Brender à Brandis, with his engraver’s tools, has sketched a poem line the breadth of wind. It is about the possibilities of imagination, the strength of observation and, perhaps, the origins of life around us.
‘This volume, which brings together more than seventy [wood engravings] and an excellent introduction by the artist, carries with it the same brooding quality of that first print I saw of the Baldoon mystery house. The lines are rich and black, and the images -- abandoned schoolhouses, solitary silos, rough hewn barrels -- are like pastoral poems. In fact, this emphasis on nature and the small size of the woodcuts with the accompanying feeling on compactness and economy, suggests an affinity to the Japanese haiku. Brender à Brandis’ ability to capture mood is unparalleled.
‘In this book he draws us into scenes like that of a windswept kite set against a blustery spring day with the skeletal branches and fence rows, or that of a gigantic setting sun blazing through a field of winter wheat, or the quietude of an upstairs room in a farmhouse. There are also pictures of abandoned broken windmills, fishing tugs, pine washstands, black-eyed susans, windowsills ... all quiet, contemplative and reserved.’