‘Gateway’
Oil on canvas, 24″ x 12″
Let me set the scene for you:
It was a winter wonderland of a world;
with fresh snow falling daily
bringing down that deep silence of deep snow at the dead of winter,
when the stillness finally reaches my bones and settles me.
And it was here that two enchantments happened,
to bring about this painting.
The first was a visit from White Rabbit.
One night when the moon was full and the forecast was for yet more snow,
I was up late savouring the depths of the winter night,
snug in our cabin with the woodstove stoked keeping us warm.
On my way to bed I opened our front door onto the night,
to see if the snow had begun to fall.
And there, motionless in the middle of the path,
was a pure white Snowshoe Hare,
in the pure white snow, in the moonlit world,
with fresh snow drifting gently down.
I was spellbound.
The next morning, I too went out snowshoeing,
into the pure white cold silent wonder-wrapt forest.
The day was heavily overcast, the snow still wafting softly,
the forest deep in its winter slumber.
Venturing off the path, I wandered deeper into the woods,
seeking further immersion in the wild.
I came to a place, under towering snow-laden Fir and Hemlock,
that invited me to stop and sit a spell.
Bundled up and warm, I snuggled into a snowy embankment,
and closed my eyes, better to soak up the stillness. I even drifted off…
upon opening them, and seeing with fresh eyes the profound beauty surrounding me,
I gazed over to my left to behold the second enchantment, this Gothic Gateway.
Beckoning. Enticing. Summoning. Thrilling.
And by magic the vision of the painting came to me.
…I remembered what the dormouse said…
call Alice…
Dare to enter
~~~~~
This is the Inland Temperate Rainforest, Slocan Valley, SE British Columbia, Canada
~~~
~Barbara Brown, from upcoming Volume II, SYLVAN REFLECTIONS, Wanderings, Paintings & Ponderings From the Forest