The Purpose

 

I hold a deep love for the book as art form and remain fascinated with relationships between writing, illumination, letterform and presentation.  Alphabetic development embodies the evolution of civilization in style and philosophy. These connections fed my desire to create an illuminated alphabet.  Completing this ambitious project only deepened my regard for the mystical power of letters in manifesting human identity.  My intent is to publish “The Recluse & The Rapture” in book form.

 

In the monastic spirit of the medieval scribe, I conceived and executed this series during a three-year period of reclusion between 1993 and 1996.  A series of traumatic life events had imprisoned me in a painful past. The purpose of this collection of poems and paintings is to share my adventures and discoveries while travelling through the valley of the shadow. I offer this work as testament to survival, the healing power of the creative process and validation of the incredibly rich rewards found along the precarious edge of self-acceptance.

 

 

The Poetry

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The reading and writing of poetry has offered me solace throughout my life.  The concept of writing twenty-six alliterative poems evolved over a two-year period of personal transformation, from depression and withdrawal into a broad optimistic acceptance of life.

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The poems are my interpretation of human dichotomy coupled with long-held interests in the medieval book arts and my practice of surrealism as expression of the visual nature of thought.  The figurative language comprising the poetry arose during my search for compelling verbal imagery that would provide the foundation for the paintings that were to follow.

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In 1995, I joined a local poetry group.  These poets provided a warm, accepting community, giving me encouragement and feedback on my writing.  This first phase, the poetry, served as the backbone of “The Recluse and The Rapture”.

 

 

The Illumination

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Creating the twenty six paintings in this body of work was an exciting and liberating undertaking. The series is a convergence of my interest in the fantastic art of illuminated medieval manuscripts and my development as an artist.  These paintings are a tribute to the nameless solitary scribes who, for hundreds of years, patiently and vividly recorded, sustained and sculpted human history.  My respect for these early masters has nurtured within me a reverence for their qualities of discipline, spontaneity, humility and humor.  Immersion in my work was conducted in the spirit of these centuries old traditions. Ironically, by dwelling in the medieval world, my mind was released from the torturous cage of time.  It is this amazing this amazing experience I call “The Rapture”. 

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Technically these illuminated paintings build layers upon a lightly penciled base drawing, through several stages of painting with watercolor, gouache and enamel, to inking and finally, highlighting and shading.  The paper is feather deckle, hot press, handmade Twin Rocker.  Each painting incorporates a human element, usually penciled, to symbolize the passage between the graying of death and the colorful experience of life.  I have retained the integrity of the medieval letterform throughout the series.  Again, in homage to the early masters, I maintained a spontaneous, energetic, asymmetrical execution combined with attention to detail.

 

 

The Calligraphy

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The alphabet I selected for guidance in hand lettering the poems is called the Half-uncial.  For me, this 8th and 9th centuries Celtic alphabet embodies the mystery and beauty of medieval Europe.  It was created before the invention of lower-case letters and pulls the viewer, perhaps sub-consciously, into a world of runes, spells and misty, isolated monasteries.

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The poems and paintings are bridged by bits of illumination accompanying each text. These small vignettes offer additional keys to interpretation. The poems are displayed below the paintings to suggest the foundational nature of the poetry in the series development. The large decorative letters, called versals, are studded with Celtic knots, intense color and dense imagery, providing stages to illustrate the ageless drama of human dichotomy.

 

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The Symbols and the Vision

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The concept of duality permeates this body of work. I developed a list of symbols which I kept taped to my drawing table as I worked.  Some of the list includes heaven represented as stars on a blue background, hell as fire, fear as pins, God as a clamshell and constancy as pearls.

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Commitment to works that resonated with personal truth demanded an alignment with an intuitive process of decision making which ultimately emerged in overarching patterns of color, imagery and meaning. Trusting these instincts was my source of healing and has fostered an ongoing belief in my voice as an artist and an understanding of the power of individual worth.

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Each of us is a speck on the pendulum, with the innate potential for shifting the balance and direction of human evolution. Everyone has an intuitive inner voice that, when heard and respected, serves as a guide beyond the mind’s rational limits.

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My desire in creating this body of work is to represent the strength I found in weakness, the control I found in surrender and the vision I found in blind faith. I offer you an invitation to walk now along the very human path provided by “The Recluse & The Rapture”.