Loch an Eilein, on a sunny winter’s afternoon.
I didn’t expect to have an image from this week – its been well below freezing for most of the week, but very grey and dark. Today dawned clear and sunny though, which was most welcome! This photo is at Loch an Eilein, taken at 3pm with the sun setting across the loch. I love the contrast in colour between the pines in the foreground and the purple birch on the hillside in the background. You can just make out the ruins of the castle on the island (left side of photo).
I came across this quote today. I really like the idea it expresses that beauty can be found anywhere, and may be just a small shift in perception away.
“Wabi-sabi is ambivalent about separating beauty from non-beauty or ugliness. The beauty of wabi-sabi is in one respect, the condition of coming to terms with what you consider ugly. Wabi-sabi suggests that beauty is a dynamic event that occurs between you and something else. Beauty can spontaneously occur at any moment given the proper circumstances, context, or point of view. Beauty is thus an altered state of consciousness, an extraordinary moment of poetry and grace.”
– Leonard Koren, ‘Wabi-Sabi: For Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers’