I make drawings of the natural world, transient moments of grace and beauty in an age of disappearance. Inspired by plant and animal studies of the Northern Renaissance, Netherlandish devotional panel paintings, and nature mysticism as expressed through various forms of art, music, poetry and prose, my art acknowledges interconnectedness in nature and our loss of connection with the sacred.

Our planet is broken because we’ve lost relationship with the earth, with our soul. My drawings serve as more than intimate portraits; they are testaments to lives lived. They are memento mori, reminders in this age of ecocide that humans cannot live detached from nature. May these quiet drawings remind us of our place on this planet and awaken our consciousness to the cosmos of which we are a part.

- from Rebecca Clark's website

Some time in winter 2007, Rebecca Clark attended an exhibition at the National Gallery of Art in Washington titled “Prayers and Portraits: Unfolding the Netherlandish Diptych.”

I’ve always been drawn to medieval devotional paintings and prayer books; I’m moved by their intimacy, honesty, and the purity of spirit that they convey. In seeing these works for the very first time, what struck me most was the dichotomy between the small scale of the diptychs and the quiet power that emanated from them. In today’s age of bold, super-sized, extravagant art, this exhibition was a welcome understatement.

In the days after the exhibition, she'd begun observing the degree of alienation that the individuals of our society suffered from while riding the DC Metro. People engaged in their handheld devices, refusing to observe the world intrigued her. Inspiration had already been planted, and the fruits of which is this remarkable book.



The Book of Hours is a collection of artwork, prose, poetry, song lyrics and essays and excerpts that build up to indulge the reader into the artist's anthropocentric perspective of human engagement with the environment. The work is divided into four chapters: Matins, None, Vespers and Vigils, each referring to a certain hour of the day, representing an entity of existence as we observe nature from different angles and observe our existence and our footprints on this planet through art.









A thought-provoking read.

If you like the drawings, and/or are intrigued by this review, you can read the book or download it for free on Rebecca Clark's website, where you can also browse her galleries.

You can also check out her Facebook page.



Happy reading!

Note: A special nod to Goodreads reviewer Trish, whose beautifully illustrated review got me intrigued into reading this wonderful book.