Time, gardens and more.

Art Sunday; Time, gardens and more…………………………….

This Sunday is supposed to be a catch up day, it’s raining, but that’s good, temperatures have been soaring recently and I have spent many happy hours walking along the edge of the sea and following the grandchildren out to the rock pools. Yesterday was a scorcher; we were out from 10m in the morning until after 9 in the evening. We’ve had a couple of thunderstorms this last week, and now we have this humid heavy rain, I think the heatwave is coming to an end but it has been totally glorious while it lasted. .

I think this will be a short post. I haven’t even checked out all of last weeks Art Sunday posts yet, I don’t know where the time goes these days. Inspiration for today is just bits of this and bits of that. Mostly long summer days, the peace and inspiration found in the garden, the joy of the grandchildren and my utter, utter delight at being alive these days.

 Religion and spirituality is something I rarely, is ever, mention, but there is something my mind keeps coming back to these days, which I think is worth mentioning. I find myself sitting by the sea, or sitting in the garden, or just watching the grandchildren play together on the beach; I find myself noticing the deep blue of the sky, the sound of the sea, the way the gulls float and glide on the air currents, I’ve been watching families enjoying the sunshine, so many little children discovering the joys of being outside;  and all I can think is ……….’This is no dress rehearsal, this is the real thing’.
I hear so called religious people talking about how their life is little more than preparation for another life, the one that begins after their death, and I feel sorry for them. From where I’m sitting we already have the best, it really doesn’t get any better. This constant lusting after more and belief in a life and a world that is so much better than what we have is, I think, at the root of my disillusionment with organised religion. I’m totally satisfied with the world I have, I don’t feel the need to hanker after more once I’m dead. What I would like, is to spend as much time as possible, with as much good health as possible, right here in this world. I don’t think we need paradise in a next world, because you don’t have to look very hard to find it right here in this world.
Random thoughts that are totally out of character I know, maybe I have sunstroke.
 
I came across this blog a while ago; this is a lady after my own heart, an artist and a lover of gardens. She doesn’t want her art of photos used without permission so I’ll just leave the link.
http://www.mypaintedgarden.com/

And Monet…………..he is exactly what this is about, I’m sure he saw the joy of the blue sky and the peace of the garden. You can’t really mention paintings and gardens in the same sentence without thinking of him.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Monet



A couple of paintings by Davey Brown, Scottish Artist from here

http://www.scottishartpaintings.co.uk/artist-davy-brown.asp


I think this David Hockney painting
Nichols Canyon, painted in 1980 expresses a joy of life
 

Found here http://www.sai.msu.su/wm/paint/auth/hockney/


And finishing with an old favourite of mine, American artist Connie Tom, from here



http://connietom.com/

Poetry and Art; Connie Tom & Keats

THE POEM I HAVE CHOSEN FOR TODAY IS TO AUTUMN BY JOHN KEATS

ILLUSTRATED WITH PAINTINGS BY AMERICAN ARTIST CONNIE TOM

John Keats (1795-1821)

TO AUTUMN.

1." SEASON of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells.



2.Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reap’d furrow sound asleep,
Drows’d with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady thy laden head across a brook;
Or by a cyder-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.



3.Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,—
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
And touch the stubble plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies."

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Today’s paintings are by Contemporary American Artist

Connie Tom

The Paintings shown here are from

http://connietom.com/

And this is Connie Tom’s own Blog

http://connietom.com/blog

The Hudson River School of Art

The first coherent school of American art, the Hudson River painters, defined the uniqueness of the American landscape. The movement began with the works of Thomas Cole (1801-1848) and Asher B. Durand (1796-1886) and grew into late Romanticism, landscape painting was the prevalent genre of 19th century American art.

It’s roots were founded in European Romanticism and exhibit similarities to European painters, for example;  the Nazarenes and Friedrich in Germany or Constable and  Turner in England. Dispite this obvious influence the Hudson River painters followed Emerson's dictate; "to ignore the courtly Muses of Europe" and defined, for the first time, a distinct School of American Art. The Hudson River painters delighted in the wilderness that was still America, a vast expanse of untamed land in which man was small and vulnerable in the midst of unbridled beauty.  
Having said all of that…………this Artist is NOT a Hudson River Painter. She is a modern day painter who says of herself,
 ''I'm artist from Missouri who paints luminous paintings after the manner of the Hudson River School of Painting.''

I chose her work for today because of the way she portrays the vivid colours of autumn, a perfect companion to the poem Autumn. BUT………….I’m sure I’ll revisit these Hudson River Painters sometime soon and devote an entire blog to their work.

delete reply skeezicks1957 wrote on Sep 28, '08 Beautiful post both in visual and written choices.

delete reply fluffyj wrote on Sep 27, '08 Great offerings, both in word imagery and in pictorial... I love fall. It is my favorite of seasons, the colors, the smells, the magic in the air.... the last vestige of Earth's passion before the sleep of winter... wonderful! -janeen

delete reply hedgewitch9 wrote on Sep 25, '08 I love Keats! And this artist is wonderful too. Thank you so much Loretta :)) )o(

delete reply vickiecollins wrote on Sep 24, '08 The poems were good, and very discriptive, but I have to admit my favorite part of this entry was the wonderful picture...so luminious, so colorful. Wow. http://vickiecollins.multiply.com/journal/item/480/Wednesday_Poetry_Panic_and_Mercy

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Sep 24, '08 I agree with Keats. Autumn has its own sounds, smells, colours, tastes... These paintings remind me so much of home. One thing I miss living here is the changing colours. I love this post.

delete reply starfishred wrote on Sep 23, '08 Very very very well done loretta love the colors of autum

delete reply lauritasita wrote on Sep 23, '08, edited on Sep 23, '08 The poetry goes well with the paintings, or should I say the paintings go well with the poetry ? LOL! How beautiful this whole post is !!! I love autumn, too. Those paintings really do capture the whole entire spirit and beauty of autumn. Thanks so much for participating and sharing this entire magnificent post !

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Sep 23, '08 veryfrank said The Hudson River Valley is about as perfect a setting for Autumn scenes, as I can think of. You know Frank, that must have been a flash of intuition on my part cos I actually went looking for an American Artist to illustrate 'Autumn'. I just had this feeling that with the 'fall' and all the colours, American Art would probably be better than European Art. Which is a bit odd if you think of it cos you can't get much more English than Keats. Anyhow, the bonus is that now I have a whole new school of art to investigate..... 'The Hudson River School'.............can't wait.

delete reply veryfrank wrote on Sep 23, '08 The Hudson River Valley is about as perfect a setting for Autumn scenes, as I can think of.

delete reply coyotedreams wrote on Sep 23, '08 coming over from sea's page, this is exquisite poetry. Autumn is my favorite season, although I hardly ever write about it.