the sublime

The sublime has been lurking a bit around lately, appearing as some sort of visual response to the list of tragedies we've been witness to in the last month. My mind's eye seems to be seeking out images as a sort of respite, as though these images are the only real words I could speak. I found that even a google image search of the words "the sublime" itself was quite gratifying, and led to many more such beautiful--if not sometimes also perfectly terrible--images.

I am certainly breaking all sorts of copyrights to post these here, but I will list them in order. I wish I could hang all of these images together in a large open room. Or at least one of them over my couch--but then I'd have to pick.

1. Caspar David Friedrich, The Monk by the Sea (Der Mönch am Meer), 1808–10. Oil on canvas.
2. Chris Friel, cf20–coast 5, 2010. Photograph. Five-second hand held exposure, no editing (from Flickr).
3. Anselm Kiefer, The Sixth Trumpet (Die Sechste Posaune), 1996. Emulsion, acrylic, shellac, and sunflower seeds on canvas. (One of my favorite contemporary artists.)
4. Ed Lisieski, Landscape, 2007. Polaroid. (Another image gleaned from my Flickr favorites, by a photographer (and online friend) who lives in the PNW;  I consistently admire his work.
5. Sophie Aston, Unfamiliar Skies IV, 1998-2003. Oil and Alkyd on Canvas. (Another contemporary artist favorite). 
6. Mia Perlman, Gyre, 2008. Paper, india ink, tacks, paper clips. 
7. Guillermo Casas Baruque, Untitled; rare clouds (nubes raras), 2010. Photograph. (Another Flickr contact.)
8. Georgia O'Keeffe, Red Hills and Sky.
9. Lilie-mélo, My Sky, 2007. Photograph. (Another Flickr favorite, this time from the artist and blogger who can be followed here.)
10.  Sophie Aston, Territory, 2004-2008. Oil on Canvas