My friend Claire Mercier sent me these photographs of the flooding in paris this past week. They are dramatic and at the same time quite beautiful.
It’s not often that we see the magnificent city of Paris in this way.
Janet:)
Given the autumn like weather we are experiencing at the moment, I thought I would re blog this post to remind us all that summer is just around the corner………
The following images are from one of the many sketchbooks I have filled over the years. They show moments in my life when I was sitting in warm summer sunshine…doing what I enjoy most …which is to commune with nature and paint.
Waterlilies painted at Monet’s Garden, Giverny.
A special July 4th spent with fellow artists Mariethe Salort and Bonnie Halsey Dutton at Couriers sur Sein, France. Watercolour/gouache.
Looking down onto the rooftops of Geberoy, France and across the beautiful countryside of Picardie. watercolour/gouache.
Houses in Geberoy, Picardie. Watercolour/gouache.
Monet’s garden at Giverny, France. A very special moment when I was sitting alone in the garden on a beautiful early summer’s evening. watercolour/gouache.
From a boat in the harbour at Kinsale, Ireland. watercolour/gouache
From Conca dei Marini on the magnificent Amalfi Coast, Italy. watercolour/goache.
It’s always lovely to re visit my sketchbooks, because they take me back to a moment in time.
Clearly during all these moment, the hummingbirds were weaving their magic.
A Bientôt
I had a wonderful time this weekend in Kent with my friends of old, Gail and Mick.
On Saturday evening we went to The Gate Inn in Marshside, Kent to celebrate the ancient custom of Wassailing. The atmosphere was one celebration and of times gone by……
The guns were fired after the Apple Yowling.
The words to this post come from the Yowling Song, written by Gail Duff.
‘The moon is up, the stars are bright, the lantern’s lit, the fire’s alight, And we are met in the cold night air, This ancient rite to share.
Our bowl it is made from the apple tree wood, And bound with silver to make it good. It’s filled with cider spiced and hot, the best that we have got.
We’ve toast for the Robins, so here they stay, And salt to drive bad spirits away, The cider we sprinkle around, To bring good luck to the ground.
Old Apple Tree, we Wassail thee, May you bud and bloom and bear, That when we come in another new year, There’ll be cider for all to share.
So make your shout and bang your drums, Blow your horns and fire your guns, Make it loud as ever you can, To please the Apple Tree Man.
Wassail, Wassail, we sing Wassail, Good health to all, may it never fail, Take a drop from the blow as you say, “Drink Hael”, And join our Wassail.
So stand fast root and bear well top, God send us a yowling crop, Every twig, apples big every bough, apples enow, Hat fulls, cap fulls, bushel bushel bag fulls And little heaps under the stairs. Apple Yowling, Voices howling, Success to the Old Apple Tree.
After singing and a drink form the Wassail Cup – much merriment was had in the pub when musicians and singers joined together to celebrate:)
Mick and Gail’s daughter Lucy, playing the fiddle.
I was reminded once again that it’s important to remember from whence we cometh:)
A Bientot
While Shepherds watch their flocks by night……….
The Angel of the Lord cam down…and glory shone around.
We three kings of Orient are – bearing gifts we traverse afar….
O Star of wonder, star of night – star with royal beauty bright.
Westwood leading, still proceeding – Guide us to the Perfect Light.
Courtesy of the Little Angles (children of St. Mary’s Primary School:)
Wishing one and all a beautiful holiday season filled with joy and love.
A Bientôt
With Christmas just around the corner, it’s time to tell the story of Christeve the Cat and how she found her home with Janet the Artist in the Magical Town of Crickadoon.
Based on a true story, Christeve the Cat who was lost and alone, found her new home with Janet the Artist on a stormy Christmas Eve in 1996. In the story Christeve was guided to Janet by magical hummingbirds.
The story will unfold each day until Christmas Eve – So let us begin……
Sitting between mountains and watched by the moon, with hummingbirds weaving their love, this story is told in the Magical Town of Crickadoon….
There once was a cat, lost and alone….she needed to find a home of her own.
She was a calico cat, which means that she is white, yellow and black….
