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Satin & Sand

~ Reflections on Beauty

Satin & Sand

Category Archives: Art

Beautiful Wisdom…

16 Sunday Mar 2025

Posted by Satin & Sand in Art, beautiful, Birds, Poetry, Reflections, watercolor, World peace

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Art, beautiful, Birds of Prey, Owl, Poetry, watercolor

© Joan Currie – My Northern Spotted Owl watercolor.


Wisdom in Turbulent Times by Joan Currie

The air splinters like glass–
I perch on a gnarled limb, a solitary watcher
in the fractured gloom of night,
where bitter winds gnash at a starless sky.

Below, the earth trembles with despair,
its pulse a staccato of sorrow, as the cacophony
of man’s ruin echoes through my ancient eyes.
I, the silent sentinel of twilight, bear witness
to hearts ensnared in an endless dispute.

I drift through fractured hours,
each moment a shard of broken light,
and in the rustle of dying leaves I hear
the desperate murmur of questions
scraping at the marrow of human intent.

I long for a guiding voice–
a call as steady and resolute as my own nocturnal hymn–
that might reach the steely hearts of
our world’s posturing masters,
whose empty grandstanding leaves their people trembling
at the ominous specter of what is to come.

Yet wisdom is never tender;
it is honed by the relentless edges of despair,
etched in the scars of time and the silent ache of the dark.
I, who have seen centuries unfold beneath these ageless stars,
offer my muted counsel to the chaos below.

I am afraid, yet I remain–a keeper of ancient truth–
praying that, in the echo of my solemn hoots,
a spark of reason my be kindled.
May their voices rise, clear and fierce as the cry of the night owl,
to lead us from the tempest and transform shattered hours into
the promise of a new dawn.

I pray for world peace.

Beautiful Valentine’s Day 2025…

14 Friday Feb 2025

Posted by Satin & Sand in Art, Birds, Gouache, Love, Painting, Poetry, Relationships, Valentine's Day

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Art, Birds, Epic love, Gouache, Love, Owl, poem, Poetry, Valentine's Day

© Joan Currie – My Valentine’s Day owl card series, “Whoooo loves you? I do!” Gouache.


A Love Worth Waiting For... by Joan Currie

I once believed in fairy tales, in love so vast, so bright,
A love that soared on golden wings and lit the darkest night.
I dreamed of hands that knew my own, of hearts that beat the same,
Of whispered vows in starlit hush, of love that burned like flame.

Yet time wove shadows in my path, and love became a ghost,
A wistful wish, a fleeting dream, a ship without a coast.
I wandered through the quiet years, through echoes soft and thin,
Not knowing love was biding time, still waiting to begin.

And then—you came, like summer rain, like dawn upon the sea,
A love so deep, so fierce, so true, it woke the soul in me.
No fleeting spark, no passing storm, no whisper in the air,
But something strong as ancient oaks, as certain as a prayer.

The love of ballads, sonnets bright, the love that poets weave,
The love of kings and wayard knights, of hearts that won’t deceive.
A love where laughter, wild and free, is laced with tender sighs,
Where every glance is poetry, where longing never dies.

So here we stand, with hands entwined, where fate and dreams align,
A love reborn, a tale retold—forever yours and mine.
No more a wish, no more a ghost, no more a fleeting glance,
But love, at last, as it should be—our fated, timeless dance.

I have found love again! I am so grateful for each and every glorious moment we spend together!

© Joan Currie -Another owl for my Valentine’s Day cards series of owls for my family.

Happy Valentines’s Day to all of you! ❤️

Beautiful Skating on the Last Day of the Year…

31 Tuesday Dec 2024

Posted by Satin & Sand in Art, Art studio, beautiful, Family, Gouache, New Year 2025, Poetry, Reflections, Winter

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Art, beautiful, Family, Gouache, Last day of the year, New Year 2025, Poetry, Winter

© Joan Currie – My skating with my mother and father painting. Inspired by Gayle Kabaker.


The Last Day of the Year by Joan Currie

On the pond where frost wove its glimmering thread,
Round and round on the ice, so much laughter was spread.
My father on one side, my mother’s warm hand,
Together we skated through winter’s command.

The cold held no power, our joy burned so bright,
Each smile a lantern in the soft fading light.
My father, a hockey fan quick on his feet,
My mother, a skater whose grace was complete.

Their spirit of wonder still dances in me,
Like ripples of moonlight on a shimmering sea.
Though time has now carried their voices away,
Their love is a gift I unwrap every day.

As the year softly closes, I cherish the thought,
Of the laughter and lessons their living had taught.
I hope that my children will carry their flame,
And feel in their hearts that same joyous refrain!

A toast to the the beauty of years that have passed,
To moments of love that forever will last.
On this last day of the year, as memories shine,
I feel their hands guiding, still holding to mine.

