The view yesterday from the aqueduct at Avoncliff was the perfect start to St. Patrick’s day.

Any excuse…..

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core
The Lake Isle of Inisfree, W B Yeats

I sometimes see a bird perched on an iron railing, fishing in the nearby Avon and Kennet canal:

The kingfisher rises out of the black wave
like a blue flower, in his beak
he carries a silver leaf. I think this is
the prettiest world–so long as you don’t mind
a little dying, how could there be a day in your
whole life
that doesn’t have its splash of happiness?
There are more fish than there are leaves
on a thousand trees, and anyway the kingfisher
wasn’t born to think about it, or anything else.
When the wave snaps shut over his blue head, the
water
remains water–hunger is the only story
he has ever heard in his life that he could
believe.
I don’t say he’s right. Neither
do I say he’s wrong. Religiously he swallows the
silver leaf
with its broken red river, and with a rough and
easy cry
I couldn’t rouse out of my thoughtful body
if my life depended on it, he swings back
over the bright sea to do the same thing, to do it
(as I long to do something, anything) perfectly.
Mary Oliver, The Kingfisher

One might expect a kingfisher to appear out of a Stewart Edmondson painting of his beloved River Dart.
We have Stewart’s work on display until 26 March:

Stewart Edmondon Where the River Gods, Acrylic on Paper 72 x 74 cm.

Alongside Stewart’s Devon scenes are Adam Buick’s moon jars. This one especially has a planetary feel to it

Adam Buick Large Moon Jar, Stoneware with Sandy Shino Glaze and Nuka Interior Height 42 cm

Another lunar-themed work has arrived in the gallery, by Andrew Crocker:

Andrew Crocker, The Push and the Pull, Oil on Board 79 x 59 cm. 99 x 79 incl. frame

And finally….
I am very pleased to see a new painting here by the inimitable Anthony Scullion

Anthony Scullion, Sisters, Oil on Board 40 x 52 cm. 59 x 69 cm. incl. frame

The Trembling Finger of a woman
Goes down the list of casualties
On the evening of the first Snow

The House is cold and the list is long
All our names are included.
‘War’ by Charles Simic

Thank you for reading.

Aidan