Here is her front….
And here is her back……
And here is one of the Magical Hummingbirds that helped Christeve on her way.
More tomorrow………
HummingbirdHQ.com
http://www.janetweightreed.co.uk
A Bientôt
This morning I attended a carol singing service at my Mother’s nursing home. The choir was made up of children from the local school where I did some work a couple of months ago…..
The arrival of the choir. They walked from their school which is just around the corner.
Lots of layers to be removed….
Then getting settled in preparation for the performance. The little cat in the Santa outfit is the school mascot.
And then the performance…..with lots of acting involved.
Members of the choir looking on at one of the musicians….
And three of the accompanying musicians….
It was WONDERFUL – and everyone enjoyed enormously….That’s what Christmas is all about.
Have a wonderful weekend.
A Bientôt
I Skype with my daughter every week….and last Thursday she told me about an amazing exhibit she saw in Boston…..The Art of Brick – Lego Art – by artist Nathan Sawaya.
All the works are made from Lego Bricks!
In this image you can see the little faces of my darling great niece and nephew on the other side of the show case:)
This is bigger than life size.
Remember these are all made from Lego bricks!
And I think this has to be my favourite.
Even the hummingbirds are amazed!:)
HummingbirdHQ.com
http://www.janetweightreed.co.uk
A Bientôt
Yesterday afternoon I went to see Mr. Turner – Mike Leigh’s impeccably researched and beautifully filmed production about the great English artist JMW turner – (1715 – 1851)
I had a need to escape today’s reality and enter another world, and indeed that is exactly what happened.
Turner was played with great relish and sympathy by Timothy Spall, who is one of my favourite actors.
Turner’s elderly widowed Father (Paul Jesson) showed a man who was totally content to be Turner’s servant!
The film focused on the final years of Turner’s life….which coincides with a superb exhibition I saw recently at Tate Britain…. again focusing on Turner’s later paintings.
In the next frame you see Hannah, (exquisitely played by Dorothy Atkins) the sexually exploited housekeeper to Turner.
And in this frame, Mrs. Booth (Marian Bailey) who he met when staying at her boarding house in Margate.
This is a film that captures with every nuance the atmosphere of Dickensian England….it’s one that I would definitely see again….and highly recommend.
It shows the shenanigans at the Royal Academy
and so many images that would inspire Turner to create his fabulous paintings.
I have much more to say about the film and Turner’s difficult relationships with women, but that will have to wait for another blog.
http://www.janetweightreed.co.uk
A Bientôt
Yesterday I watched Human Universe another superb BBC 2 TV documentary hosted by scientist/physicist Brian Cox.
Brian Cox considers how humankind believed Earth to be at the centre of the Universe for such a long time, until human curiosity eventually lead us to explore space.
I was reminded of the extraordinary images of Earth taken by the astronauts on Opollo II. I was 23 years old and remember humankind’s collective sense of awe in seeing our planet from another point of view.
By 1969, we had already begun to pollute our planet, however, no one could have imagined the mess we would continue to make over the years…..
A new study released over the weekend confirms that 90% of climate change has been caused by Humankind!
Will we change our collective ways? I don’t know. Sadly there is too much greed and money involved….and where there is greed and money, all good sense seems to disappear.
Millions of us around the planet are trying to abate and turn the tide, and of course we must continue to do all we can.
Perhaps we need to be reminded more frequently of our place in the Universe, and how from the surface of the Moon we appear rather like a magnificent jewel – one that needs to be treasured.
Speaking of flying jewels – Magical Hummingbirds symbolise the abundance of natural beauty on Planet Earth – a beauty that must never be taken for granted. A beauty that needs our collective protection more than ever before.
HummingbirdHQ.com
http://www.janetweightreed.co.uk
A Bientôt
Continuing on the black cat theme, this little angel belongs to a friend in Russia.
My friend, Tamara, sent me this quote ‘Black or white cat: if it can catch mice, it’s a good cat’ Chinese Proverb.
Have a lovely weekend….back here on Monday.
A Bientôt
My Life as an Artist (2) 