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| Reefka Schneider, Confluencia, Watercolor |
Taos Landscape Qi
February 20 - March 1, 2019
Watercolors by Reefka Schneider
& Poetry by Steven Schneider
Features plein air paintings and
companion poems exploring
the quiet moments in nature where
we find ourselves.
Water Color, Reefka Schneider
“A work of art is like a visual form of prayer.” – Ian Roberts
The
way some people say “Qué Taos” makes one feel like it should rhyme with chaos
instead of house. For me this beautiful place has provided a refuge of silence
and healing. Qi is life energy, the
soul of a place. All my “Taos Landscapes Qi” watercolors are painted en plein
air. I work to capture and express the Qi,
the inner life, the silence and beauty of a moment in Nature. In this way I
share with you the healing energies I experience while painting.
These
original watercolor paintings provide a unique experience of Taos landscape Qi
that you can take home with you -- to share as a gift or treasure for
yourself.
Reefka
Poetry, Steven Schneider
In writing these “Taos Landscape Qi”
poems, I found it to be a creative challenge to move from writing about the
figurative artwork Reefka did for our earlier projects to her landscape artwork
in Taos. Rather than find my way into the poem through human emotion, I explore
new paths into the poem through the gesture of an aspen, spruce tree or
mountain in the landscape.
My recent trip to China and their
tradition of yiging – “the world of
meaning through images” – is an aesthetic that informs these poems. In China
the tradition of combining poetry with paintings of mountains, trees and rivers
dates as far back as the Ming Dynasty (1368 to 1644) scroll paintings that so
inspired me at the Shanghai museum. These poems deepen and enhance our
appreciation of the art, “add flavour,” much
as the Literati paintings known as wenrenhua
did in the period of the Ming
Dynasty.
Steven
Poetry Reading for Southwest Popular /American Culture
Conference.
Wed. 2/20,12:30
p.m. in the Whyte Room, Hyatt Hotel
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| Reefka Schneider, The Blessing of the Rain, Watercolor |
The Blessing of the Rain
It begins
with the darkening of the sky.
Summer
afternoons out on the mesa,
The wind
picks up.
Whirling
dervishes dust devils dance.
Llamas,
goats, and burros scurry for shelter.
Then the
wind-driven rain
Drenches
dust-choked chamiso and sage.
The air
dampens and cools.
Now palpable
and fresh,
The body
feels lighter.
The mind
awakens from its torpor.
The rain,
the blessing of the monsoon summer rain:
The song of
quickening --
So you may
see again
The clear light
of the high desert
You reach
out to and touch.
Steven Schneider
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