My best wishes to you for 2025! Happy New Year!  ❤️ 

Beautiful Witching Hour…

06 Wednesday Nov 2024

Posted by Satin & Sand in Acrylics, Art, beautiful, Poetry, Reflections

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Art, beautiful, Dreams, Poetry, Sleep, Witching hour

© Joan Currie – my acrylic on canvas painting

My Witching Hour by Joan Currie

At three, my eyes open to the soft night’s call,
A distant train’s echo, faint engines drone,
Murmur of creatures, house timbers groan,
And I’m caught in a web spun silent and small.

Yet once woken, the night takes me far-
To warm tropic waters, to sunlit sands,
To brushstroke dreams with my eager hands,
Where crimson red and blue glow like a star.

I drift in dances on shores unknown,
Beneath heavens that pierce the shadowed dome,
And revel with loved ones near the old home,
By the lake where moonlight and memories are sewn.

Then the hour fades; I’m lulled once more,
Into soft slumber’s waiting door,
Wrapped in the hush of dreams restored.

At three o’clock in the morning, I resist the temptation to turn on the light to read or sew. Rather, I lie very still and the hour overcomes me in the sweetest, best possible way.

The feeling from the song in Only Murders in the Building, performed by Meryl Streep, is aligned with how I feel during that magical hour.

Beautiful Bernese Mountain Dog…

30 Wednesday Oct 2024

Posted by Satin & Sand in Animals, Art, beautiful, Dogs, Love, Poetry, watercolor

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animal, Bernese Mountain dog, dog, dog-breeds, Dogs, pets, Poetry, puppy, watercolor

© Joan Currie – My watercolor of my daughter’s Bernese Mountain dog.


The Boisterous Bernese by Joan Currie

There once was a dog, ninety pounds full of might,
A Bernese with a bark and a spirit so bright.
He bounded through rooms with a boundless delight,
And no rule could hold him – oh, try as you might!

With paws on your shoulders, he’d greet every guest,
A leaper, a jumper, your patience to test.
He’d wiggle and waggle, without a disguise,
Then melt all your anger with soft, pleading
eyes.

At dinner, he’d stare, nose so close to your plate,
Drooling with longing – he just couldn’t wait!
And at night, as you snuggled, in comfort to steep,
He’d plop on your bed, putting an end to your sleep.

In the bathroom, he’d trail you with passion and flair,
To keep close beside you – even into the shower!
Disobedient rascal, yet so hard to scold,
With a heart full of love, and a spirit so bold.

For though he’s a handful, your mischievous friend,
Those eyes win you over, time and again.

I think our new friend is in need of another round of obedience training!
To be continued…

Beautiful Pumpkin…

25 Friday Oct 2024

Posted by Satin & Sand in Art, beautiful, Hallowe'en, Painting, Poetry, Pumpkin, Reflections

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Autumn, beautiful, Hallowe'en, Holidays, Painting, Poetry, Pumpkin, spooky

© Joan Currie – My pumpkin painting in acrylic on molding paste with bronze and gold paint v.3

Hallowe’en Harvest by Joan Currie

On Hallowe’en, the earth bears gifts of gold,
Pumpkins swell, the squash begins to fold.

The harvest yields its bounty rich and bright,
And I give thanks beneath the autumn light.

But as I walk, the shadows start to creep,
And whisper secrets that the dark can keep.

For Samhain stirs, the Celtic year’s rebirth,
Where ghosts and goblins rise from out the earth.

My mind, so tethered to the harvest’s might,
Now feels the phantoms in the night.

The rational speaks of grain and seed,
But still, the restless spirits sow their greed.

A headless rider gallops through the gloom,
While witches weave their spells beneath the moon.

I walk between these worlds, both rich and strange –
The earth’s abundance, and the night’s wild change.

The harvest calls, yet something darker grows,
As from the underworld, the cold wind blows.

At this time of year, I feel an eerie presence swirling around me in the darkness on my walk home. As I did in my youth, I can’t help but pick up the pace and finally break into a run!

Happy Hallowe’en! 🧡

Beautiful Interior of My Sweet Home…

12 Thursday Sep 2024

Posted by Satin & Sand in Art, beautiful, Daily Life, Flowers, Home, Photography, Poetry, Reflections, watercolor

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Art, cherished possessions, Daughters, Home, Painting, paintings, Poetry, still-life, watercolor

© Joan Currie – My watercolor of a vase with lemons after Vanessa Bell


My Sweet Home by Joan Currie

Within these walls, my heart does rest,
A haven wrought with love’s own crest.
The strokes of brush on canvas bare,
Birds in flight and animals fair.
Vermont’s wild lands in oil unfold,
Sunset’s fire, winter’s cold.

Here roses bloom in vases old,
Ceramic treasure finely scrolled.
Their petals whisper of the past,
Of father’s gifts – how time does last.
And glass that gleams, my mother’s hand,
In paperweights from foreign lands.

