Description
Air of Water
Morning air after Spring rain
fresh, soft, light and liquid
Never more as clear, this morning impulse
just after awakening, head full of vivid dream.
I awaken, something falls away.
I lost my inner view.
I remember dimly
a feeling so clear and flowing
luminous connection--
drained and dull now.
I grab a robe, water, click
the radio, turn
the window shades.
If I sometimes
catch a breath,
a whisper of sweetness
can sharpen my tongue
when someone snaps me back
to the 'real world.'
At the end of the day,
I wonder. Regret, a heavy scalp
hangs from my shoulders.
Dull ache inside me, tense.
Just to breathe again
to lapse back into
my normal flow...
I turn to the outside--
the air is clear, even dark.
Moments of lucid sky
as early morning.
Symbolism & Card Meaning
I really like the "Air of Water" phase describing the
Queen of Swords. Her airy, communicative nature,
clear-sighted manner seem to me a modern meaning. I
also wanted to pay tribute traditional European
allusions to her strength, from the Judith allegory of
saving her people by beheading the enemy. The reversal
of the card deals on her separation and someone
divorced or dealing with the sorrow of loss.
The Queen of Swords image is a combination of my
mother's portrait with a more traditional tourist
photograph. My mother's features reflect her heritage
from the island of Okinawa. I combined my color
experiments with my black and white line drawing and
the Japanese dedication in front of "An Artist's
Letters from Japan," the 1897 memoir from John La
Farge. The calligraphy copied are supposed to
represent in translation: We are separated by any
things besides distance, but you know that the
blossoms scattered by the waters of the torrent shall
meet at its end."
I wanted to convey my personal symbolism of a clear,
reflective nature with strength, and clear
understanding of how to deal with separateness. In
this case, the pen that drew these details have been
my meditative sword in times of stress and
separateness.
About five years ago I combined digitized, stamp and
drawing tributes to John LaFarge (1835-1910). The fish
to the left under a flowering tree is a tribute to his
stained glass work. To the right, the mask of a young
girl, my interpreted "Wave off of Kanagawa" and
seaside village Kanagawa from the Tokkeido Road relate
to my father's origins.
A little more on John LaFarge: his influence, among
other 19th century Americans, started an interest in
preserving folk arts and broadened international
interest in Japanese art. Contemporary teachers and
writers in this genre also include Ernest Fenollosa
and William Butler Yeats. Teacher Arthur Wesley Dow
and WB. Yeats were said to influence Pamela Colman
Smith--Dow was her instructor in the Pratt Institute
of Brooklyn, New York and Yeats was one of her patrons
when he was interested in writing works for theater
performances in New York city.
Artistic Media
Mixed media collage, pen and ink drawings.
Artist's Bio
Cerulean Mari is experimenting with concepts related
to Eastern and Western studies.
Go back to the project index, read the traditional card meaning, or get a free automated reading.
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