Skip to main content

Full Snow Moon


Last night Full Snow Moon was outstanding.  I couldn’t quite believe my eyes.  She was luminous, and there is no other way to say it—huge! The yellowish cast was glowing.  I didn’t want my drive to end because I wanted to stay outside with her and just stare, and yes, I was slightly afraid I’d run into something.  That name prominent in some Native American groups and in the Farmer’s Almanac seems slightly out of place though this month—Full Snow Moon.  We have been in a phase I call Perpetual Almost Spring. In the Chicago we have set many records for warmest winter months and lack of snow in comparison to what we usually get.  We have had so little snow and it has been very warm by Chicago standards.  I listened several times to climatologists speak on NPR and PBS about why this phenomena has come to be but it still scares me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not crying over warm weather but there is a since of dread for the future that does arise when something so unnatural persists. I am from the East Coast and lived in a wetland that flooded a lot.  There were times when we took a row boat to get to waterless portions of the road, to get to the school bus and we lost our yard numerous times to floods.  I have heard a lot about how the warmer temperatures we are experiencing could lead to the rising of sea levels worldwide and this could have such a huge negative impact on all coastal areas.  Then too, there is the polar situation and our beloved polar bear’s entire way of life is threatened as well as that of many other creatures and life forms. Our world is changing rapidly and in so many ways that it is dizzying.  This image I am posting today is a colored pencil drawing done with Prismacolors and it is a reflection on nature and on change.

Comments

  1. Hi Stephanie,

    I have finally made it to your blog and don't want to leave. Such a respite from so much of the harshness of the sInternet.Your paintings and drawings are alive, compelling, stimulating and os often comforting so are your messages and to that I would add balanced and thoughtful.
    Thank YOU!
    mdb

    ReplyDelete
  2. Marie, is this you? Thanks so much for stopping by and I so hope you will visit this virtual studio whenever you need that respite!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Stephanie, your artwork and words are always so refreshing. I always zoom in to look at it closely & I could stare for hours.
    THanks for sharing yourself with the world....xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your colored pencil art is stunning - thanks for sharing the story behind it!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks so much for stopping by Pauline and Carolyn from Creative Every Day and checking out my drawing. It's fun working on that series. Devil's Lake and the surrounding environs are fascinating geographically. Lots of inspiration to artists.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Go ahead. Make my day by leaving a comment.

Popular posts from this blog

Follow Fest Interview and Sharing

When I first became a blogger it was difficult to know if I had readers and visitors coming to my blog. I’d post and be met by the sounds of crickets. Then, I branched out into the world of the blogosphere, a world I  didn't  know really existed. From my ventures, I met a lot of interesting bloggers.  I've  started following and commenting on numerous blogs, for you see, prior to my outings, I too was out among the crickets. Lurking about but seldom saying anything. A fellow blogger  I've  met through my journeys around the blogosphere is Melissa Maygrove . She had the brilliant idea to have a Follow Fest , where we share about who we are, what we do and most importantly, how you can connect with us further. It is my intention through joining Follow Fest, that I’ll connect with many more readers and people interested enough in what I do to want to learn more by following. So, here goes my entry for the fest. Name:   Stephanie Rose Bird Fiction or

Gran Bwa

Gran Bwa is a lwa that helps you connect to ancestral roots or the spiritual home of Vodou. A friend of mine, who is an expert on Haitian Vodou, who has spent a lot of time in Haiti with the artists there, told me I had painted Gran Bwa when I made this spontaneous work out of walnut ink and sumi-ink on handmade paper. I had considered this painting a self-portrait. She now holds this piece in her private collection: Quite a few people are afraid of Vodou but it is an awe-inspiring tradition of bringing together plant energy with divinity, spiritual and personal energy. My friend who is very involved with Vodou, especially the art that surrounds it, is from European ancestry. She is light in spirit and bubbly, with a close relationship to nature and her garden.  Vodou affirms the relationships between cycles of life, trees of knowledge and spirit.  The Vodou vision of lwa , understands them as the intelligence of energy present in humans, nature and thoughts.  Mysteries ca

Xochitl--Flower

                                     (Winter Poinsettia by Stephanie Rose Bird, oil on wood) One of my Facebook friends does daily posts and shares called "I love Flowers." I love flowers too, in real life, in my garden, in paintings and as they are related to the gods and goddesses, in healing, as well as their use in folklore like Hoodoo. Not long ago I posted about Xochipelli (Sho-CHEE-pee-lee) prince of flowers and Xochiquetzal (Sho-CHEE-ket-zul) goddess of flowers in anticipation of April's blooming season.  The Goddess and Prince of Flowers post  is here. Today, I want to focus in on the root word of their names and it's symbolism. This word is Xochitl (Show-CHEE-tul) in the Nahuatl language of the Aztecs. This word means flower.                                            ( Frida Kahlo "Self Portrait Dedicated to Dr. Eloesser) In many different belief systems there are nature gods and goddesses connected with flowers. Flowers possess symbolism,