Celia Hart's blog about what's going on in and around her studio.
Art, printmaking, inspirations, gardening, vegetables, hens, landscapes, wild flowers, East Anglia, adventure, travel.

Monday 1 November 2010

Colour therapy

November . . . the clocks went back at the weekend . . . we can't deny that the winter months are here.

I love winter walks, the bare fields and skeletal trees open up the views; animals and birds are more visible – running over the furrows and wheeling across the pale sky.


I like walking through woods and hearing the leaves falling onto the ground; the late afternoon sun, low in the sky, slants rays of flickering light between the tree trunks. We were lucky and saw deer bounding past, like a magic lantern show.


The leaves cling on to the oaks, colours just starting to turn from greens to ochres before they fall when the next frosts come. The meadows shine with an intense lush greeness.


I find that I work on my prints more intensely in winter; the images, gathered in my mind out in the winter landscape, come alive during the late afternoon dark cosiness in my studio.

I know that for many the winter months are difficult to endure without sunshine and bright vibrant colours – Emma of Silverpebble has blogged about this and has a remedy – she's created a place to pop into for a little colour therapy, a collection of beautiful vibrant images in her Splash of Colour flickr pool. She'd love lots more people to join in, so if you've some bright colourful photos you'd like to share, please add them to the collection. Or just have a cup of tea and browse through a colourful world.

On the subject of splashes of colour – there is one image that lifts my heart when I see it in the hedgerow on a sunny autumn day, a Field Maple in all it's buttery yellow-ochre glory against a bright blue sky.


Looking closely at the Field Maple leaves I noticed that some are peppered with tiny paprika-red galls.


Here's one of the images I added to Emma's Splash of Colour collection – apples that I helped my Mum to pick last Friday. They are Bramleys – yes really! The Bramley apples on our tree are mostly green, eventually getting a rosy cheeked blush just before we pick them. Our tree is in a cool Suffolk valley, in my Mum's garden her Bramley tree stands under a big Fenland sky – the sun shines on it from dawn to dusk and the apples glow the most vibrant of reds!


Apples that Snow White would not be able to resist! Sweet and juicy, just waiting to be baked and transformed into a fluffy soft delicious pudding!

11 comments:

  1. What a beautiful post. Those yellow maples are stunning Celia. I'm coming round to the greys but before I work on that some more I think this is some fun for the eyes!

    Btw, Friday's bonfire night - I forgot! How's next week?

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  2. Lovely photos. I so enjoyed being out walking amongst the trees at the weekend too.

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  3. I was just about to write 'what a beautiful post' when I saw that Emma had written it too... never mind, because it is! Truly lovely and bursting with the essence of the English countryside. I love that colour yellow that's everywhere at the moment, I keep trying to give it a name - it's so elusive - is it gold, ochre, lemon, I don't know! A mix of green turning to yellow going into russet... it's lovely anyway.

    Thanks for your encouraging comment over at mine.

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  4. lovely autumn colors! :) the season has turned & overnight i feel more than awake...hopefully, the second batch of applesauce canned will turn out better than the first. lovely apples, btw.

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  5. Field maples are dotted along the lane between our village and the market town - they really light up the hedgerows with butter and amber shades.

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  6. Lovely post! I've been enjoying the colours too, I hadn't realised just how many trees we have here, it's wonderful.

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  7. oh those apples... there's an amazing tree which hangs over the road near our cottage and it has created a tunnel... this autumn it has turned the most incredible yellow gold... if I get back to the cottage this weekend i'll photograph it and send it over!

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  8. I just love the colours of Autumn too. I drove down the A3 to Portsmouth today. There is a long row of fiery red Canadian maple trees down there. Stunning colours everywhere - and a blue sky to boot!

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  9. Stunning photos, wish I could just 'step' through the computer screen and be there, enjoying all that Autumnal goodness.

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  10. Had two major type-o's on two posts that made me look like a dope - had to delete them! Third try's a charm! LOL!!!

    Today was an interesting day, as I left for my practicum the maple leaves were gently floating down to the ground, and as I walked into school there was no one around and a lonely leaf was scraping along behind me making what seemed to be a loud noise and I just smiled taking in all the sights and sounds. When I returned home my maple tree was naked! I couldn't believe it! Your mom's apples look delicious! How were they?

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  11. Celia,
    I loved this post: for the pictures, the beautiful choice of words and the sheer delight you take from it all. I'm not always that great at making the sudden transition to the shorter, darker days but you make late afternoon sound cosy and creative! Lesley

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