Monday, April 28, 2008

Blotcharium-Klecksarium-Chouïarium

The things of the ocean will always fascinate me. Water. Wasser. Eau. Aqua. Agua. Aab. Do you know poems by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe? Here is one: "Songs of the spirits over the water"

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Song Of The Spirits Over The Water

The spirit of Man
Resembles water:
Coming from heaven,
Rising to heaven,
And hither and thither,
To Earth must then
Ever descend.

It leaps from the heights
Of the sheer cliff,
In a pure stream,
Then rises sweetly
In clouds of spray
Against smooth stone,
And lightly received
Flows like a veil
Streaming softly
To depths beneath.


When the sheer rocks
Hinder its fall,
It foams angrily
Flowing stepwise
Into the void.
Along its flat bed
It wanders the vale,
And on the calm lake
All the bright stars
Gaze at their faces.
Wind is the water’s
Sweet lover:
Wind stirs up foaming
Waves from the deep.

Spirit of Man
How like water you are!
Man’s fate, oh,
How like the wind!
Gesang der Geister über den Wassern
Der Menschen Seele
Gleicht dem Wasser:
Vom Himmel kommt es,
Zum Himmel steigt es,
Und wieder nieder Zur Erde muß es,
Ewig wechselnd.
Strömt von der hohen,
Steilen Felswand
Der reine Strahl,
Dann stäubt er lieblich
In Wolkenwellen
Zum glatten Fels,
Und leicht empfangen
Wallt er verschleiernd,
Leisrauschend,
Zur Tiefe nieder.
Ragen Klippen
Dem Sturz entgegen
Schäumt er unmutig
Stufenweise
Zum Abgrund.
Im flachen Bette
Schleicht er das Wiesental hin,
Und in dem glatten See
Weiden ihr Antlitz
Alle Gestirne.
Wind ist der Welle
Lieblicher Buhler;
Wind mischt vom Grund aus
Schäumende Wogen.
Seele des Menschen,
Wie gleichst du dem Wasser!
Schicksal des Menschen,
Wie gleichst du dem Wind!

23 comments:

Genie said...

Lovely Andrea,

Meg Wolff said...

Andrea, I LOVE your painting. I live by the ocean and feel the same about water and sea creatures.

Meg Wolff said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Andrea and Kim said...

Andrea, this is really fabulous! Water is incredible. I always find I can solve just about any issue if I hop in the shower...very, very therapeutic!

I love this painting a lot...so summery and colorful!

Thanks Andrea!

Cris, Artist in Oregon said...

This is lovely Andrea. I lived by the sea for 40 years and I miss it.
Altho I love it here now too.

Katiejane said...

Andrea, this is so pretty. The colors are just right. You make watercoloring look so easy, but when I do it it's not. I love anything connected to the ocean, and this is perfect.

Anonymous said...

Johann Wolfgang haette dich geliebt!

Unknown said...

Genie thanks for your sweet compliment!

Unknown said...

Meg,it must be wonderful to live by the ocean! I love to study sea creatures, they are so different, and yet not..

Unknown said...

Kim, I agree, water is therapeutic, I wish I would take advantage of this more often and have a swim:) But then there are none of these creatures in the public pool...

Unknown said...

Katie Jane, I always see on your blog that you love the ocean and it's beings:) And thanks for the compliment on my watercolour painting. I guess watercolour wants to be handled on tiptoes and with velvet gloves, they want to be planned and still be treated spontaneously and I haven't yet quite figured out how to do them:). But with practise and more practise, we will get there!

Unknown said...

Martine: ich liebe ihn auch, den JOhann Wolfgang, was für ein Mann:)

Unknown said...

Cris: I can imagine that you miss the ocean! But at the same time your home now and what is around it is soooooo beautiful and wild.

Jill Smith said...

Thirteen comments all ready before me, it must take a long while to get to the UK but worth the wait and l am sure the red fish is me trying to escape and my fave colour, beautiful Andrea

Unknown said...

Jill, lots of the thirteen comments are my answers to others:) LOL
But I thought I'd leave this one a bit longer here, cause mostly we are in such a hurry to post, that perhaps people do not even have the time to appreciate details and all the work that has gone into a piece of art. Even if it is only blotches:)
Yes, the red fish is you, enjoying the magic of watermovements:)
love
Andrea

Lynn Cohen said...

Lovely poem, awesome paintings.
I like that big turtle especially.
And the birds and dog as well.
Glad you liked my flowers today!
We both like color!

Anonymous said...

Andrea I think this is pretty fabulous! I love it!

Peter J. Crowley said...

Wonderful! water and spirits, I had the great please of living on the ocean for a year and felt the blend of water and spirit. Of those 365 days I was drawn to walk the 2 mile beach almost everyday. Great painting to flow with the poem. peace Peter

Unknown said...

Lynn, I love those flower you posted today. They look exotic to me, but so do the houses. It is like something out of a dream, at the same time it has a "déjà vu" effect on me. thanks so much for always coming here and commenting on my brain confetti:) love

Unknown said...

Sue, thanks for stopping by, and for the nice compliment. How are the dogs?:)

Unknown said...

Peter, water and spirit! I envy you, having had the opportunity to live by the ocean for one year. I can't even imagine how that would be. Spirits and water. Water equals life and love. Spirits the essence of it? Esprits?

Elizabeth said...

I love all your work but have a particular soft spot for these fish.
Say hi to Miss Doodle for me.
Love Lizzi

human being said...

gorgeous! both your painting and the poem...
you could paint the gist of Goethe's poem so truthfully... even before reading it and just by looking at your spiritual watercolor, i had the feeling of floating and flowing like water... like aab...
Andrea in Farsi the word for the color blue is 'aabi' (like water)

and blue is always the color of spirit...
thanks for sharing this poem and your lovely painting...