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| John Atkinson Grimshaw |
The weather information early this morning said there would be strong winds at 11-o-clock. Which is very precise, soon the streets will glitter with rain and the trees become bereft of their leaves, perhaps this painting reminded me as to what too look forward to!
Grimshaw was born in Leeds and lived in Leeds, in fact the above might be a Leeds park. And he is seen as a bit of a cheat because he used the method of camera obscura, a lense to project scenes onto the canvas to achieve his paintings, apparently his perspective in his approach to his subject matter was weak. As his Wiki says he was a painter of "nocturnal scenes in an urban setting".
What cannot be denied though is the capture of light and the misery of darkening skies and wet slushy leaves under one's feet. It reminds me of the cold days when you came out of school and had to make the journey home in the gathering gloom.
There is so much art on the net that you would think everyone is becoming an artist. Craft work as well, in Japan craft is acknowledged under the UNESCO cultural words of 'Intangible Cultural Heritage'. I just love the word intangible, the object is there but can you understand the work or craft that sits behind it. All those beautiful Italian religious paintings represent hard work, both intellectually and physically and also of course training over the years.
They are not just flights of imagination but dedicated hard work. In Japan the art of kintsugi, (joining with gold) which is repairing broken pottery reminds us that all things have a history we do not need to throw things away. Though of course there is such a lot we would be happy to throw away because of bad design work.
I wanted a decent painting of a tree, or trees, but could not find one. So as I thumbed through, this character on Lansdown came up. I was tracking Saxon history at the time.
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| Full of ivy but still standing proud. |
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| Always have an elephant in the room |
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| It wasn't raining. Taken in Chelmsford |
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| The Imperial Gardens Japan. Think one tree is a 'cloud' tree |
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| Matilda receiving her award |
Rory is always a good interesting talker, especially when I am quilting. ;)
I very much like the painting. I need to take a look at more of his work.
ReplyDeleteYes, there is always an elephant in the room.
I love seeing Japanese gardens and they are just as special in real life.
Japanese gardens are also contrived Andrew, stone, water plants and trees, so for me they lose their natural aspect but I do love the use of moss, so much neater than our grass lawns.
DeleteHaha, I have a mother and baby elephant (amongst other animals) on the half landing - so not quite in a room! I love trees and our woodland has several ivy-clad oaks which are just starting to turn and the squirrels (my nemesis as they ate the strawberries and then all the apples this summer) are back busy burying acorns. Nice symmetry between the oversized umbrella and billowing black gown. Sarah in Sussex
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah, people are always saying there's an elephant in the room, and I always imagine an enormous grey one standing there. The umbrella is Lillie and the other is Matilda with the swirling cloak.
ReplyDeleteI saw where he lived and blogged about Grimshaw here...https://beefgravy.blogspot.com/2011/08/grimshaw.html
ReplyDeleteIf there really was an elephant in the room, how would we get in?
A large Edwardian house would help with housing elephants.... Grimshaw is an interesting person, he captures light beautifully and the world he lived in.
DeleteI don't really want to think about winter just yet, though that painting sums up the mood only too well. As far as I'm aware there are no elephants in my entire house; I'm sure I would have noticed.
ReplyDeleteI apologise for what I am about to put up next John;) It will bring winter to your doorstep!
DeleteI have a couple of Grimshaw prints..the way he captures winter moonlight skies I find wonderful..makes me feel cosy & warm!
ReplyDeleteHe definitely captures light in his paintings but perhaps his prints should only go on the wall during winter, they are rather sad for summer and spring.
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