Eye of the Storm


Altered Book Journal :: The Art of Happiness

Like others around the world, I have been transfixed, appalled, and saddened by what I have seen happening to the people in the Gulf states in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I have been following one blog in particular Dancing with Katrina where two journalists who stayed holed-up throughout the storm have been updating us daily with conditions, news, pictures, and their personal experiences.

Ironically, when I came to the latest page in my altered book The Art of Happiness, the text was full of imagery about the wrath of Nature. As I selected words and phrases for my poem, the pictures of the hurricane poured into my mind. When it came time to do the art, I searched on the internet for one of those deceptively beautiful infrared satellite images of the storm and that became my inspiration for the art work. Such bright colors hiding the murky, gray reality of the devestation of so many lives

Visible and invisible
Nature
inexplicable
unfathomable
disaster.
stirring and heaving
chaotic, panic
drifting towards the darkness.
tossing and wailing
recurrent winds
a battle between
the forces of destruction
and the forces of creation
and all the poor creatures of earth.

3 thoughts on “Eye of the Storm

  1. That is lovely, yet frightening. It never ceases to amaze me how the right images and words crop up at just the right time to help us work through painful situations. I finished a necklace just before the hurricane hit, and the focal beads are ammonites with their spiraling swirls. I am seriously thinking about naming the necklace Katrina, but I don’t want it to be perceived as a flippant response.

  2. hi karen, i swear, it was like you had a psychic art vision..when i went back and looked at the art of happiness i got a chill..not a negative chill, just a chill from the vision, especially the last page..life is truely amazing …
    hope all is well with you and your family..
    best regards, carol fuller

  3. Wow, the hurricane image is AWESOME. You truly give your subconscious time and space to come to the fore and give you inspiration. I think most people don’t take the time and energy to cultivate that process. Clearly, you have given it a lot of practice in your life. I so admire that.

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