21

Winter Solstice

Dawn was exquisite, and I am thankful. The crescent moon is my guide, and the four directions are my partners. A "Saran Wrap" film of ice covers the earth. Relief and tenderness fill me.

Finding my way, going on my path to investigate its edges, cutting new paths, rediscovering old ones, repairing some, and never looking at the map.

Beginning a new cycle: at 7am I'm drawing the fir bough I see from the window of my office. I draw on the left-hand side of a sheet of rice paper with graphite and felt markers in whatever available light is in the room. The finished drawings go to the bottom of the pile and in the time it takes them to resurface the light and season will have changed, and on the right-hand side of the page I'll redraw an image of the fir bough for comparison.

7:25 AM

32 degrees

still

quiet, low fog bank,

clear sky. The crescent

moon is brilliant and

attentive. Thin layer

of frost and languid

light

4:35 PM

40 degrees

wind 2 MPH with gusts

quiet, moderate rain,

heavy overcast, cold,

damp air. We start

back up the hill. The

clouds are moving on a

conveyer belt racing

against the falling

light.

DAWN & DUSK HOME

To see drawings and diary entries for a particular month starting on the date of the full moon: 12/22/99 - 1/20/00 1/21/00 - 2/18/00 2/19/00 - 3/19/00 3/20/00 - 4/17/00 4/18/00 - 5/17/00 5/18/00 - 6/15/00 6/16/00 - 7/15/00 7/16/00 - 8/14/00 8/15/00 - 9/12/00 9/13/00 - 10/12/00 10/13/00 - 11/10/00 11/11/00 - 12/10/00 12/11/00 - 12/21/00
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Contact Rosemary Powelson

12/11/00 The moon is full tonight. the coyotes sing, and very cold weather is on its way. For the last 10 drawings, I am adding Payne's gray watercolor to the earlier palette of Prussian blue and burnt umber.
12/17/00 Warm evening (42 degrees), clear cold sky and stars abound. We are in the trough of winter light. I am suspended, waiting, and anxious. The winter solstice will arrive soon. I read the light all day and keep a watchful eye on sky and shadows. I love the experience of the light rotating over me until it is gone for the day. It never stops or falters, and it doesn't miss a beat.
12/19/00 Dawn and dusk will go on without me. The time of objects on earth begins at dawn, and dusk begins the time of objects in the sky.
7:25 AM 42 degrees light wind damp, closed, foggy, tired, closed light silent		4:40 PM 42 degrees still silent, slightly vibrating cold. The light is tight, brown/gray. Fog moving into hills to obscure them.
12/21 Winter Solstice Dawn was exquisite, and I am thankful. The crescent moon is my guide, and the four directions are my partners. A "Saran Wrap" film of ice covers the earth. Relief and tenderness fill me. Finding my way, going on my path to investigate its edges, cutting new paths, rediscovering old ones, repairing some, and never looking at the map. Beginning a new cycle: at 7am I'm drawing the fir bough I see from the window of my office. I draw on the left-hand side of a sheet of rice paper with graphite and felt markers in whatever available light is in the room. The finished drawings go to the bottom of the pile and in the time it takes them to resurface the light and season will have changed, and on the right-hand side of the page I'll redraw an image of the fir bough for comparison.
7:25 AM 32 degrees still quiet, low fog bank, clear sky. The crescent moon is brilliant and attentive. Thin layer of frost and languid light		4:35 PM 40 degrees wind 2 MPH with gusts quiet, moderate rain, heavy overcast, cold, damp air. We start back up the hill. The clouds are moving on a conveyer belt racing against the falling light.

To see drawings and diary entries for a particular month starting on the date of the full moon:
12/22/99 - 1/20/00	1/21/00 - 2/18/00	2/19/00 - 3/19/00	3/20/00 - 4/17/00
4/18/00 - 5/17/00	5/18/00 - 6/15/00	6/16/00 - 7/15/00	7/16/00 - 8/14/00
8/15/00 - 9/12/00	9/13/00 - 10/12/00	10/13/00 - 11/10/00	11/11/00 - 12/10/00
12/11/00 - 12/21/00