sonnenstein, sunstone
Rain, never ending rain
south Pacific winds
November-like storms,
skipping autumn
With ancient sonnenstein
beseech the sun’s return
October 20, 2007 in Being an Artist, Photoworks, Textures by Marja-Leena
by Marja-Leena
ancient sonnenstein
spiralling outwards inwards
rebirth of the sun
Thanks, Olivia – I like that! Being German, you will be interested to know that this image is of an ancient stone in northern Germany, hence the name.
Our autumn is so wonderful, it almost makes up for the non-summer!
Where is that beautiful sunstone from, ML?
Lucy, how wonderful for you. We are having an awfully wet fall. In fact the year so far is well above average in rainfall. November is usually our wettest and stormiest month, but this month seems like November. I think I’m beginning to suffer from SAD.
This sunstone really is beautiful and is a favourite image of mine. It’s from northern Germany. Standing stones with carvings like this or with runes are found in northern Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. The original image was on a postcard I picked up at an amazing art gallery and museum in the charming town of Worpswede near Bremen. I’ve used this image in different ways several times in my Nexus series. They had a replica of a runestone there that is also a favourite and I’ve used it in this series as well.
That is what I thought when I saw the sonnenstein, that is must be a prehistoric site in northern Europe. So it was found in Worpswede, how interesting. Although I am German, I have never been to Worpswede yet, but I read a lot about the painters’ colony there, especially about Paula
Modersohn-Becker, whose artwork I admire. Do you know her, Marja-Leena?
Olivia, I’m not sure if a replica of the sonnenstein was actually in the Worpswede museum, like the rune stone. I may have just missed seeing it in the prehistoric section which really enthralled me. It’s possible for why else would they have a postcard of it?
I saw a fantastic exhibition of one of my favourite artists Kathe Kollwitz, together with Paula Modersohn-Becker, in an art museum in Bremen on that same trip in 2000. It was the first time I saw an extensive collection of both of these artists – very memorable. One of my husband’s cousins lives in Bremen. She is very knowledgeable about art and generously showed us around all the highlights in the area.
Yes, Marja-Leena, of course Kaethe Kollwitz is wonderful, too. I forgot to mention her.
Oh please send some your rain my way!!
Olivia – oh, that’s OK, I only mention her because she was why I got to see Modersohn-Becker’s work.
Joan, are you back from vacation? I heartily wish you could take some of our rain away! Isn’t it unfair that we have either too much rain or too little?
Oh, so sorry you’re getting so much rain. We’re very dry out here in the Northeast U.S. Dry and unusually warm for October. Hope you get some sun soon! (I won’t offer to switch!)
Hi Leslee – I’ve noticed the weather map for North Amercia has been showing that all of the eastern part has been having an exceptionally warm and dry fall, while the west is cool and wet. But there’s hope, some sunny days ahead.