Poster Image
$20
Item#: 2007SYR01
Purchase Details
11x17-inches, printed on heavy weight (100-pound) Hammermill cover paper. We package each print with a piece of chipboard in a clear plastic sleeve.
You also receive…
An information page with photos of the artist and poet, and hand-written comments from each.
Medium- and large-format posters are available by custom order. Contact us for details.
Poem Inspiration Location
Stained Glass Snowflakes Fall
poster information
Description
Stained glass snowflakes fall
past the cathedral windows
gathering of souls
When I think of haiku, I think of the traditional form of Japanese poetry, and I think of nature and spirituality. Or not necessarily spirituality, but some type of transcendent experience. So I thought it would be interesting to mix nature with religion, or a religious symbol, such as a church with stained glass windows.
At first I thought of the Roman Catholic cathedral on Columbus Circle. But the visual image wasn't specific to that church. And the more I thought about it, I thought it could be an interesting idea for an art student—in particular, the image of silent worshippers, and the snowflakes falling past a stained glass window. I just thought that was ripe for visual interpretation.
A year ago I was lucky enough to spend a semester abroad in Europe. While there I visited the king's chapel, Sainte Chapelle, in Paris, France. I fell in love with the stained glass windows in that sanctuary and have been fascinated with them ever since. So when the opportunity came to paint stained glass—I could only jump on such a project.
St. Paul's Cathedral in downtown Syracuse echoes that faraway church in Paris through its decoration of stained glass. After close examination of the poem and the church, I chose to do my painting at night with the rarely seen view of stained glass lit from the inside. This decision also allowed me to depict Syracuse's signature snowfall, and the attendants of St. Paul's.