrate.  BUT once the winter solstice is reached, like a promise of warm days to come each day gets a bit longer.  As the temperature goes down these winter days I know that each day will be a bit longer until we reach the summer solstice and the longest day of the year. 

This is my 'nesting' time.  Like a small sparrow I snuggle into my studio nest.  I watch the outside from my warm, cozy inside area.  This is a wonderful time for creating -- nothing is calling me outside, time slows and warmth is treasured. On this day the universe is giving me a present of light and warmth to come - and while I wait for it I'll try to live each of these winter days in comfort and joy.

"I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape. Something waits beneath it; the whole story doesn't show". - Andrew Wyeth

Winter Solstice Figure

She walks through winter.  Silver reflecting the light of the winter moon; shades of grey match the branches of trees, early morning light, fog filling the valley, cold river water; pale blue like the sky before the sun finally comes through. 

She walks through winter as snow falls and piles up against downed trees and boulders strewn along the way.

She walks through winter in the footsteps of the deer who passed by earlier and she passes as silently as the elusive fox and bobcat.

She walks through winter reveling in the icy cold - where each breath makes a puff of steam.

"There is nothing in the world more beautiful than the forest clothed to its very hollows in snow.  It is the still ecstasy of nature, wherein every spray, every blade of grass, every spire of reed, every intricacy of twig, is clad with radiance." - William Sharp

Winter Solstice

Winter Solstice - the shortest, darkest day of the year.  To me winter feels like the most creative season.  It is a time when life slows down and more time is spent indoors where it is warm and cozy.  Because those waterfalls of summer aren't beckoning me I must search inward for my inspiration and muse.  Because I can't really hike the hills at this time of the year (my goodness just getting in my daily walk can be a challenge) - I seem to have time to work with my hands.  The shadows outside, the bare branches brushing the house, the full moon which I can see through those branches - these are my guides during this time of the year.

The above figure started out as a concept in deep blue colors and was to be called 'Nocturne' -- but for some reason the beads that lept onto my needle were not deep blue but were grey, grey blue and silver (unfortunately this picture shows the colors as pale green but they are not - sorry about that).  And so "Winter Solstice" was born and is being created during this month of the solstice.  Soft, wintery colors -- shiny silvers -- pieces of ribbon and fibers -- beads upon beads -- these are the beauties that will find themselves onto the surface of this figure.  She will become my winter memories for this 2009/2010 winter.  Stay tuned to see more of her as she comes fully to life.

"Wisdom comes with winters". - Oscar Wilde