On shelves, the books of poets dwell,
Their words, like spells, my soul compels.
Photographs with faces dear,
In every frame, I hold them near.
This is my world, a soft embrace,
Where every corner finds its place.

Some speak of spaces clean and bare,
Of lives unbound by things they wear.
Yet here, amidst this cherished cache,
I find my peace and hold it fast.
For in each token, vase, or frame,
Life’s rich fabric, for now remains.

So let the world of minimal claim,
Their rooms untouched by love’s sweet flame.
For in my charming abode, I see,
The beauty that belongs to me.

I have just started giving my special treasures to my daughters for their own homes. I love seeing how my belongings look surrounded by completely different color and decorating schemes, and, my daughters’ own art and objects of affection.

Beautiful Koi…

30 Friday Aug 2024

Posted by Satin & Sand in Art, Nature, Poetry, watercolor

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fish, Koi, koi pond, Poetry, watercolor

© Joan Currie – My Koi watercolor from my art journal.

A Rare Moment with a Koi by Joan Currie

Beneath the ancient willow’s shade,
Where waters rest in jade’s embrace,
A koi of gold, with fins that played,
Arose to meet me, face to face.

Its form, a marvel, vast and bright,
With scales like sunlit autumn leaves,
It pierced the tranquil morning light,
As though it swan through silvered sheaves.

It broke the glassy surface wide,
A monarch in its water’s reign,
And in its gaze, both deep and wide,
I felt it knew my heart’s refrain.

A moment passed, yet seemed a year,
As time itself did lose its hold,
The world around so still, so near,
Was bathed in hues of green and gold.

In that calm, we two did meet,
A silent bond, no words did need,
For in the koi’s serene retreat,
I found a peace, profound indeed.

I came upon a koi pond with the biggest fish I have ever seen. One, in particular, surfaced and stayed very close to where I sat. It seemed we connected in that short time together.

Beautiful Roses (sort of)…

15 Thursday Aug 2024

Posted by Satin & Sand in Art, Flowers, Garden, Poetry, watercolor

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beautiful, Rose, rose bush

© Joan Currie – My mixed media painting of roses.

A Rose Bush with Barbarous Thorns by Joan Currie

I tended a rose bush with loving care,
In hopes her beauty might my heart ensnare.
Her petals bloomed, a velvet blush of red,
But soon I found her charm, a thing to dread.

Her thorns, like daggers, pierced my seeking hand,
Each touch a wound no comfort could withstand.
The blood she drew ran crimson on the earth,
A wicked price for such a meager birth.

No scent she gave, no fragrant breath of grace,
A beauty hollow, lacking warm embrace.
Where other roses filled the air with song,
She stood in silence, sharp where she was strong.

And though a flower crowned her once, then fell,
She offered little more than this to tell.
A bloom or two, in early summer’s light,
Then naught but thorns to meet my hand in spite.

Oh roses sweet, that gentle hearts adore,
‘Tis not enough – one might yearn for more.
The fairest face is not the fairest soul-
Without the perfume, beauty is not whole.

I finally gave up on this difficult rose bush and replaced it with a tea rose that had the most alluring fragrance. I wish I had done it years ago!

Beautiful Finding Happiness in a Flower…

07 Wednesday Aug 2024

Posted by Satin & Sand in Art, beautiful, Flowers, Nature, Painting, Poetry, Reflections, watercolor

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beautiful, Flower, Nature, Poetry, watercolor

© Joan Currie – My watercolor of a woman looking at a flower.

The Bloom of Happiness by Joan Currie

In a small and quiet village, lived a woman kind and true,
She helped her friends and family, no matter what they’d do.
Her heart was filled with charity, her hands with gentle grace,
She asked for nothing in return, just a smile upon each face.

But fate, with cruel fingers, wove a twist within her life,
She fell into a sickness, her body racked with strife.
She tried to mend her weary self, with strength she couldn’t find,
And so she called for those she’d helped, with hope they’d be as kind.

Yet each one had their burdens, and other tasks to tend,
They turned away, their busy lives, no time to help a friend.
Alone she faced her suffering, with tears and silent pleas,
Her heart ached more than body, as she fell upon her knees.

One morning in her garden, beneath the sun’s embrace,
She saw a sight that took her breath, and brought light to her face.
A flower, bright and beautiful, bloomed from a plant so plain,
A gift from gentle nature, to soothe her deepest pain.

In petals soft and fragrant, she felt a tender care,
A message from the earth and sky, that someone still was there.
Nature’s touch had reached her, when human hearts had failed,
And in that bloom, she found the strength, her spirit once more sa
iled!

I hold the gifts from nature so very close to my heart, especially in times of need. Every so often, I feel they are my late mother’s way of caring for me – still.

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