Ask the beasts and they will teach you; the birds of the air, and they will tell you; ask the plants of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. –God to Job (Ch. 12) Oh, if we would but learn to listen! To hear the stories our fellow creatures tell! We would occupy our own skin and muscle and bone more fully, inhabit our planet graciously, be present to the divine DNA in our fellow humans… in all that is.
I want not only to observe but to know living things, and this implies a dimension of primordial familiarity which is simple and primitive and religious and poor. –Thomas Merton
Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Water,who is very useful and humble and precious and chaste. –St. Francis of Assissi St. Francis of Assissi did not merely “love nature.” He was in fellowship with creation and taught us how to be.
In the past few days, two shows opened making it possible for me to brag that, right now, I have artworks spread across over 2000 miles of the U.S. Fun fact, right? So… while I’m in brag mode… “I Sing of Myself” is a pretty cheeky title, no? I made this photo at Black Bayou Lake NWR on an overcast, drizzly day. The water was disturbed only by raindrops hitting the surface. Bright green grass banished gloom. Back at my computer, Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” popped into mind. Love leaves of grass (pun intended)! “I Sing of Myself” is…
Fifteen years ago, post-Hurricane Katrina flooding devastated New Orleans. Five years ago, I stored the 200+ feet of panels that comprised “WATERLINE: an interactive photo installation.” In the 10 years I worked seriously on that project, all or parts of it were installed 15 times around Louisiana and in Niceville, Florida, and Philadelphia. Of the hundreds of comments written on the panels by the thousands of people who viewed them, “Make levees, not war” is among my favorites. This year, Louisiana is rebuilding Lake Charles and much of the southwest corner of the state, devastated by Hurricane Laura. But Laura…
Edge & Essence 