New paintings and regular art updates.
Nasturtiums sprawling in the back yard. They are in our front hedge too. There are flowers six foot up in the air. You can tell its nasturtiums because of the shape of their leaves, sort of like umbrellas. The leaves, as you can see, are sometimes variegated. The colours vary from pale cream to deep red. I’ve never seen a blue or purple one? Maybe they will do some genetic modification to change that? At the end of summer they are something cheerful to look at.
When the sun slides down the sky
And the birds start to fly
South to the warmth
Of far off climbes
We see the light shine
Low in the sky
Piercing the leaves
As they yellow and fade.
Fruits are ripening
Apples wind falling
Garden spiders shimmering
In sunlight and cold rain.
Tuesdays #bandofsketchers prompt was Trees. Twenty minute sketch, ‘watching them change colour’, my interpretation of trees in the autumn. Felt pen drawing.
Rain and wind are buffeting the trees. Slowly the chlorophyll comes out of the leaves and other coloured photosynthesis pigments remain. Xanthaphyl and Ceratines are some of these. They are the pigments that cause yellows and reds. They are the chemicals that transfer energy from sunlight and convert Carbon Dioxide and Water to sugars and Oxygen. The sugars feed the plants and the Oxygen helps supply the air that we breathe. If plants stopped providing Oxygen and sugar we would run out of Oxygen (21% in air) and the food we get from plants. They are essential for life. And if when the Nothern Hemisphere lost leaves in Autumn, the South didn’t have a Springtime we would be in trouble
Summers over and my sandals must be put away for another year. I will have to get my flat heels out again. I don’t bother to buy pairs of shoes. I bought three sorts of the same type in different colours, and never wore them! It’s strange, some women have tens or hundreds of pairs, and different ones for different occasions, I never got into that. I think it’s because I’ve never had much money. When we had a death in our family when I was a teenager, my mother gave us money to buy a dress and cardigan and shoes to wear to the funeral. I think that’s why I don’t get excited buying clothes or shoes. As long as they aren’t falling apart I keep wearing them….
Autumn comes round
every year
the leaves change colour
from green to golds
and reds and yellows.
Falling in ragged heaps.
Six months ago I remember things were fine. The Rhododendrons in the Dorothy Clive Garden were in flower, we had the whole summer to enjoy. The sun was shining and covid seemed to be on the wane. Now things are not so good. Autumn has arrived and life has thrown me some curve balls. We are heading towards darker days and the summer is speedily disappearing. But I have decided I have to be OK. Just doing things like getting my covid and flu jabs seems positive. Protecting myself and people around me.
The flowers and plants will wilt and die over winter. Autumn is still slightly warm and they are clinging on, but I’ve noticed the delicate leaves are yellowing. I will try and get a few photos of the back yard before the hanging baskets die off. I might plant some of the more robust plants into the main garden to give them a bit more shelter to overwinter. I will miss the bright colours that have sparkled in the sunlight this summer. I know things probably will last till November. Early this year we still had a few flowers in January!
Here’s a bit of blank verse,
We are lucky not to be too cold.
It’s nineteen point two
A slight chill in here
Two small lights on
Saving energy?
So I have a dressing gown
Or a cardigan
To wear.
I will buy a hot water bottle.
No gas fire this autumn or winter
Central Heating?
When it’s too cold.
An electric heater otherwise.
Gas costs more than electricity here
I can’t afford double what we paid
Last year.
Well at least I’m not heating up
The environment, too much.
My combined autumn and spring painting I did about four years ago. It’s quite big and I really felt free when I painted it. But like many other paintings it stuck in my studio. I enjoyed exploring the two entirely different styles and colours in this. I might find it and try and get it in an exhibition. X
Mallaband-Brown