Winter II

Some photographs from a recent foggy weekend.

Winter

Midwinter spring is its own season
Sempiternal though sodden towards sundown,
Suspended in time, between pole and tropic.
When the short day is brightest, with frost and fire,
The brief sun flames the ice, on pond and ditches,
In windless cold that is the heart's heat,
Reflecting in a watery mirror


T S Eliot
Four Quartets (Little Gidding)

Table of Thoughts

Not a very productive week this week, for some reason I couldn't concentrate. I had planned on doing some outdoor photography with my new camera but it has rained constantly since Wednesday, and unfortunately I was busy on the lovely frosty mornings at the beginning of the week. Here are some photographs of work in progress and my table of thoughts.

Melanie Miller

I came across the work of  Melanie Miller a couple of years ago via the Millennium Gallery in St Ives. The recent change in the weather has made me think about these quiet paintings of discarded objects and detritus, not considered important or deserving of scrutiny. Working within the tradition of still life, objects which include flowers, insects, birds small toys and found discarded ephemera, are painted life size in oil on gessoed panels.

Recently, and this is what attracts me to her work, she has began to acknowledge how important the context of where she paints, is as important as, what she paints, the where being Eel pie Island a small Island in the middle of the river Thames accessed only by a footbridge. I don't know why her paintings make me think of winter but for some reason they do, maybe it's the stillness of them. You can see more of her work here, and here.

Happy New Year

Wishing everyone a creative New Year.

Sketchbook

I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday break, and looking forward to a full creative New Year. Thanks to everyone who has supported me this year, it is great to get comments and they have really helped a lot.
Not much to post about, however I did manage to do a little sketchbook work before the break.

Last Days of Winter

Last week I spent an afternoon at a local National Trust property, Tatton Park. I took some lovely photographs but was especially taken with one particular plant that was growing on one wall and around a small window. It was very similar to a hydrangea with new growth and old on the same branches, it looked like winter was still clinging on but was rapidly being taken over by new vibrant green growth and the onset of spring. It was quite difficult to photograph but I think I managed to get some good shots.