Painting the Great Outdoors, Valentine fatigue and woodpeckers
The tramp through the woods this morning was as muddy as ever it has been, the silence broken by the machine-gun patter of a woodpecker somewhere far above. A great sound to hear of an early morning with a head-jumble of spreadsheet accountery. Valentines day yesterday….so for weary lovers..
‘Tired of Love poems’ by Megan Fernandes
But we never tire of them, do we?
We wish to worship more than just each other.
We put a god first, sometimes a tree,
write a sonnet to a bird in the black
of night or offer a light to a stranger
and not call it love. But it is. To pull
out a chair is more than manners.
What we tire of is that we never tire of it.
How it guts us. How it fails, then reappears.
Because what is the bird compared to you?
The bird is replaced each morning.
You approach on a red bike in summer
and the poem takes shape. I entitle it
anything but Love, anything but what it is.
Some words to think about on a wet day….
‘Beannacht/Blessing’ by John O’Donohue
For Josie, my mother
‘On the day when
the weight deadens
on your shoulders
and you stumble,
may the clay dance
to balance you.
And when your eyes
freeze behind
the grey window
and the ghost of loss
gets into you,
may a flock of colours,
indigo, red, green
and azure blue,
come to awaken in you
a meadow of delight.
When the canvas frays
in the currach of thought
and a stain of ocean
blackens beneath you,
may there come across the waters
a path of yellow moonlight
to bring you safely home.
May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
may the clarity of light be yours,
may the fluency of the ocean be yours,
may the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow
wind work these words
of love around you,
an invisible cloak
to mind your life.’
And thinking ahead to the soon to come light and warmth, our next show features an artist who loves to be outside and in amongst the weather.
Here he is next to his own blessed river Dart. I like his open plan office space.
While Stewart Edmondson’s paintings adorn the walls of the gallery throughout March, ceramics are by an artist well-known to regular visitors, Adam Buick. Some of Adam’s moon jars large and small may be seen on the gallery website at the moment, but there are more goodies to come, which will be uploaded by close of play Wednesday 21 November. If you would like to be notified as soon as the last batch of work for the exhibition goes online, please let us know.
And finally, for the woodpecker who made my day…
‘Song’ by Seamus Heaney
‘A rowan like a lipsticked girl.
Between the by-road and the main road
Alder trees at a wet and dripping distance
Stand off among the rushes.
There are the mud-flowers of dialect
And the immortelles of perfect pitch
And that moment when the bird sings very close
To the music of what happens.’
All the works featured above are now, or soon will be, on display in the gallery.
Stewart Edmondson and Adam Buick will be in attendance at the gallery opening on Saturday 24 February 6-8 pm.
Come and have a drink and meet the artists. Rugby fans can be assured that there are several hosteleries within a short distance showing the games, with the most important game taking place in the afternoon, well before th opening.
Please click on images to go to individual artists’ webpages.
Any questions, queries, or for further information please phone or email.
We can take payment by phone and we ship worldwide.
We are open 10-5 Monday to Saturday.
Thank you as always for reading.
Aidan