Dear Art Friend,
Today I’d like to show you three recently completed paintings.
The first two explore the richness of patterns in nature and how we perceive them.
I came across this quote that seems apt:
“What I am really saying is that you don’t need to do anything, because if you see yourself in the correct way, you are all as much extraordinary phenomena of nature as trees, clouds, the patterns in running water, the flickering of fire, the arrangement of the stars, and the form of a galaxy.”
Alan Watts
Decorative River Painting
Patterns in the River Rhone
150 cm x 100 cm x 3.5 cm acrylic on canvas.
This painting is sent safely rolled in a tube and will require to be taken to a framer to be stretched.
I was standing by the edge of the river Rhone on a warm spring day.
In the breeze, the water swirled while lapping against the bank and the trees swayed and filtered the light to create beautiful shapes.
The painting captures that moment.
Below is a detail of the swirls with an abstract quality:
Moonlit Dreamscape with Shadows
The Magic Tree
60 cm x 60 cm x 3.8 cm acrylic on canvas, ready to hang.
The Magic Tree continues the theme of patterns in nature.
The interlacing of sky, stars and sculptural tree branches lit by the moon create a wonderful decorative pattern like stained-glass in the night sky.
Atmospheric Irish Landscape
The Fairy Rath VI
30 cm x 30 cm x 1.7 cm acrylic on canvas, ready to hang
This third painting revisits a theme I am fond, the enigmatic Fairy Rath.
The Fairy Rath VI is a moment frozen in time.
Lightning strikes for a second and the grass glows in the darkness beneath the thunderclouds…
I’d love to hear what you think about any of these paintings.
They are stunning; I especially love The Magic Tree and the Fairy Rath V. It must be so difficult to capture these kinds of sensibilities in nature.
Thank you Barb, glad to hear you enjoyed looking at them
So lovely to find a message from you in my in-box, John. I hope you’re keeping well.
I love the entire Fairy Rath series, and this is a particularly powerful one. It immediately evoked (for me) one reading of the Magician card of the Tarot — “As above, so below.” The lightning connects heaven and earth — perhaps a transmission of a message, or of power. The illuminated grasses lead the eye to the shadowy copse, a place of mystery and maybe enlightenment. The seam of light along the horizon and peeking through the trees opens the atmosphere through to an unknown infinite space and is beautifully done.
The other two paintings, John, are very trippy, in the best possible way! The observer’s senses are heightened — not only vision, but one gets the feeling of sound, of temperature, of smell. The natural forms coalesce into colors and patterns that heighten meaning somehow as well — all the patterns of the natural world creating a kaleidoscopic and coherent whole. Perhaps I’m reading too much into it or letting my personal experience imprint something you didn’t intend. But that’s a part of looking, isn’t it.
I’m enjoying these paintings so much. Thank you for sharing them.
Hello Jo, it’s lovely to hear from you.
Thank you for your thoughtful comment on the paintings.
Yes I thought the Fairy Rath piece might connect with you and bring back memories of the previous in the series.
I do agree with the phrase ‘Trippy’, I thought the same thing myself, once I finished them, particularly the River Rhone piece which has almost a psychedelic aspect to it.
It’s great to hear that you enjoyed them.
These are three very different paintings but they are all an absolute delight and excellently crafted. I wonder at them and how you are able to see nature in the way that you do through a painters eye.
In the River Rhone work I am mesmerised by the patterns caused by movement on the surface of the water and also the reflections from the overhanging bushes. For me it encapsulates what may be created with skill, talent and imagination when really looking, rather than just observing the marvels of nature. I love how the colours, the pinks and blues help me to think about what sort of sky is above. It is a very special painting. Congratulations John.
The Magic Tree is exquisite in its wonderfully vibrant colour and once again I feel invited to discover the wonders of nature – above and below ground.
In the The Fairy Rath you allow us to witness that moment when lightening strikes the earth, an electric charge that illuminates that amazing velvety green which you paint so well. Quite magical.
Hello Chris, it’s great to read your thoughts and insights on the paintings.
I know what you mean about the term ‘mesmerised’ I thought the same myself after I finished Patterns in the River Rhone and looked at the painting foreground.
I do like what you say about the Fairy Rath painting Chris and the electric charge illuminating the velvety green, almost as if the earth is plugged into the electricity from above.
Thank you for your comment
Love these John – they really feel like a burst of creativity and vision
Thanks very much Nick, that means a lot to me