Sherrie Lovler

Reflection by Sherrie Lovler, 2015, Mixed Media on Paper, 20-1/4 x 12-1/4

Great Moments

Great moments
dwell in the grasses
and the trees
In the fluttering light
that surrounds us.

They live in the stories
that are shared
from one person to another
In the deep songs of the soul.

They open the door to love
Propel us from here to there
Make our cells feel alive.

Great moments
tap as gently
as the beating of your heart
Come and go
like whispers in the wind.

Great Moments by Sherrie Lovler, 2015, Mixed Media on Paper, 12-1/2 x 7-1/4 Accompanied by Poem

The Winter of my Coming by Sherrie Lovler, Sumi ink, watercolor, 12-k gold leaf, rice paper on watercolor paper, 14-1/2 x 10-1/4, framed 22 x 17

THE WINTER OF MY COMING

It is the winter of my coming—
the long, drawn out days of retreat.
Over and over I ask myself,
“How do I live today?”
as if, on its own,
it is consequential,
as if every moment
is recorded and revisited,
as if every moment matters.

We live in the time
we were born into.
This one: the beginning of the end
or the renewal.
We don’t know which yet.

Fires, floods, pandemic,
freedom’s decline,
the hidden and the seen
all mixed together
in the same caldron.
We drink of it daily.
It tosses and turns
in our stomachs and minds.

Each of us full, yet hungry—
hungry for life to begin again.
We want what we had,
but those days are gone.
We move forward into the end
or the renewal.

Every choice leads to the answer.
Every moment
metered and noted,
every morning asking,
“How do I live today?”
Every step positioned
as if it matters,

because it’s the only thing
that does.

©Sherrie Lovler

One World by Sherrie Lovler, Acrylic paint and 12-k gold leaf on paper, 14 x 8, framed 20 x 14

One World welcomes the mystery of diversity, through veiled space and foreign tongues that no one can read. It holds the vision of oneness — that we can someday live peacefully on our one precious planet.

The calligraphy here is asemic writing — writing without “semantics” — no given meaning except what the viewer brings to it. In doing asemic writing I enjoy the freedom of the movement of my brush or pen. It takes my calligraphic marks to a new level, one of line and shape and not literal interpretation.

Breaking Through by Sherrie Lovler, Sumi ink, pastel, gold leaf, mulberry paper on watercolor paper, 17-1/4 x 9-1/4, framed 23 x 15

Breaking Through brings together of the upper world and the lower world, or any two worlds that are opposed to each other. Set in our political climate, the joining is the break-through, the energized dissolution of boundaries. The gold spot, so necessary to the design of the painting, is the glimmer of hope that maybe our worlds can come to some understanding and acceptance of differences.

I am working with a new technique of pasting mulberry paper on top of my initial painting. This gives me an extra layer to work on, and a way to create more depth into my painting. The asemic writing brings in some energetic lines without placing meaning on the strokes, beyond what the viewer sees.

Without Winter by Sherrie Lovler, Sumi ink, watercolor, gouache on paper, 7 x 9-1/2, framed 13-1/2 x 15-1/2 – SOLD

WITHOUT WINTER

Without winter
how would we know spring?
How would we know the delight
of the first bud of the rose,
or the sighting of a robin
at the break of day?

How would we know
that we climbed out of the drudge
that winter holds?
That we have been transformed
from our underworld dive?

Without winter in our soul
how would we feel renewed by love,
by the awakening of sleepy cells
that long ago remained unchanged?

How would we know if we
passed through hell
to come out healed?
How would we know
what healing is?

Without the depths of our journey
How would we know we arrived?

Without winter
how would we remember
that not a spring comes by
without its promise of renewal,
its soft colors,
enchanting breeze,
its welcoming silence, setting the stage
for that first sign of relief?

©Sherrie Lovler

Lovler, Frame of Mind Frame of Mind by Sherrie Lovler, 2015, Mixed Media on Paper, 8 x 8