Wind Blown Clouds

by Alec Finlay

Clouds, those magical collections of ice crystals that loom above us, bring out the romantic dreamer in everyone. At once universal and breathtakingly unique, clouds are a constant and subtle presence in all of our lives, ever continuing on their mysterious paths, despite the turmoil on the land below. In 1999, Scottish multimedia artist Alec Finlay invited people to submit photographs of clouds to an archive he was compiling called the Wind Blown Cloud. The results have been Hundreds of people from all over the world―young and old, amateurs and professionals―contributed images of their personal skyscapes. Wind Blown Clouds is a simple and stunning collection of the wind blown cloud, featuring 170 of these works, complemented by a thoughtful selection of haiku and poetry. From small, fluffy, white clouds to roiling masses of cumuli, and from skyscapes and sunsets in silver and gold to more imaginative photos of clouds reflected in puddles, glass, and airplanes, Wind Blown Clouds captures the indefinable brilliance of this inspiring natural phenomenon. With the brightening of skies after the dark winter months, Wind Blown Clouds is springtime’s reclamation of the outdoors, and a beautiful reminder that we are all living under the same sky.

Hardcover

First published July 12, 2005

About the author

Alec Finlay (b. 1960) is a Scottish poet and artist whose work crosses over a range of media and forms. In 2020 he received a Cholmondeley Award for services to poetry. His I remember: Scotland's Covid Memorial was completed in 2022. Publications include I remember (2022), description (2022), a far off land (2018), and gathering (2018). A collected shorter poems, play my game, was published by Stewed Rhubarb in 2023.

Reviews

[Rickie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A perfect book of skies. It helped me through my loneliness during my first year in a new city because the skies in this book resembled the skies my dear friend and I shared during high school years. I was able to open this book and talk to my friend even though she wasn't with me.