Living Flame of Love

O living flame of love
That tenderly wounds my soul
In its deepest center! Since
Now you are not oppressive,
Now Consummate! if it be your will:
Tear through the veil of this sweet encounter!

O sweet cautery,
O delightful wound!
O gentle hand! O delicate touch
That tastes of eternal life
And pays every debt!
In killing you changed death to life.

O lamps of fire!
In whose splendors
The deep caverns of feeling,
Once obscure and blind,
Now give forth, so rarely, so exquisitely,
Both warmth and light to their beloved.

How gently and lovingly
You wake in my heart,
Where in secret you dwell alone;
And in your sweet breathing,
Filled with good and glory,
How tenderly you swell my heart with love.

-St. John of the Cross

My Sketchbook Weighs A Ton

Sensitivity of Giorgione

I've recently had a taste for Italian painters. I particularly like the vivid color of Giorgione and the warmth of light that he used to express a great sensitivity to the subjects. His balance of light and form is considerably ahead of his time. Delicate and passionate his pictures find a soft place in me. Deeply sensitive and reverent expression marks every character in these scenes. No doubt Giorgione's place in the canons of human history is justified, if not also underappreciated by many.