The Periphery of Solace

My alluring piano . A slow Sunday is never complete without an hour's interlude .There are panels to complete , blocks to be cut , but I am always diverted . Now back to some mill grinding , with renewed vigor .

Not Dark Yet

If there is a distinct day that divides the seasons , the first of November seems to be that day for me . . . Work is slowing , self - questioning in approach ,  (exhausting an idea or more to be done . . . ? ) a momentary pause before the next lift . Shorter days , less hours of sun . But it's not dark yet . . .

A Different Hue

  Morning. 6:37 am , and I am the waterfront's sole occupant . The cold and steady drizzle has likely frightened away most of the normally intrepid day-greeters . The water is the color of the day old puddings you used to see behind the glass in London take-away shops .

 But should the sun come into view , the water turns a different hue ...

A recent panel , from "The Deserters"  . . .                                                        

Coming Near

Like a boat approaching the sound after a long journey , on a long river ....

Lord I feel it ....

A recent panel from "The Deserters " .

The Arrow Moves

After many years of city living I recognize my tendency , however vigilant , to have my senses deadened by the familiar . Perhaps it is the surroundings of concrete and automobiles , the inevitable urban decay , or perhaps it is simply due to an accelerated pace of living . I am trying to train my mind to seek and observe what I may be missing . To uncover something new in the midst of what has grown unremarkable . . .

Mind in Exile

The onslaught of subtle autumn sounding , rendering the natural results .

Hiraeth

A few days of subdued summer , the beginning of September , and you might somehow forgive one for allowing a wistful nostalgia to permeate the mind . The Welsh have a word for it , Hiraeth , which the English can offer only a rough and pale translation - a longing and yearning for home .

Yet another (detail ) from a piece for The Deserters . . .

Somewhere Weatherside

Have nearly completed work for " The Deserters " . Have been working on some new ideas derived from some personal research and speculations from Reformation era living , will possibly post the first completed painting for my next update . I have a few recordings near completion which could beget some distraction , or occupy the premises of my redoubtable list of extensive projects . . .

Flodden Field

If memory serves , Flodden Field was the sight of a tremendous slaughter of valiant , yet overmatched Scots who followed the over -confident James IV to a massacre in Cumbria . This painting has nothing to do with that battle , but the name for me , always held a resonance of heroic failure .

Sooner Than You Think

Sweeping changes on the horizon . The lucid , tidy maps and outlines of how we sometimes envision life will play out . . . another phase or era looking to begin . Ready or not . . .

This sketch is from an old sketchbook from a few years ago . The man was a former cook in Glasgow who had been fired for drinking .

Lead a Quiet Life

The return to lino - cuts is near . Here is a recent painting .

The Sacred Journey

"Each life is not just a journey through time , but a sacred journey ."

F. Buechner

Christopher Andrew Renner

1962 - 2009