Wednesday 22 December 2010

White-Ivied


THERE'S A THICK WHITE SNOWSKIN laid over our village and beyond, we haven't been able to venture much beyond it, but trapped in this winterland it is quite wonderful. We have been out in the whitened woods collecting holly and ivy for hanging in the house this evening. Our days are warm and hearts full to the brim. This is a blessed winter, where the creak of underfoot snow reminds me of childhood snow, icicles snapped from the crown of Father Frost hang from the thatch and the gutters, and we hunker down here in a bustle of family and good food and friends and log stacking and backgammon and walks and stories. I have many lovely things to show you: solstice fires, and snow-leaping lurchers, a new workshop, paintings, but for now while I trip over my own shoelaces to get everything done, I leave you with a mysterious hand opening a mysterious door into a new winter painting, which I'll show you in full along with all the other delights after the busyness slows.


I wish you a most blessed Christmastime, Yuletime, Wintertime yourselves, and in sincere appreciation of your appreciation of this little stopping place in the Forest, I send you my warmest wishes for much wonder in the whiteness....

_____________________________
"But that was not the same snow," I say. "Our snow was not only shaken from whitewash buckets down the sky, it came shawling out of the ground and swam and drifted out of the arms and hands and bodies of the trees; snow grew overnight on the roofs of the houses like a pure and grandfather moss, minutely white-ivied the walls and settled on the postman, opening the gate, like a dumb, numb thunderstorm of white, torn Christmas cards."
_____________________________
~ Dylan Thomas ~ A Child's Christmas in Wales

48 comments:

mythopolis said...

Your every post just makes my day. I love the smell of a wood fire burning. I love to smell it in the fabric of my clothes the next morning.

Velma Bolyard said...

happy solstice and beyond. making paper and books in the north country.

Eliza said...

I'm loving the snow and frost too. Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year.

mermaiden said...

blessings of twinkle and wonder be yours :]

linda said...

Love reading your blog.
Hope you have a Christams filled with joy and peace. Happy Christmas
Linda

Bruce Barone said...

May the Gift of Peace and Love--and Art--be always with you!

Sarah said...

Happy Wintertime to you too!

steven said...

rima i'm grateful for the insightful and generous glimpses you provide into a world i've sensed since i was a child and have been getting closer to over the last two years. thanks especially for the link to catherynne valente whose writing was unknown to me untill you mentioned her here and now i'm huddled in a corner whenever i can be with her writing. i hope you experience a joyous and loving christmas and of course a peaceful and rewarding new year. steven

Anonymous said...

May the sweetest blessings clothe you through the wintertide, and joy be your home for all your days.

And that goes for everyone else, too!

Amy said...

Rima, winter blessings to you! (:

Yoli said...

Many winter dreams to you dear girl! Can't wait to see the full figure from those lovely hands. Wishing you and your family the best.

Artsnark said...

wonderful winter wishes to you too

Lrc said...

A very happy Christmas to you and yours, I look forward to seeing your new painting progress! I love the Child's Christmas in Wales, we read it as a family sometimes.

lori said...

your writings fill me with the same wonder and warmth that your art does. they take me to a different time, a different land, a different world...and i love the vacation from the ordinary. every time i visit, hear your words, see your art, you have given me a gift. thank you and the merriest of christmases to you and yours.

pRiyA said...

I wait for your posts because each one is so beautiful in words and pictures. This picture looks most intriguing and I can't wait to see the complete one. Until then, wishing you the best this season has to offer Rima!

Penny said...

And to you as well from this warm and windy place on a large Island named after Kangaroos in my home state of South Australia, have a lovely Christmas and a happy New Year.

Owen said...

Wishing you the most magical of holidays... a full moon on the winter solstice with an eclipse to boot; what more could we wish for to start the holidays ?

All good things to you...

Elderberry-Rob said...

Wishing you blessings. Looking forward to seeing the magical painted world behind the little door. Betty x

Christiane said...

Baba Yaga's hand?
(:

Hey Rima, I hope this new year will be good for you and your evolving hermitage... Sincerely this has changed so much since the first time I came here, there were a nice picture of your wheel house and some other curiosities...

Let the 2011 bring sparkly new things and a rain of blessings over your head!

Hugs!

mycuriousteaparty said...

Dear Rima

I wish you and your beloved Tom the most wonderful 'Merry Christmas'.

Best Wishes

~ Julie

Snippety Giblets said...

Happy, happy Yuletide you lovely people ! With all our love from us three here xxxxxxxxx

karin said...

Hello
Just wanted to say I love the image of a mysterious hand opening a mysterious door ... into the new year to come. I can't recall how I stumbled across your blog but it is always a pleasure to read and digest visually. I like it that you don't write very often too, so it is not a ritual production like others sometimes are. Many thanks and I hope you'll have a look at mine where there is a current video clip called Mysterium that I think you will like.
Best wishes,
Karin
http://thewellhousecircle.wordpress.com/

Heather said...

You remind us to see beyond the everyday aspects of life and to enjoy the magical elements of this time of year and it's 'bad' weather. Even an ugly urbanscape looks pure and beautiful under a blanket of fresh snow. Thankyou for all your fascinating posts - I'm looking forward to seeing and hearing about your latest goodies. Have a lovely Christmas.

helen said...

That's such a beautiful evocation of a snowy landscape! Merry Christmas Rima, I hope it's filled with magic.

Linda Ellett said...

Blessings and wonder for you and yours at this magical time of year!

Hearthwife said...

Rima,

Yuletide blessings to you and yours and wishing you happiness and health throughout the New Year :)

Ciara Brehony said...

Beautiful.
Every warmest wish and blessing for a most magical Yuletime, Rima.
Love Ciara x

Mo Crow said...

