A Certain Day
THE STORY IN THE LAYERS
BEHIND THE TITLE OF " A Certain Day"
The title is from a line in the poem "Variation on a theme by Rilke" by Denise Levertov
certain: adjective cer·tain \ˈsər-tən\
definition:
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WORDS
The poem "Variation on a Theme by Rilke" by Denise Levertov is painted into the background and repeated again in the leaves in the foreground. I found it in a magazine and it has been up on my wall in our art room for quite some time.
Variation on a Theme by Rilke A certain day became a presence to me; there it was, confronting me--a sky, air, light: a being. And before it started to descend from the height of noon, it leaned over and struck my shoulder as if with the flat of a sword, granting me honor and a task, The day's blow rang out, metallic--or it was I, a bell awakened, and what I heard was my whole self saying and singing what it knew: I can. Denise Levertov, Breathing the Water (New York, NY: New Directions Publishing Corp., 1987) |
IMAGES
I went through my sketch book, found a sketch of an olive tree branch and very loosely painted the outlines of it in black. I repeated the lines with white for contrast. Later, after blocking out the background I repeated the words of the poem in the leaves but felt there was something missing, so the trusted dove showed up again. Branch of an olive tree – a symbol of peace, victory and abundance Dove - usually white in color, are used in a variety of settings as symbols of love, peace or as messengers. Sun - the source of all life and growth on earth |
THEMES
Insight, presence, new possibilities, awareness.