Transfiguration
©Kesler Woodward 2008
Acrylic on canvas
30" x 40" (image)
31 1/2" x 41 1/2" (framed)
I have been especially struck this year by the way my perception of the seasons mirrors the calendar of the Christian Church. I have thought of the recent series of paintings I have been doing, in which sunlight is breaking into the forest, as "epiphanies," which seems particularly apt since I almost invariably start noticing that phenomenon shortly after the January 6 date of the Church's festival of Epiphany.
As I worked on this new painting the last couple of weeks, I have been continuing to ski on the trails in the woods that surround my home. Both on the trail and in the studio, I have been entranced with the way the growing, brightening, yellowing light of the sun on these rapidly lengthening days transfigures the winter forest. I was somewhat taken aback, then, but utterly delighted, to find us celebrating "Transfiguration Sunday" at my Lutheran church this week.
Here in Interior Alaska, at this time of year, we are somewhat in need of transfiguration--the radical transformation of appearance, metamorphosis, or sudden emanation of radiance that the term refers to in both secular and religious traditions. Our days have grown to more than 7 hours in length, from less than 4 in late December, but the deep cold is relentless. It is -40ºF today, as I write. I skied the trails at -35ºF recently and was comfortable, not just because I have very warm clothes, but because I was working hard--skiing on snow that refuses to melt and glide, more like sand than ice at those temperatures.
As I frequently try to explain to friends Outside, it is not the extremes of cold that are hard in Alaska--it is the relentlessness of it. In February, after months of deep cold behind us and more ahead of us, it tries to grind us down. The transfiguration of the landscape by the brightening sun on these lengthening days is a gift that helps us bear it. So we pass Transfiguration Sunday, on our way toward Easter and the eventual, perennial, miraculous resurrection of spring.
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