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| Eric Ravilious - The Cornfield 1918 |
Gone, gone again,
May, June, July,
And August gone,
Again gone by,
Edward Thomas's poem, not quite true at the moment, August is still with us, the harvest
still being collected, but the feeling that summer has passed, its useful productivity stored in barns and the ripening apples and blackberries are there for the picking and apple pies made for the table. Ravilious's paintings depicts the old 'stooks', sheaves gathered together, today the great baling machines produce giant bales, and the fields stretch for miles, golden toned whether cut or uncut, the soil waiting to be turned into brown furrows.
A strange summer, warm and beautiful days with just that hint of cold winds, rain that falls like 'cats and dogs', wonder where that expression came from, changeable weather and now even the Met office is being given the sack by the BBC. Times are definitely changing.
Thank you for introducing me properly to Ravilious. I think I have probably seen his work before but not known about him. I checked him out and prefer his earlier work. The painting shouts 1920s/30s though.
ReplyDeleteI'm not surprised the Met office has been sacked by the Beeb, You'd get a more accurate forecast these days just by looking out of the window! We are dashing out to do walking and gardening (me) and woodwork (Keith) when the sun does briefly come out.
He is an excellent artist Jennie, and marries well with Edward Thomas, both very evocative of their time. When the sun shines it is beautiful, especially walking up in your area, and I would dearly love to get to Laughherne one day.
DeleteRavilious is one of my favourite artists - a life cut short far too soon. What would he have become - one can only speculate.
ReplyDeleteHere, not so far from you, the weather has been atrocious for the past week or so - one inch of rain fell overnight the night before last. It is the Wensleydale Agricultural Show on Saturday in Leyburn - the biggest event round here and the highlight of the year for the farmers. We live within walking distance so the farmer walks there and enjoys looking round the cattle and sheep (and having lunch at his feed merchants). I no longer go as I walk quite
slowly and just hold him up but I can see the marquees going up as I write this.
When we were going through the throes of buying this house, the risk of flooding was high on the list, and the rainfall has been very strong at times, but the rivers seem to keep their levels; though I note there is a bank built on the farmer's side to keep the floods out. Hope the Farmer enjoys his agricultural show and it doesn't rain.
DeleteIt's like he is painting my memories. Wonderful.
ReplyDeleteRavilious is a marvellous artist, so I am glad you got introduced to him, but England is not like that anymore, the countryside is still the same, but the machines have got a great deal bigger.
ReplyDeleteI have come to see Eric Ravilious's painting having been advised to do so by The Weaver of Grass. It is beautiful and so serene, and reminds me of my childhood spent in Bucks.
ReplyDeleteAn untimely death as Pat says. Eric Ravilious can be found on James Russell's blog on the sidebar, he seems to be the expert on the artist.
ReplyDelete