Stone Circle

March 3, 2016March 3, 2016 ~ krysiakorsak ~ 21 Comments

protrusion of fingers

stone slivers of earth-skin

with purpose gathered under

directive of constellations

sacred choreography of

mauve megaliths worshipping

another day birthing

dawn-light diffusing

hand hewn stones

past reshaping

future remodeling

Neolithic stonemasons

their soul-song carving

virgin-stone altar

appeasal of gods

sacrificial offering

aeonic Amen

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And then we built churches and cathedrals,

mosques and temples, synagogues and chapels,

each taller, bigger, higher, more splendid.

What will we build next if build we at all?

Maybe next we will build with hearts not walls?

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Painting subject :

Imaginary stone circle from somewhere deep inside my soul! It was painted quickly and the light reflections are not technically correct…if you start to analyse them. I was painting from my heart, by feel and not from my mind, by thought. I wondered whether to post it at all and decided that it just points out where I was all those years ago.

Painting :

Household emulsion paint, (small cans of colour testers ), and 1 tube of mauve artists’ acrylic paint on hardboard. This was painted nearly 20 years ago at a time when I could not justify buying lots of expensive artists’ materials and canvases.

It hangs in my hall and is a constant reminder that “Where there is a will there is a way”… and if there is sufficient passion in your heart and soul you will always find a way to express your soul-song, even when you are short on cash, your spirit broken and picking yourself up from one of Life’s many knocks.

It also reminds me that I am not there now…much water has flowed under the bridge since then and I am so grateful for where I stand now.

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designer shopping!?

February 19, 2016 ~ krysiakorsak ~ 9 Comments

just a wee bit of fun to brighten up a dreich Scottish day…

usual hurry

grab a trolley

roll down the alley

cash and carry

wheels so contrary

very wary

straight past the dairy

music merry

don’t fancy curry

just too spicy

fancy sherry

taking it easy

now sanitary

something smelly

perfume flowery

liquid Fairy

need a recipe

Mary Berry

just so wobbly

jolly jelly

look for the honey

not too runny

must have gravy

nice and savoury

find the bakery

for granary

confectionery

chocolaty

so necessary

customary

next stationary

dictionary

for my poetry

to pharmacy

am feeling funny

upset tummy

so dietary

then grocery

need some rosemary

and broccoli

WoooOOOoooW!

William Morris Tapestry!

20160214_142345539_iOS

dreich : Scottish adjective from Middle English, of Scandinavian origin, similar to Old Norse drūgr : lasting. It means dreary and bleak, usually used to describe the weather. 23 01 2013: Headline in the Scotsman : ” Dreich tops poll of favourite Scots words”… now I wonder why?

I have noticed that occasionally there are differences in spelling, between American and English words. This is most curious and please be reassured that I have consulted the dictionary I purchased to do a spell check!

liquid Fairy = Fairy liquid, a well known brand of washing up liquid here in the U.K.

Mary Berry : b. 1935 is an English food writer and television presenter. She has published more than 75 cookery books, her bestselling being Baking Bible in 2009. Her 1st book was The Hamlyn All Colour Cookbook in 1970. She has hosted many T.V. series for the BBC. Since 2010 when it was first launched, she has been a judge on the BBC television programme The Great British Bake Off avidly watched with great enthusiam in this household as we all enjoy cooking, baking and all things culinary.

Whizzing round the supermarket in that mindless, not in the moment way that one can at times when one is in a hurry, running on automatic pilot, I was suddenly confronted by the above and just had to take a photo of it. ( I think folk thought I must be a little crazy.) I became most excited as here was the spirit of William Morris speaking to me in this beautiful repetitive pattern of Nature. Whoever packed the broccoli did a superlative job and I finished my shopping wonderfully uplifted. During his lifetime he was best known for his poetry and novels and it is his literary contributions that helped to establish the modern fantasy genre. He was a great influence on C.S.Lewis and J.R.R.Tolkien also. His friends were the Pre-Raphaelite painters Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rosetti. Posthumously he became better known for his designs for wallpaper, textiles, tapestries, to name but a few, all drawn from the intricate detail, texture, colour and form of Nature. I just adore his designs.

images MOR196204_z

William Morris Wallpaper courtesy of Google Images

for Blá Bheinn

February 17, 2016February 23, 2016 ~ krysiakorsak ~ 23 Comments

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Blue grey peaks speak across the ages

knowledge and wisdom of the sages

calling through all of my lives’ stages

for Blá Bheinn I know you so well.

