Artist's Statement
Carol sketching the view along Flat Creek in Black Mountain, NC
William Blake
Thomas Berry
Poet William Blake wrote of seeing “a world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower,” of “(holding) infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour."
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The overlap of the ephemeral and the eternal, of earthly and celestial images, appears all around us. The Blue Ridge Mountains captivate me, as they do so many, with the light and shadows that shift across their graceful ridges, with the changing tableau of the seasons.
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So, too, do the night skies and astounding images from the Hubble and other space telescopes. These underscore the words of Psalm 19:1: "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of (God’s) hands."
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Thomas Berry calls the universe "the primary artist.”
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Thomas Aquinas called God “the Artist of Artists.” Who can argue with them?
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Certainly, nature’s artistry is as evident in seashores, meadows and mountains as in the star fields above. There is something irresistible about the sensation of soft spring grass between one’s toes and its burst of green after a mountain winter. And the interplay of nature with human-made objects, whether old doors transformed into yard art or a rusting old truck turned garden bed, emanate their own soulful invitations.
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Such a banquet of images the world offers us! Realizing I could never forsake one kind for the other, I decided that Heaven and Earth Art should offer ample territory for my fledgling artist’s imagination to roam. Thank you for imagining with me.
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-- Carol Cole Czeczot