Lax from Last Year
January 8, 2016
Last year my friend Steve re-introduced me to the work of Robert Lax after a couple of decades, and WOW! Age and perspective have shifted my interpretation and appreciation of his words on a page. What I enjoy about Lax’s work and words is that they allow the viewer and reader to be in a moment. Here is a stream of consciousness image that came to me last year, it was posted in another spot, but I think at some point I will add a LAX gallery to my site.
“never a root without a tree * never a tree without a bird * never a bird without a song * never a song without a sky ** never a sky without a song * never a song without a bird * never a bird without a tree * never a tree without a root ** never a root without a tree” ** words by robert lax ** new poems ** 1962 ** design by meredith eliassen ** 2015 “never a root without a tree” notecard
Into the Woods We Go…
January 7, 2016
“You will find something more in the woods than in books. Trees and stones will teach you that which you can never learn from masters.” ~Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. Design by Meredith Eliassen, 2016.
Looking back to Illumination
January 5, 2016
An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration or illustration, such as decorated initials, borders and miniatures. In the strictest definition of the term, an illuminated manuscript only refers to manuscripts decorated with gold or silver. However all words accompanied by imagery become more memorable to the artist and to anybody that views the imagery.
A leaf from a French Book of Hours, circa 1420, photographed by R. I. Otterbach in late afternoon light on an autumn day in 2014. The reversal of numbers in the years amuses me.
I am embracing the illuminated written word. Though I cannot replicate the work of this scribe with my little Micron pens and Strathmore watercolor paper, I admire this illuminator’s fine decorative line work and I am letting up-lifting messages shape my designs.
New Year By the Sea
January 4, 2016
First design with another Robert Lax poem (expect more to come) in the new year, after a period of quiet solitude.
“I went to sit quietly by the sea. To think, to wonder about my friends. What I knew of them & and all I needed to know at least in those first moments was that they were or had become part of me they were part of my life as I looked out over the sea it was as though they were with me watching as though they had com to help me as I searched for what? for whom? they had come to help me as I searched for them” Words by Robert Lax (1915-2000) from “In the Beginning was Love: Contemplative Words of Robert Lax,” edited with an introduction by S. T. Georgiou (2015), design by Meredith Eliassen, 2016.
“I went to sit quietly by the sea” notecard and Survivors’ Hub Postcard
Visiting the Praying Penguins…
December 21, 2015
There was a break in the rain and I went to pay my regards to Bufano’s “Praying Penguins” next to Lake Merced, and this ol’ boy stepped out from behind them with a little song sparrow in his hand. He gave me a message and then disappeared: “Tell Oliver I am on my way…”
Design by Meredith Eliassen, 2015.
Wisdom from “Jonathan Livingston Seagull”
December 15, 2015
As the year winds down… this seems an appropriate thought… from Richard Bach’s epic poem. Happy Holidays!
Quote by Richard Bach from “Jonathan Livingston Seagull,” reads as follows: “Overcome space, and all we have left is HERE. Overcome time, and all we have left is NOW.” Design by Meredith Eliassen, 2015.
A Lady Joins Lucky’s Posse
December 7, 2015
Sally showed up over the weekend looking for my Italian sidekick, who luckily was out of town with friends. She figured that in Italy there must not be any lizards because he kept calling members of Lucky’s posse salamanders. “Well, I hear there are lizards in Italy,” I told her. But she believes that he was calling out to her. I think I broke her little lizard heart when I told her he was, eh, already married…
Design by Meredith Eliassen, 2015. Sally Mander the Lizard Notecard
I gave Sally Bounder’s address. This story will continue…
From our Family’s Poet Laureate
December 4, 2015
I recently spent several pleasant and carefree hours illustrating a poem by my sister, Elisabeth T. Eliassen, called “The Rose Knows,” originally written on 4 December 2000.
“VII. The Rose Knows. 4 December 2000”: “Roses know; They know the point of it all, They know the meaning of life, They know this experience is all in All, And are happy to smile broadly in the sunshine, From bud, to blossom, to full flower – Fragrant and bright… When roses fall, they laugh as they tumble, Because they just cannot hold themselves up any longer; They laugh and smile, letting go of their soft petals, So that the wind may carry their essence back, And onward into the ever-flowing stream.” From the book “Songs of a Soul Journey” by Elisabeth T. Eliassen (2001). Design by Meredith Eliassen, 2015
On Determination: The Western Scrub-Jay
November 24, 2015
On recent lake walks I have noticed the absence of our familiar little furry caterpillars. However, I have seen a lot of frisky scrub-jays in the, well, the scrub. The scrub-jay is a very clever and determined little bird… one of the few to eat the hairy caterpillars that have guard hairs that other critters find abrasive when swallowed. The little scrub-jay simply shaves the caterpillar by rubbing against the sand before swallowing the delicacy.
An already-plump Western scrub-jay about to feast on a formerly-hairy caterpillar. Design by Meredith Eliassen, 2015.
Juxtaposed…
November 23, 2015
“The chess-board is the world; the pieces are the phenomena of the universe; the rules of the game are what we call the laws of Nature. The player on the other side is hidden from us. We know that his play is always fair, and patient. But also we know, to our cost, that he never overlooks a mistake, or makes the smallest allowance for ignorance.”
Thomas Henry Huxley, 1825-1895
Robert Frost quote illustrated by Meredith Eliassen, 2015. Caption “Pawny: I’m on my way!” originally based upon concept by R. I. Otterbach.
“How many times did it thunder before Franklin took the hint! How many apples fell on Newton’s head before he took the hint! Nature is always hinting at us. It hints over and over again. And suddenly we take the hint.”
Robert Frost, 1874-1963
MME Designs's Weblog 