Gazing into the waters of the Puget Sound.
Stainless Steel &
Columnar Basalt
7’11″ x 2′ x 1’9″
2.74 x .60 x .53 Meters
$5,800
Mist over the Sound
Heron sketches a new day
Its beak draws the lines
– James Kelsey
I’m often asked, “how long did that sculpture take you”, and my answer is oftentimes, “x number of days or weeks or months. This sculpture took many years to complete. Actually, there is only one sculpture in my portfolio that has taken more time and it is still awaiting word from the Muse as to which direction it is to go.
During it’s awkward phase, “Heron Sketches the Day” sat in my private collection. I knew it wasn’t ready for a gallery show, but I didn’t hate it either. I looked at it nearly every day for years and contimplated what it would become. Over all of this time, many friends and art collectors visited my studio and many of them said they saw the same thing. . . a bird. I saw it as well, and in the end, I saw what the Muse was trying to show me.
Early morning fog with the ferry Issaquah in the mist.
Although it is midsummer,the great blue heron
holds darkest winter in his hunched shoulders,
those blue-turning-gray clouds
rising over him like a storm from the Pacific.
He stands in the black marsh
more monument than bird, a wizened prophet
returned from a vanished mythology.
He watches the hearts of things
and does not move or speak. But when
at last he flies, his great wings
cover the darkening sky,and slowly,
as though praying, he lifts, almost motionless,
as he pushes the world away.
“Black Marsh Ecologue” by Port Townsend poet Sam Hamill
Hi James,
At first glance I thought that your Heron was standing on the beach near the ferry in Port Townsend. And it reminded me of this poem, which is part of an art installation in Fort Worden called “Memory’s Vault”.
And somehow I was inspired to share it with you.
If you haven’t been to Port Townsend, you should come up sometime.
Cheers,
Lynda
Hello Lynda,
I love Port Townsend, and between posting this poem and your urging, I think it’s high time I pay your wonderful town a visit.
I’ll have to seek out Sam Hamill’s poem. Thank you for taking the time to post it.
Hugs,
James