Yesterday I went out to let the chickens out and happened to glance at the East wall of the church, the sun was just rising a fiery red through the copse but it did not hit the East window instead a shadowy tracery of branches was illuminated against the grey of the wall but the effect soon vanished. The picture below reminds me that everywhere, and especially in America at the moment hurricanes and fires are destroying people's homes and land.
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| The Storm of 1703 |
You can find more about this storm which hit England here, but on the Somerset Levels drowned people and animals for many miles. It happened in November, and of course the great storm of 1987 happened about this time to, so Ophelia will you please miss us?
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A friend has just come back from a holiday in Scotland, they stayed in a cottage next to a light house but had gone to see some galleries and museums. They had been to a Paul Nash exhibition, J collects northern industrial paintings, they hang dramatically on the walls of their sitting room. It reminded me of an exhibition in the Bath gallery a few years back, and seeing this.. you can read about here I remember being extremely moved about the painting. I would like to get a couple of prints for myself, Paul is covering the walls with Japanese art, but I find things very expensive, such as £400 for a print. Quite like Robin Tanner's Wiltshire woodcuts, though they are tiny......
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| Eclipse of the Sun - Paul Nash |
and then.......................................................November Moon, which you can read about here
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Storm_of_1703
My daughter and her family live in California and are about two hours away from the horrendous fires. With the strong winds moving these fires quickly, I am very nervous about their safety. The air is toxic. This year has been very difficult in America and every morning I wake to more frightening news.
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DeleteWell I do hope your daughter and family come safely through, the fires in California are horrendous. X
I recently went to the Paul Nash exhibition at the Tate and was astounded by the breadth of his work, having only thought of him previously as the war artist and landscapes. I discovered his interest in Surrealism and the influence it had on his work. I have also looked before at the Great Storm of 1703 and remember finding that much of what is known of the extent of the storm and its effects is taken from the drawings done at the time. Very interesting.
ReplyDeleteWell he gets around, there is an exhibition at York Museum from the 18th October, with a photographer John Stezaker. As Paul says he did a certain amount of paintings of the megaliths, which we are both interested in.
DeleteFunny how drawings, such as the Great Storm in 1703, have the same effect as photos of today in depicting the drama.
Stezaker is an interesting artist who has does some great work with postcards and newspaper cuttings which he juxtapositions, a bit strange but they grow on you. The Paul Nash exhibition has been doing the rounds of the country this year, it also came to Norwich. I like the idea that the Great Storm is mainly understood through the drawings.
DeleteI am a great Paul Nash fan Thelma. Also a fan of his brother John and particularly admiring of his wonderful drawing skills.
ReplyDeleteIt was a very evocative period, though of course paintings of war stripped land are the saddest thing out Pat.
DeleteThis might be of interest Pat - https://theheritagetrust.wordpress.com/2012/10/20/subsumed-sites-the-church-of-st-peters-clyffe-pypard-witshire-england/
ReplyDeleteI remember that and Pevesner' grave, how many times I had read his descriptions of churches before visiting them.
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