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 guess it's about the only way I'll ever acquire a Flaten, even if you object to my copying the original. While Biblical scripture dominated Arnold's works, he also used some fascinating selections from Blake, Shelley, and others.

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