Still congested with a winter cold, I rest against the soft light of the shortest day of the year. Having canceled any interruptions, I am free to climb under the warmth of the down duvet on the day bed in the loft studio – to think about not much at all. Ideas and thoughts drift, rollover and crumble into yet smaller fragments. An older small painting surfaces and clings to the edges of fickle concentration.
And then the end of a poem by Mary Oliver…
thank you
old daintiest,
dark wreckage,
coins of the sea
in my pockets
and plenty for the gulls
and the wind still pounding
and the sea still streaming in like a mother wild with gifts –
in this world I am as rich
as I need to be.
~ from “Winter” p. 52-53 in New And Selected Poems Volume One, 1992, Beacon Press.
The oil painting is “Receding Tide Reef Bay” 9 X 12 inches and is one of a very few small oil on canvas I have left.
Happy Winter Solstice! May we embrace the quiet light of the shortest day of year for the gift that it is.
What are your reflections about winter solstice today?
© 2017 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.
Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.
Creative Potager – Visit with painter and photographer Terrill Welch
From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada
For gallery and purchase information about Terrill’s photographs and paintings go to http://terrillwelchartist.com
Creative Potager 
Good healing and lovely quiet.
4 trips to airport starting tonight. Must be ready for noise and energy the next week All is good.
Merry Merry Happy Happy
Al the best of the holidays and Merry Christmas Patricia to you and your family! 🙂
Merry Christmas, very best wishes to you and your family. I pleasure to read your blog this past year.
Looking forward to 2018. Maybe you will return to PEI. See you.
Merry Christmas Larry! I may just need to follow PEI life through your blog posts for another year but that is a good thing. All the best of the holidays to you and yours! ☃🎄❄️✨❤️
Wishing you well, soonest, Terrill. Your quiet time wrapped in down sounds like just what you need, and yes, the poem too. Oliver always lifts the spirits. I love that line, “like a mother wild with gifts”! Your painting too is so soothing, the lavender, blue, earthy green. A place to rest the eye, all thought.
Have a blessed and joyful Christmas, my friend.
Today is a bit better day Deborah though I am trying not to over do it. Thank you for your thoughtful comment and all the best of the holidays to you as well. Merry Christmas! ☃🎄❄️✨❤️
Terrill — I love the calm serenity of this restful piece.
Laurie, I hadn’t spent much time with this painting recently even though it hung in my regular line of sight during the day. It had become part of the wall, disappearing from conscious awareness. Such is the risk for things that become familiar. So I moved it and took it to the gallery to show visitors on Christmas Eve day. Now I can appreciate it all over again for the reasons you mention. 🙂