Poster Image
$20
Item#: 2019SYR16
Purchase Details
11x17-inches, printed on heavy weight (100-pound) Hammermill cover paper. We package each print with a piece of chipboard in a clear plastic sleeve.
You also receive…
An information page with photos of the artist and poet, and hand-written comments from each.
Medium- and large-format posters are available by custom order. Contact us for details.
Snow Melts to Lilies
poster information
Description
Snow melts to lilies
Of the sweet valley, reborn
In sensuous spring
I wrote this haiku many years ago, during the deepest part of the year, the winter solstice. To me, the lily of the valley is such a tiny thing to have strength, even when hibernating, to overcome harsh winters to be reborn. During the short days and cold nights, I think I hear their bells and detect in the air their delicate scent. The lily of the valley holds the full sensual promise of the approaching spring.
Here and then gone, you have to be careful and quick to find these tiny flowers hiding under trees and hedgerows.
I can never own the essence of the lily of the valley, but on special nights when I can just see them shining in the moonlight, or imagine I do, I feel the love of the universe—gentle but mighty indeed.
I have always had one foot in the distant past. It is for this reason that I was immediately attracted to this particular haiku, as I was instantaneously drawn to the rhythmic, romantic way it relayed a sense of longing.
I illustrated my poster working toward the idea of it becoming a kind of love letter, or proclamation to the reader. At the same time, I wanted to leave the viewer with a melancholy note of regret by highlighting spring's evanescent blooms as they tearfully melt.
I utilized a textural, painterly technique that is found in much of my own fine art painting to further enhance an early decorative arts style, while adding an air of whimsy and spontaneity.