Word of the Week - 79

All illustrations by Wolf Erlbruch.

Word of the Week:  CREATURES

"Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty."    Albert Einstein

As I wrote this over the weekend, I believe experts are still trying to find again, then free a blue whale off the coast of Los Angeles who became tangled in fishing line.  To see the aerial footage of this 75-foot example of Earth's largest creature in our local waters is a remarkable experience, even from the comfort of the living room.  The rescue team admits they have no blue whale experience, they don't know what the response may be to divers swimming close.

Hopping from nature to the world of art, I am enchanted by those who turn to the animal, insect, etc. kingdoms for inspiration.  Last winter I found the work of felting artist Celestine and the Hare, her creatures and her humor which now brighten every day of my life.  The list of illustrators who have charmed me over a lifetime would take days to compile.  For now, I'll share the art of Wolf Erlbruch whose animals and others bring joy.   Mister Finch creates arachnids and lepidoptera of unusual size to help populate our imaginations.  Ceramic artist Midori Takaki has mastered the art of tapirs and softly-glazed polar bears.

I marvel at the ways in which the world can be both large and small simultaneously.  The great blue whale and the statistic that perhaps only 5% of ocean life has even been identified, side by side with great silliness in a tiny package.  Fall in love with as much as possible.  It is all so miraculous.

The felted art of Celestine and the Hare made weasel a household word.

A moth in vintage fabric from Mister Finch.

Ceramic tapirs by Midori Takaki.

The ceramics of Midori Takaki

Ceramic sculptures by Midori Takaki.  Additionally, see Elsa Mora's post.

There is beauty, serenity and mystery in the ceramic faces of Midori Takaki.  Somehow, as things do on Facebook, she drifted onto my screen and the rest is a love story.

We are enchanted by whatever enchants us.  All our senses take up the cause of reaching a maximum state of besottedness, whether with art, fashion, flavor, sound or the cooler-than-the-air-temperature water of a plastic wading pool. Scent will carry me into another dimension or previous lifetime, its magic every bit as potent now as then, or here as there.  It could be an herb, flower or example of the parfumier's art.  It could be the dust of chalk or ancient wallpaper or the long-held bit of clothing from a departed other.

Gaze into the eyes of a Takaki sculpture.  They don't look at you but rather beyond.  We encounter them, not as ghosts, more as realizations, aspects of beauty and self not often contemplated.  A capacity for stillness which we thought beyond our power.