An online showing mirroring my prints on display at Onelife Community Church this month in Wedgwood.
Turbulent Calm
MOUNT HOOD
16x24 Satin Metal Print
Thou who hast made thy dwelling fair
With flowers beneath, above with starry lights,
And set thine altars everywhere,—
On mountain heights,
In woodlands dim with many a dream,
In valleys bright with springs,
And on the curving capes of every stream
- Henry van Dyke, “God of the Open Air”
Rialto Afternoon
WASHINGTON COAST
16x24 Satin Metal Print
Thou who hast taken to thyself the wings
Of morning, to abide
Upon the secret places of the sea,
And on far islands, where the tide
Visits the beauty of untrodden shores
- Henry van Dyke, “God of the Open Air”
Tiers of Autumn
TAHOMA / MOUNT RAINIER
16x20 Satin Metal Print
And thou didst meet thy child,
Not in some hidden shrine,
But in the freedom of the garden wild,
And take his hand in thine,—
There all day long in Paradise he walked,
And in the cool of evening with thee talked.
- Henry van Dyke, “God of the Open Air”
A Mountain Sanctuary
SKAGIT VALLEY
11x14 Matted and Framed Giclée Print
Lost, long ago, that garden bright and pure,
Lost, that calm day too perfect to endure,
And lost the childlike love that worshipped
and was sure!
For men have dulled their eyes with sin,
And dimmed the light of heaven with doubt,
And built their temple walls to shut thee in,
And framed their iron creeds to shut thee out.
But not for thee the closing of the door,
O Spirit unconfined!
Thy ways are free
As is the wandering wind,
And thou hast wooed thy children, to restore
Their fellowship with thee,
In peace of soul and simple-ness of mind
- Henry van Dyke, “God of the Open Air”
Reverence
SNOQUALMIE PASS
11x14 Matted and Framed Giclée Print
To him the desert was a place prepared
For weary hearts to rest;
The hillside was a temple blest;
The grassy vale a banquet-room
Where he could feed and comfort many a guest.
With him the lily shared
The vital joy that breathes itself in bloom;
And every bird that sang beside the nest
Told of the love that broods o'er every living thing.
He watched the shepherd bring
His flock at sundown to the welcome fold,
The fisherman at daybreak fling
His net across the waters gray and cold,
And all day long the patient reaper swing
His curving sickle through the harvest-gold.
So through the world the foot-path way he trod,
Drawing the air of heaven in every breath;
And in the evening sacrifice of death
Beneath the open sky he gave his soul to God.
Him will I trust, and for my Master take;
Him will I follow; and for his dear sake,
God of the open air,
To thee I make my prayer.
- Henry van Dyke, “God of the Open Air”
Beauty from Ashes
LOOWIT / MOUNT ST. HELENS
16x24 Canvas Print
By the faith that the wild-flowers show when
they bloom unbidden
- Henry van Dyke, “God of the Open Air”
Spring at Wahkeena
COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE
16x24 Satin Metal Print
For the cool of the waters that run through the
shadowy places
- Henry van Dyke, “God of the Open Air”
Long Way Around
MOUNTAIN LOOP HIGHWAY
16x20 Satin Metal Print
These are the gifts I ask
Of thee, Spirit serene:
Strength for the daily task,
Courage to face the road,
Good cheer to help me bear the traveler's load,
And, for the hours of rest that come between,
An inward joy in all things heard and seen.
These are the sins I fain
Would have thee take away:
Malice, and cold disdain,
Hot anger, sullen hate,
Scorn of the lowly, envy of the great,
And discontent that casts a shadow gray
On all the brightness of the common day.
- Henry van Dyke, “God of the Open Air”
Unwavering
SAN JUAN ISLANDS
16x20 Satin Metal Print
From the prison of anxious thought that greed has builded,
From the fetters that envy has wrought and pride has gilded,
From the noise of the crowded ways and the fierce confusion,
From the folly that wastes its days in a world of illusion,
(Ah, but the life is lost that frets and languishes there!)
I would escape and be free in the joy of the open air.
- Henry van Dyke, “God of the Open Air”
Morning’s Sculpture
SAMUEL H. BOARDMAN STATE SCENIC CORRIDOR
16x20 Gloss Metal Print
And when at last I can no longer move
Among them freely, but must part
From the green fields and from the waters clear,
Let me not creep
Into some darkened room and hide
From all that makes the world so bright and dear;
But throw the windows wide
To welcome in the light;
And while I clasp a well-beloved hand,
Let me once more have sight
Of the deep sky and the far-smiling land,—
Then gently fall on sleep,
And breathe my body back to Nature's care,
My spirit out to thee, God of the open air.
- Henry van Dyke, “God of the Open Air”
An antique book given years ago by my dear friend Katharine inspired the theme for my current showing at Onelife Community Church in Wedgwood, displayed through Thanksgiving Weekend.
Henry van Dyke’s poetry collection, Songs out of Doors (Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1922) includes the poem, “God of the Open Air”.
Just a note, I didn’t strictly follow the poem’s meter with the excerpts. The entire poem can be found online.