cottage evening …oil painting

cottage evening (9″ x 12″)

I’ve been wanting to paint this view for a while. Looking down the lake as the light starts to fade is a magical view for me and nostalgic with childhood memories and the call of whipoorwils and loons.

Here is Tom’s poetic response.

whispers of the sunken evening
drift across the mirrored lake
as our feet go walking, weaving
toward our bed where day will break
upon two tousled heads together
nestled down, birds of a feather
while the morning loon embraces
all the world with echo’s traces
now we watch the daylight fade
as stillness falls across the land
here beside you I will stand
against the evening’s ambuscade
of cold and dark that rises high
until the stars enlight the sky

image (c) 2018 Hilary Farmer
poem (c) 2018 TJ Radcliffe

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perennial tangle …oil painting

perennial tangle (6″ x 6″)

A view of my parent’s country garden in the summer. I love the lush density of the flowers and the richness of the colours! …and yes, I know that these flowers are not all perennials but they come up every year and that’s perennial enough for me!

Tom’s poem!

A tangle deep, wrapped in enigma
growing wild without the stigma
of replanting year by year:
perennials that know no fear
of frost nor snow nor deer nor rabbits
growing wild has been their habit
since a time long out of mind
toward the sun they turn and climb
over each and reaching high
growing wild beneath the sky

image (c) 2018 Hilary Farmer
poem (c) 2018 TJ Radcliffe

cedar island dreams …ink & watercolour

cedar island dreams

A study of the local Gulf Islands landscape. The ink part was done with carbon black ink in a fountain pen with an ultra fine but flexible nib – really nice to draw with! A quick wash of watercolour brought it to life.

Tom’s evocative haiku! (I took the title of the piece from the haiku – not vice versa.)

face turned up, warm sun
eternally reflecting
cedar island dreams

image (c) 2018 Hilary Farmer
poem (c) 2018 TJ Radcliffe

frozen dawn …oil painting

frozen dawn (6″ x 8″)

A memory of a winter walk over “the mountain” in Montreal …the squeak of the snow underfoot and air freezing in nostrils… This view from a path in the Parc du Mont-Royal is based on a photo taken recently by a friend – thanks Elena! I love the glow of the sun rising over the St. Laurent in the distance as well as the long shadows in the foreground. I experimented with this small (6×8) painting using thicker brushstrokes of paint to capture the shimmer of light.

Once again, Tom’s words paint the scene into poetry and celebrate the moment.

fire across the winter sky
burning down the frozen hours
rising up above the lie
of snow between the wooden towers
presaging the dance to come
where the world is lost and won
by the shadow and the light
in sweeping depths, abyssal heights
embracing moments on the tide
of light that’s pouring through the trees
stirring an unmoving breeze
along the path where truth abides
between cold past and future tense
moments turning here to hence

image (c) 2018 Hilary Farmer
poem (c) 2018 TJ Radcliffe

afterglow …oil painting

Afterglow (9″x12″)

I really loved how the quality of light and the grandeur of the sky came across with this one. This is a view of English Bay from around Kitsilano Beach. I took some liberties with the colours enhancing them to give the feeling of that glorious sky.

Tom’s poem paints the scene with words.

as above, so too below
waters burnished by the glow
of golden sunset falling down
wreathing islands with a crown
of cloud and light as evening falls
while some distant seagull calls
across the waters calm and deep
where the day in silence sleeps

image (c) 2018 Hilary Farmer
poem (c) 2018 TJ Radcliffe

winter light …oil painting

Winter Light (8″ x 10″)

Another painting from a walk in Stanley Park in later December. The low slanting sun lit up some branches and tree trunks with a bright luminous glow – one of those sights that stays with you. Like the last painting, this one was painted alla prima. I think when the painting is being completed in one session, I put fewer expectations of perfection on myself and the result is freer and more full of life.

Tom was inspired to write a playful poem for the imagined wildlife of this scene.

Burnished branches standing in the dark
of taller trees, so jealous of the light
that warms the winter chill from broken bark,
reminding passers-by of summer’s bright
seductive evenings. Once not long ago
beneath spring skies two squirrels ran about
chittering while running to and fro
each ignoring all the other’s shouts
of joy and anger, frustration and love
until their dance completed in a tangle
in the branches far and high above
wherefrom a tail might be loosely dangled.
Now in the winter’s chill they’re safe and warm
Curled and sleeping far from winter storms.

image (c) 2018 Hilary Farmer
poem (c) 2018 TJ Radcliffe

 

autumn koi …oil painting

Autumn Koi

This small (8″x 8″ oil on canvas) painting is based on a photo I took a couple of weeks ago at the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden here in Vancouver. It was a cloudy day but bright so I took advantage of the afternoon to do a little sight-seeing in my still relatively newly adopted city. The koi quietly swimming by while the willow leaves drifted on the surface of the water was a beautiful moment. It is a very picturesque Chinese garden and so there will likely be more paintings to come from my visit.

Tom’s beautiful haiku also captures the moment.

sky falls on water
dry leaves burn in autumn sun
koi pass by below

image (c) 2017 Hilary Farmer
poem (c) 2017 TJ Radcliffe