William Blake

William Blake: Time is Eternity

2015, oiled black walnut version #1, 12"x36" collection of D. Hewitt

Woodgrain for me always seems so organic, so flowing.. it's as if you could compress time and make it act like water. This chuck of walnut was that kind, where the text and the grain flowed together seamlessly, adding emphasis to the text of William Blake. I've only used this text once before, for an anniversary piece that I'll discuss shortly. This one, however, was a gift to a friend after the sudden loss of a spouse. I hope it brought some measure of comfort, and will continue to do so over the years.

Time is Eternity, version #2
2013, oiled black walnut and lucite
15" high
collection of S. Staruch

The other time I used the Blake text was for an anniversary gift. After much discussion, I decided to break away from the 2D panel format and go with something 3D, something kinetic. This is constructed from massive walnut triangles with lucite discs separating them. It allows light to shine through (get it?), and allows each triangle to turn independently of the others (kind of trinitarian, I think..). The Blake text is placed on the perimeter of each triangle, and I designed a logo for the couple with their first name initials (S & N) intertwined, carved into the top triangle. Seemed like a nice anniversary touch..

Comments

Shelley: To a Skylark

To a Skylark 2014 cherry,12"x84" collection of the artist, Anoka MN With deep gratitude to fellow choral singer and St. Olaf friend Eldri Wittkamper.. We just wanted to stop by and see the house where Eldri's relative lived, one of the Roe family who taught voice at St. Olaf. We knocked on the door, and it turns out the house was occupied by the mayor of Northfield, who invited us in. My jaw dropped when I saw it--the style was unmistakeable--it was a Flaten work surrounding the mantelpiece at the fireplace. The text is a selection from Percy Bysshe Shelley, "To a Skylark": Higher still and higher From the earth thou springest Like a cloud of fire; The blue deep thou wingest, And singing still dost soar, and soaring ever singest. Since we couldn't guarantee access to the house in the future, it was a stroke of luck that Eldri had a rubbing of the work, an exact copy. From the rubbing, I was able to reproduce the carving exactly as Arnold did it. I gu

Servants, 2nd ed.

Lord, You Have Called Your Servants 2020 Oiled white birch, 32"x36"x2" St. Stephen Lutheran Church, Bloomington MN This is another edition of a well-known and well-loved prayer. I have finished seven or eight versions of this in walnut, in a horizontal layout; this is the first in 'paragraph' format, with corresponding icon miniatures on the side. The icons, from top down: sun/clouds of creation, the cross, shock of wheat, dotted eighth note of music, the star, the acorn seed, and the sprout of new growth.

Ojibwe Prayer 2022 Oiled white birch, 36"x36"x2" in the collection of S. Gens, Hudson WI An Ojibwe prayer, used by Minnesota author William Kent Krueger in his writings. The decision was made to use the phonetic spelling for the final benediction at the bottom right of the panel. The three icons represent the eagle feather, the spruce tree and the two acorns

Chasing Arnold Flaten

Search This Blog