"Pays Cathare"
(23"x17" framed. oil pencils & watercolor)
"Wynter wakeneth al my care,
nou this leues waxeth bare;
ofte y sike ant mourne sare
when hit cometh in my thoht
of this worldes joie hit geth al to
noght."
A vast region of Languedoc/Provence, was the stronghold of the Cathars, the heretical sect addressed (talk about a euphemism) by the Albigensian Crusade of the 13th century. I go there regularly these days. It's one of the most austerely beautiful landscapes I've ever seen. The poem is 14th century Englsh, but appropriate, I think.