My favorite movie as a child was "Fantasia."

I was 4 years old when I saw it for the first time which seems mighty young to see such a movie. But I remember being very excited to see Fantasia again when it was re-released in 1977.

The images were positively seared into my mind.

In Fantasia classical music is the soundtrack for a wide variety of stories, all animated in full Disney color and style.  Disney said it was "music you can see, pictures you can hear," which sounds a little trippy.

Fantasia was truly groundbreaking.  

The brutal process of natural selection is set to the atavistic soundtrack of "The Rite of Spring," which is FeKkiN' bRiLLiAnT.

Then there are the Centaurs, who do a little speed dating while vibin' to the tune of Beethoven's "Pastorale Symphony."  Winged horses (Pegasuses? Pegasi?) fly around and dodge a storm that Zeus dumps on them for funzies.

The finale is "Night on Bald Mountain"...  

Over the years I've talked to enough adults who saw "Night On Bald Mountain" as a child and it Scared. The. Soup. out of a LOT of kids.

Not me. I adored it because I loved Halloween and it was essentially one big Halloween party.

Jump forward to the Texas Ice Storm of 2021.

Stay with me, here.

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I need to acknowledge that the ice storm was a very bad thing for most people who lived through it. Texans are ill-equipped to deal with freezing cold weather. The state ground to a halt because they have no way to deal with snow. The power went out for hundreds of thousands of people for days. Hundreds of people died needlessly.

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I love snow, ice, and cold weather.  The dog?

  NOTSOMUCH

We lost power at our house. Pipes burst, flooding our backyard, so we had no water for days. We heated pizza stones on the stovetop to use as bedwarmers. We had sleeping bags rated for freezing cold. We had candles for light and used a solar charger for our phones.

I love cold weather, so I spent a lot of time outside in the snow taking pictures of the ice-covered trees. Austin was at a complete standstill, so it was dead quiet.

Except for the ice. It formed sparkling sheaths on the branches and, when the wind blew, made an otherworldly sound as the ice creaked and cracked. For me this was heaven.

The photo of ice-covered branches below is one of the first works I made using photos of trees.

Can you feel the chill of the icy air?

The image is, in every sense of the word, frozen.

BUT

Look at those elegant, sinewy branches, all dappled and lovely.

I see MOTION in the branches.

Can you see it?

In fact, I see this:

Little blue demons from "Fantasia" dance wildly, nay desperately, in supplication to Chernabog who comes from the fiery underworld.

Vastly different from

Tree branches frozen in icy tranquility. 

And yet...

Fire and Ice seem akin.

And that is why this work is named:

"Supplication"

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You'll find this and many more works on my website. Some are whimsical.  Some stir the senses.  Some inspire reflection.  I'd be grateful if you'd consider purchasing art for yourself or someone you love.

All the best,

Clare