“I did not err: there does a sable cloud
Turn forth her silver lining on the night,
And casts a gleam over this tufted grove.”
––English poet John Milton (1608-1674)
The folk saying “Behind every cloud there is a silver lining” has long been a popular evoked to encourage hopefulness during troubling times. The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, which scientists and medical professionals are currently battling to defeat with several new vaccines, easily qualifies as such a time. The expression about silver linings behind clouds, so far as anybody thus far has been able to tell, was derived from the above quote taken from COMUS, English poet John Milton’s performance poem, known as a “mask,” written in 1634. I find it interesting that a popular quote encouraging faith to endure the trials of a pandemic comes from classic creative writing described as a “mask” when a wearing an actual face mask in 2020 is still one of our best chances for beating the coronavirus.
This particular art print, “Clouds and the Mystery of Silver Linings beyond the COVID19 Pandemic,” was inspired in a big way by photographic and video images of Earth Day 2020. With much of the world on lockdown this year, animals in popular wildlife attractions were left to themselves and generally thrived in the process. In the U.S., for example, animals such as elk, deer, and desert tortoises were spared death by careless drivers. Similar results occurred in other countries where wildlife reserves are sometimes fatally impacted by tourism.
Therefore, this Silk-Featherbrush Artstyle print features greenery draped across a large globe with blue waterways flowing through and around it, wildflowers forming a pink, orange, yellow, lavender and green carpet beneath the globe, strips of shadowy uncertainty on either side, clusters of a polychromatic humanity, and flowing across the top of the image a ribbon of clouds glowing white, lavender, blue, and silver.
No one can say with certainty exactly what the silver lining behind the cloud of the current pandemic will look like once we finally get beyond it. What we do know is that once everybody begins to emerge from their thoroughly-sanitized homes and virtual classrooms and offices, we will not only find ourselves adapting to yet another new normal. We also will probably find ourselves adapting to a whole new world.
Aberjhani
https://www.author-poet-aberjhani.info
Harlem Renaissance Centennial 2020-2030
Creator of Authentic Silk-Featherbrush Artstyle
Co-Author of Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance
Bridge of Silver Wings 2023 