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Each fold of your coarse flowing mantle

your summit a mystical cantle

and presence to me so placental

for Blá Bheinn I knew you so well.

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In your shadow Loch Slapin lies sleeping

her seaweed yellow-ochred and weeping

tranquil waters in your sight’s safe keeping

for Blá Bheinn you know me so well.

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Aeons you have watched me unfolding

each lifetime a gentle cajoling

my lost soul not ever atoning

for Blá Bheinn you knew me so well.

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Dun Ringill my home and my fortress

Na Torrain a garden so flawless

Uamh An Ard-Achaidh my bones lie in darkness

for Blá Bheinn you have known me well.

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Embrace in stillness the silence of time

my lyre sings yet of that great love divine

with eagles my spirit was born to climb

for Blá Bheinn I know you so well.

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To your shores I will keep returning

mighty winds your gabbro reforming

all eternity re-affirming

for Blá Bheinn you know me so well.

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Painting, acrylic on canvas looking across Loch Slapin to Blá Bheinn.

For my husband, John, for whom this is his favourite view on the Isle of Skye.

Blá Bheinn is a magnificent Munro, 3,044ft in height, standing apart from the rest of the Cuillin Mountain range on Skye, off the west coast of Scotland. It is composed of Gabbro, a course-grained, dark coloured igneous rock, which formed when molten magma was trapped beneath the Earth’s surface and then slowly cooled.

Cantle: the raised curved part at the back of a horse’s saddle.

Dun Ringill: meaning Fort on the point of the ravine, is an Iron Age hill fort on the west shore of Loch Slapin, within the Strathaird peninsula, it’s original structure consistent with an Iron Age Broch dating to approximately the 1st years of the Common Era.

Na Torrain, ( English name Torrin ), is a crofting and fishing village lying on the eastern shore of Loch Slapin, on the road to Elgol. The village sits on Durness Limestone and there is an abundance of trees, varied plant flora, including more than a dozen species of orchid. Other parts of the island are quite treeless.

Uamh An Ard-Achaidh , ( English meaning, Cave of the High Field ), is an excavation site near the settlement of Na Torrain, consisting of 320 metres of accessible passages. The cave is entered via a natural shaft some 6 metres deep leading into the main cave, the story of the cave covering some 7,000 years, it’s use changing over the millennia. It was firstly a shelter around 5,000 BC – 750 BC, then a place of sacredness and ritual approximately 750 BC – 100 AD. Many artefacts have been found there, including stone, bone, antler, and evidence of metalworking.

In 2012 a piece of carved wood was found, discovered later to be the bridge of a lyre. Burnt and broken, it dates to approximately 300 BC and is the earliest find of a stringed instrument in western Europe. This find connects the Celtic peoples in the 4th Century BC at the height of their movements with those of southeastern Europe, where and when lyres and similar instruments were widely in evidence.

English name for Blá Bheinn: Blaven. I tried searching for clues as to the pronounciation of Uamh An Ard-Achaidh but could not find any. I shall leave that to your imaginations and it will add an air of mystery to the place for as the 1st line of the Tao Te Ching reads: “The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.”

Thank you for scrolling through all the above information and for your patience! I have finally succeeded in fulfilling what I meant to do when I started this Blog: posting a Duet of Painting and Poetry. I cannot promise a painting every time as this one took quite a while to execute, but I have made a start and I have scattered my hopes and desires upon the ether…hopefully they will gently simmer and then materialize.

One last word…if you look to the left of the wee bit of land jutting into the centre of the foreground, surrounded by water and follow what look like little pools that lead you towards the mountain, you can see a tiny white crofter’s cottage. That is where I dream of living!