Winter Nights in the Mountains

 Dreaming of Winter Nights in the Mountains...

One of my favourite paintings; so calming.

Winter Night in the Mountains (Norwegian: Vinternatt i fjellene),

 also known as Winter Night in Rondane (Norwegian: Vinternatt i Rondane),

 is the name of several versions of a composition created in several techniques by the Norwegian artist Harald Sohlberg (1869–1935).

The work depicts mountains covered by snow, under a deep blue-black cloudless evening sky. The foreground is framed by the silhouetted limbs of bare weathered trees, but the work is devoid of any sign of humans or animals. 

At the centre of the symmetrically balanced painting is a single bright star visible in a gap between two mountains. A cross is visible on the snow of a mountain peak to the right.

The painter made several studies in the period 1900–1902 in a variety of media, including charcoal, crayon, oil and watercolor. 

Searching downwards; the sacred art of pausing

 

Card from An Almanac of Birds: 100 Divinations for Uncertain Days.

Pausing,

inhale, exhale; pause

inhale light

exhale...

pause, pause, in that in between space of emptiness 

and feel embraced in the darkness

as you exhale feel the shift, the release and the peace, 

in that silent moment

linger

then inhale deep, out of the sleep

awake, inhale light, shake

all the negative out and away

rest, restore, renew

exhale, and welcome the slow winter slumber 

time to be lulled by the cold winds out in the night

time to be lulled

cocooned in soft fleece

content

sleep

Never forget

 

Art from An Almanac of Birds: Divinations for Uncertain Days. (Available as a print and as stationery cards, benefitting the Audubon Society.)

December

 

Yellow-crowned night heron / Audubon. Card from An Almanac of Birds: 100 Divinations for Uncertain Days, also available as a stand-alone print, benefitting the Audubon Society.