A unique book commissioned for a private collector of W.B. Yeats’ poem “Lapis Lazuli.”

A poem about the horrors of war and the cyclical nature of history. For the narrator, what makes life endurable is the redemption and transcendence that is found through art.

Every discoloration of the stone,
Every accidental crack or dent,
Seems a water-course or an avalanche,
Or lofty slope where it still snows
Though doubtless plum or cherry-branch
Sweetens the little half-way house
Those Chinamen climb towards, and I
Delight to imagine them seated there;
There, on the mountain and the sky,
On all the tragic scene they stare.
One asks for mournful melodies;
Accomplished fingers begin to play.
Their eyes mid many wrinkles, their eyes,
Their ancient, glittering eyes, are gay


2004
Unique book, artist commission
10 x 14 inches
Hand painted,
Gouache and watercolor
Shojo-shi paper and Japanese book cloth
Accordion binding