They drew great pictures on the ground Carefully charted, calculated accurately Too large for mortal eyes to understand But these were not for humdrum men These were for the gods Looking down from their lofty thrones on men like insects scurrying about decorating the earth to show the divine that they understood, they were listening.…
The colour purple has many associations through history. It is the colour of royalty, of creativity and spirituality. It’s rarity in nature makes it otherworldly, and this has meant it is considered sacred, a province of those who see beyond the ordinary. The earliest examples of purple in art are prehistoric. Rock paintings have been…
John William Waterhouse was a later painter of pre-Raphaelite style, which started in 1848 with the formation of the pre-Raphaelite ‘brotherhood’. However, his work was different in many ways from the first painters in that style, being more three-dimensional. His subjects included Arthurian and similar tales, classical tales, and more general subjects. Some of his…
Sitting in a rowboat Easel carefully balanced, brush and palette ready The painter observes the scene The sun shines, fluffy clouds cruise across the sky And a soothing breeze sighs along the water The river takes shape under his hands The greenery of trees and lush grass lining each bank follows Red-tiled farmhouses on the…
Edward Hopper, (1882-1967), an American ‘realist’ painter, was known for his pictures of isolation, loneliness, disconnection. His pictures are full of emotion and tell stories that invite multiple interpretations. There is always something new to find on every viewing. “Automat” While vending machines are common, at one time there were eating places called automats, where…
Johannes Vermeer was a Dutch painter of the sixteenth century. He lived his entire life in the city of Delft and is known mostly for his paintings of domestic household scenes, mostly using the same rooms inside his own home. He’s been called the ‘master of light’, though that title has been given to a…
Michelangelo Merisi de Caravaggio was an artist of the Baroque period. He was a revolutionary painter and is considered to be a pioneer of the Baroque style. His realistic style created a name for him in the art world, using ‘tenebrism’ (extreme contrast between light and dark) to highlight in his paintings where he wanted…
It’s a daily lesson Learned by rote The only way you make it Is to repeat and repeat Take the anger, take the pain And let them go from your captive heart Like paper boats bobbing away down stream Send your rehearsed and remembered wrongs Into oblivion Forgive again And again, and again Every day…
I must replay the world around me My colours bathe your eyes in rainbow hue Each piece of life becomes a thousand Each moment making for a whole new picture I see the lilies on the pond myriad times And each time is the first time come again Though my world darkens My mind and…
Van Gogh was a Dutch painter. His parents were very disapproving of his becoming an artist and he survived by the financial support given him by his brother Theo. He studied art, firstly in Netherlands and later in Belgium, before he finally headed to France. He met many of the Impressionist painters in France, and…
Eclectic Assemblage 