The Lamplighter ~ Old Book Pages

There's something about old books... 

I know I've said it before, but I really can't resist them.

I've never handled a book with pages so deeply browned with age as these. Perhaps it is something to do with the type of paper used, which feels really soft. It's a book called 'The Lamplighter", written by  Miss Maria S Cummins & the publishing date was somewhere between 1880 & 1910. I suspect this edition was one of the earlier editions but there is no date printed inside.... it just feels old.

I read it... a gentle tale of love & loss, hurt & forgiveness... an overall lesson in good old-fashioned christian charity, love, forgiveness & benevolence. Of course, in three instances where the story held a bit of excitement, were where pages were missing. I never did find out how a dastardly deed was done or how the misunderstandings between prospective lovers were resolved.... *sigh* never mind...

pages from 'The Lamplighter' 

are available here

 One thing I've noticed since starting to pick up these old books, is how language has changed over the last 100 years or so. Maybe not drastically, but I find myself reading more slowly due to more complex sentence construction & slightly archaic phrasing. I have been known to mutter about 'text speak' creeping into everyday usage, but really it's no greater change than the way we use language has relaxed over the years anyway.

 Believe in the power of your dreams

These scans show the true page colour better than the photographs... 

isn't it yummy?

 Everything happens for a reason

(this is actually one of the most popular quotations 

I am asked to write on canvas!)

I played around with printing over them, & thought the chocolate browns of these canvasses worked pretty well. For me, it's more about the textures than the legibility, though the smaller text on the prints is legible if you enlarge the photographs.

 Friends are the family we choose for ourselves

I really like the idea of modern, loose artwork, in combination with old, structured pages of text. Quite a contrast in style, but harmonised by the colour.

Lovers do not finally meet,

they knew each other all along

Which reminds me of being taught about using contrasts in calligraphy: that they could be striking with a bold visual impact, or subtle & harmonious. But either way they should look as if you meant it... the viewer shouldn't be left asking the question, 'Did she mean to do that or is it a mistake?'

Just thought I'd share that while I thought about it!

to love and be loved is the greatest happiness

To begin with, I had thought about adding more layers, but the more I looked at these the more I liked them as they are. It's funny, I love the layered collages that other people create, & really admire them, but I struggle to make myself add more!

I have listed them in suziscribbles shop, here

... need to sort out the wonky heart on the last one tho'!!

Burial Prayer

When I first came across this poem, years ago, it was credited as being an Old Indian Burial Prayer. The words are beautiful, speaking of life continuing in the spirit of nature. I think this may have been one of the first things that nudged me to consciously consider what might happen beyond physical death. The poem is so comforting... uplifting.... it's the one I went to straight away when my Mum died,  along with countless others who have chosen it to be read at funeral services! 

After I wrote it on a canvas recently, I realised that I had a couple of different versions scribbled in my notebooks, so went online to check the wording. That's when I found that the Burial Prayer is a poem written by Mary Elizabeth Frye in 1932, in response to a Jewish friend saying that she couldn't return home to shed a tear at her mother's grave, due to the situation developing in Germany. It's hardly surprising that it's chosen so often for a funeral eulogy.

Do not stand at my grave and weep,

I am not there; I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow,

I am the diamond glints on snow,

I am the sunlight on ripened grain,

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning’s hush

I am the swift uplifting rush

Of quiet birds in circled flight.

I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry,

I am not there; I did not die.

Mary Elizabeth Frye

A request for something bright & uplifting inspired these versions, one on paper & one on canvas. The second one works fine as a print... just need to get a card version done now!

Be Still and Know....

A request for these words...

So, an option that can be printed & colour added later...

...a well known quotation, but with the words repeated & contracted 

down to the essence of the phrase...

Be Still. Be.

I love the pencil with watercolour splashes. 

They have an ethereal quality... floating...

Ocean colours... Water.... Calming, cleansing...

But then, the painted letters are perhaps more balanced? Certainly more visible.
Subtly changing tones of translucent colour.... blues, greens, aqua...

This image brings to mind the Rumi quote, 

"Only let the moving waters calm down, 

and the sun and moon will be reflected on the surface of your being."

Perhaps the pencil version is more suggestive of an invitation to 'be still.... to know... to be'

whilst the stronger painted letters seem more of an instruction... what do you think?

Simplicity...

again, the watercolours merge into each other within the letters...

Although I like the look of this, for me the emphasis on the whole phrase 

turns the additional wording into more of a back-up statement.

Nothing wrong with that, of course!

I have an ongoing fascination with how a seemingly minor change can totally change the meaning or impact of the same few words. Even after all these years. It's more than 20 years since I first played with this quotation... using just the words, no decoration, changing the emphasis from one word to another, learning about contrasts, and in doing so changing the whole meaning of the phrase.

Prints will be available soon 

(but with a whiter background than these photographs show!).

Which version would you choose?