Showing posts with label Don Wallis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Don Wallis. Show all posts

Friday, April 21, 2023

unbind my eyes







.
Now I must break forth from my old self,
cast away old traditions,
unbind my eyes,
so that I may have a broader vision of truth;
so that I may come to this river, as I do today,
and not find it cluttered with emotions and thoughts of former days;
or its shore lined with drift of cities.
I must see the elements as they are...
.
 
 
 
 
~ Harlan Hubbard
from his journal, quoted here from
"Harlan Hubbard and the River - A Visionary Life"
by Don Wallis
.
 
 

Thursday, May 6, 2021

choosing drifting




a shantyboat community by the river's edge.  



After building their "shantyboat," out of mostly salvaged materials, 
Harlan and Anna set out on the river, 
drifting.




I had no theories to prove. 
I merely wanted to try living by my own hands, 
independent as far as possible from a system of division of labor 
in which the participant loses most of the pleasure 
of making and growing things for himself.  
I wanted to bring in my own fuel and smell its sweet smoke 
as it burned on the hearth I had made.  
I wanted to grow my own food, 
catch it in the river, or forage after it.  
In short, I wanted to do as much as I could for myself, 
because I had already realized from partial experience 
the inexpressible joy of so doing.

This is a windy day with a secret exhilaration about it. 
When I look at the rough water patched with cloud shadows, 
the boat pitching slightly in the wind waves -
 all this from a higher plane somewhere above these little affairs.  
Yet they are a part and lead into it. 

The pure delight of drifting.  
Each time, it was a thrill to shove out into the current, 
to feel the life and power of the river, 
whose beginning and end were so remote.  
We became a part of it, like the driftwood... 
The tension and excitement, the near ecstasy of drifting.  
We had to stop often and take it in small doses.




~ Harlan Hubbard
from Harlan Hubbard and the River - A Visionary Life
by Don Wallis
block prints by Harlan Hubbard





Friday, September 3, 2010

I see through my pictures


.
Harlan's studio at Payne Hollow

When I am painting, or have painting in my mind, 
I see more, observe more carefully, am more sensitive... 
I see through my pictures.

I see everything as a painting. I see so much more.

Seeing things as a painter, seeing pictures.  
This is a great happiness.

It brings everything into balance and harmony.

Painting can only be done in some state of exaltation.  
It is a force that breaks through the routine of life, 
that transcends life itself.

It is exciting with boundless possibilities.

I am always painting in my mind.

Just a little solid, creative painting and the day is good.  
It brings us closer to the earth, 
makes the present moment exhilarating, 
the future hopeful.

It is a strange life when I consider it, 
how I endeavor to attain strength and clarity, 
to mold these base materials into forms which will express me, 
and my attitude, my joy and thankfulness.  
I work alone, 
who cares whether I produce anything or not, 
or who appreciates it?  
Yet I believe a good thing will not perish.




~ Harlan Hubbard
from "Harlan Hubbard and the River - A Visionary Life"
by Don Wallis


Wednesday, September 1, 2010

I will be watered to my roots






A pale sun burning through the mist, 
the soft clouds barely visible in the gray, blue sky... 
Looking up the river I saw a bolt of lightning, 
an arrow from the sky that pierced the earth.

A soft rain comes down from the gray sky, 
and sullen thunder rolls into the distance.  
My spirit drinks in the rain like the plants do.  
I will be watered to my roots.

It is suddenly full summer.  
We look out from leafy trees.

The fragrance of wild grape and honeysuckle 
flowers drifts through the air.  
You enter and leave currents of it as you go along the paths.

In the leafy woods there is such contrast to the sunlight
 that the shade is like twilight, 
like going down into a deep ravine.  
The pale green of the jewel weed is ghostly... 
Then to hear the thrush singing on the hill above...

I think I saw the first green heron.  
Yes.




~ Harlan Hubbard 
from his journals, taken here from
"Harlan Hubbard and the River - A Visionary Life"
by Don Wallis


Wednesday, August 25, 2010

snug harbor



.
.
To achieve more perfect
harmony with the river
and at the same time 
live close to the earth
... I became a shantyboater
.
~ Harlan Hubbard
from Harlan Hubbard and the River - A Visionary Life
by Don Wallis
.

Monday, August 23, 2010

the art


.
.
When I paint a landscape,
I try to paint heaven,
and my joy at being there.
.
There is no artist,
living or dead,
whose work would satisfy me
as an expression of my life.
.
Nothing was ever painted 
that I would like to have done.
.
No one ever expressed me.
.
My painting could not have been done by anyone else,
nor in the past.
It is growing more and more unique and personal.
.
The beauty of the snow, 
the pleasure of seeing it
and being out in it.
To express that is the end of art.
.
I would like my paintings to be as real as the rain and stones,
yet transcend reality into sublimity.
.
My pictures follow their own course.
I draw the geographic form, but as the painting goes on,
there springs up a design which is unpredictable,
unconscious, and as perfect as my sense of harmony makes it.
.
~ Harlan Hubbard
from his journals, taken here from
"Harlan Hubbard and the River - A Visionary Life"
by Don Wallis
art: "Crossing the River"
 by Harland Hubbard
.