'Bitter and wild is the wind tonight', Denis Brown, 2011
Calligraphy engraved in layered glass, 15" x 15" x 2" deep

Click the image to zoom to a detail of layered flourishes.
Click here for an enlargement which will better show fine detail.

4 sheets of 2mm glass, each spaced a little apart in a box-frame. Each sheet is hand engraved with writing on both sides, as well as etched with an acidic paste. Mounted over a background with a unique print on hand painted paper featuring an image composed digitally from blurred scans of the sheets of engraved glass.

Bitter and wild is the wind tonight, Tossing the tresses of the sea to white.
On such a night as this I feel at ease; Fierce Northmen only course the quiet seas.
The text is a translation of a 9th century poem written by an Irish monk fearing Viking attacks, but feeling safe due to a bitter storm that would prevent Vikings from sailing that night. My form aims to convey a state of multi-layered turmoil as experienced by such monks, yet with echoes of a Celtic spiral.

One of the things I respect highly of 'The Book of Kells' is how serene and yet humorous it is despite being produced in a time of chaotic Viking attacks. The turmoil seems echoed yet pacified in the contorted turns of Celtic spirals. The monks apparently were able to find a rational logic in observing chaos.

A message here is to observe the chaos of our lives but to step back and observe it from outside ones initial reactions... then to look closer and observe the logic in it. I imagine it can help one sleep better, as it did for the 9th century monk who wrote this verse.

Below: detail of layered flourishes

This work is available for sale- please contact me for information.

©2011 Denis Brown  |  www.quillskill.com