Thank you for the peak into your new painting & love the words by Dylan Thomas!
Seasons Greetings from the three of us here in the Land Down Under
http://www.bluecatheaven.com.au/Books%20Cards/Xmas%20Cards/xmas2010.html
Cheers,
Mo, Rod & Ariel P Cat

Joana Su said...

I can guess that there is a beautiful story behind that misterious door!
Wish you a very nice Christmastime and a wonderful 2011 Rima!
joana

An Gàidheal Pàganach said...

Wishing you, and yours, all the best of the season and a joyous and prosperous New Year.

Carol Wiebe said...

A new painting of yours is always something to look forward to.

LittleInsect said...

I give you and Tom wishes for a happy Yuletide, and may the dawn of a new year bring more strength and magic to your fingertips, and thus to bring pleasure to us all

McCabeandco said...

I wish we had some snow, here the tempreture grows to near 40 and the beach seems like the only wise option... A bit of snow would be a blessing but impossibility here in Perth, West Australia. Great to read of your adventures best wishes for the new year and your coming spring time and our autumn some many months away :)

Ulla said...

Rima, may you find enchanted twinkles beneath your steps and many many blessings in your heart!
Thinking of you,
Hugs and kisses
Ulla

HKatz said...

Wishing you a warm, festive and inspiring season!

it came shawling out of the ground
Dylan Thomas and his brilliant way with words :)

Vickie said...

fairest and merriest christmas tidings of joy and peace to you and yours dear rima of white wonderland !

gz said...

The Year has Turned, with seasonal weather.
Blessings to you and yours.
I look forward each time to your paintings and writings

Alan Richardson said...

Aah, holly and ivy so freighted with oldworld meaning. Wonderful piece of writing . . . again.

I like the new profile picture.

Alan

Jamie Goldberg said...

Rima,

This is really a fantastic blog. I look forward to sitting with a cup of tea and perusing all of your entries. This is really quite a joy to happen upon.
All the best, Davida

Fernanda Azevedo said...

Happy Holidays from Portugal!
I love your Art and all the things you put in your bolg.
Hugs!

Amanda said...

What a tease! Looking forward to seeing the body to which that hand belongs.

Harnett-Hargrove said...

Winter work as it should be. And, the glorius white canvas outside to inspire.

We re-read aloud A Child's Christmas in Wales every winter, one of my favorites.
-J

mythopolis said...

All these people respond to you, You don't reply.. Why? I love the stuff you do, but this is a thing I don't get. I really love the art and poetry you present. It is just amazing. But, I think your response is so obviously absent. Why? I don't get you sometimes. If you get too busy, it gets all about yourself.

Pamela Terry and Edward said...

How I love the words of Dylan Thomas at Christmastime. And what a wonderful you are living in! We were unbelievably lucky to have snow on Christmas Day... the first time in well over one hundred years...something that bodes well for a magical New Year methinks!!

Wishing you all the best, Rima. May all your dreams come true!

rossichka said...

Dear Rima,
In this very moment a quiet snow is flying behind my window and is weaving the winter fairy-tale of my town. I'm looking at your photo, reading your words about the snow and am realizing that the sky is one for all and wherever we are, we can feel one and the same magic, though in different ways, through our different eyes and hearts...
I want to thank you for this beautiful place of yours, in the Forest, where you find and create miracles and then share them with us, and take us always with you on your exciting and curious journeys, and let the doors to your house and soul always open. Thank you!
I wish you a Happy New Year, full of health, love, inspiration, magic and new worlds to discover in the Big World of Art!
The quotation by Dylan Thomas is wonderful!!! It reminds me in a way of one very famous and loved Bulgarian author, whose style is "unique au monde" and I just wonder how his books can be translated without losing their charm, magic and "taste". His name is Yordan Radichkov. Please, try to find something written by him, I suppose you'll be impressed!xx

Rima Staines said...

Dear friends, thank you as ever for your good wishes this wintertime, to which I raise a glass of mulled-something-or-other and smile :)
I'm checking in on my hearth after a time of hibernation and find a wealth of warmth here, but also one comment questioning my way of conversing with you...

Mythopolis: I'll attempt to answer you here. I'm sorry you feel a lack of response from me; I suppose on your blogs you are used to conducting many conversations in your comments box, which is your choice, but not mine.
Believe me, I am touched and very appreciative of all the kind words sent to me, yours no less.. Your first comment here on this post really made me smile.
I try to express thanks collectively on my blog posts, I respond personally to the many individual emails I receive, and visit and leave comments on other blogs when I feel to. I do not like to spend endless hours on the internet. Most of my time's spent painting and working on the things which I show you here. I am saddened to feel that you choose to see the fact that I am unable to respond individually to comments as a selfishness. It is not this at all. I see my blog as my half of the conversation (as I wrote a little while ago), and the words people leave here as the other half. Where people ask for specific information or write to me privately, I respond accordingly.
And I'm unsure why you feel that being too busy equals it being "all about yourself" - I am very busy, and quite hermit-like at times, but that does not mean that I am not heartfully engaged with and responsive to the warm and astounding words people send me.
I hope that clears up for you my own approach to the extent to which I want to be "plugged in" to the internet. Everyone does things differently, but, know that my feeling towards the many people who visit here is truly grateful and appreciative.
I wish you too an excellent New Year...

And soon, when stories and energies have been gathered, I'll write my next post. (I appreciate very much Karin's comment about the frequency of my blogging too... it comes when it comes, and in between: Life!)

x Rima

Kat_RN said...

I am looking forward to the rest of the painting. Your holidays sound happy, I hope the happiness continues into the new year.
Blessed Be,
Kat

Gwendolyne said...

Rima I have found you via you via Twitter. How beautiful and magical are your creations. Lovely to have found you. Sending you much love and celebration for this new year of the Rabbit coming our way.