PAINTING FOR TODAY.

DOVE OF PEACE:---Watercolour with mount-12x16 inches € 120.

Today is the feast of Pentecost---the coming of the Holy Spirit, -the Life Force,---that perfectly positive source of all Life that we need in full force to feel fully alive. In these turbulent times how we need this Power to persevere and allow it to nurture and sustain us with energy, enlightenment, love,peace and wisdom! -----A simple prayer that I try to say constantly.-----

Come Holy Spirit, fill our hearts and kindle in them the fire of your love; ---send forth your spirit and we will be recreated, and you will renew the face of the earth.

PAINTING FOR TODAY.

Autumn Flame.----mixed media 12x16 inches. € 120

I know it isn't Autumn but this painting complements the 'Trees' painting that I did last week. Late Spring---early Summer is my favourite time, but there is no doubt that each season has its own distinctive, pervasive ambience and colours.I love the warm richness of the Autumn tones, but when choosing room colours my heart always returns to the bright fresh joyful notes of the greens of Spring;----now what does that say!?

Autumn is a second Spring when every leaf is a flower.

Albert Camus.

HOT COFFEE.!

The summer heat is growing!! Even though we set off for the morning walk before 7-00 am it is hot!! Thank goodness for a half way house where we can relax before returning.---Mare Azzurro ofcourse,---the coffee shop that often provides our morning sustenance. A shiny new Italian coffee machine sleek and polished, serving delicious cappuccinos, ---not quite the Italian style 85 degrees ( just a touch too hot)--- rather the 75 degrees that is just perfect Joey thinks.Both he and Mary take a real pride in their coffee making, also the delicious home baking that is a faithful morning activity, despite the heat,---his apple pie is mouthwatering!! ------Now back to my painting!

TODAY'S PAINTING-----TREES.

Trees----watercolour 16x12 inches----€ 120

Tees are poems that earth writes upon the sky,

we fell them down and turn them into paper,

that we may record our emptiness.

Kahlil Gibran.

TODAY'S PAINTING---SOUL DANCE.

Soul Dance---acrylic on stretched canvas---16x20 inches---€ 120

I truly feel that the soul is that deepest part of myself that can integrate with my body giving me that sense of lightness and freedom that I yearn for.So simple, yet so difficult to achieve; ---a tiny glimpse in those fleeting moments that seem to melt away before I capture them.---One day I hope----!

I simply believe that some part of the human Self or soul is not subject to the laws of space and time.

Carl Jung.

When you do things from your soul you feel a river moving in you, a joy. When action comes from another section the feeling disappears.

Jalal ad-Din Rumi.

The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire.

Ferdinand Foch.

SUNSET VIEW FROM THE TERRACE.

The sun set magnificently yesterday and I couldn't resist a picture. You have to be quick here,--dusk doesn't last as long as in England,- quite suddenly it is dark. Quite a cheap camera, but the results seem fairly clear.I'll have to practise though!

The sky is the daily bread of the eyes.

Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Look deep into nature and then you will understand everything better.

Albert Einstein.

SUNSET---VIEW FROM THE TERRACE

TODAY'S PAINTING---YUCCA

Today's Painting---Yucca---acrylic on stretched canvas -€120---24x24 inches.

I love to paint the yucca plant. There's just something about its smooth lines, deep colours, and simplicity that attract me to it. There's a quiet strength there,--maybe a subtle touch of the exotic. Anyway I always like to have one or two of them around,--there's a sense of peace there.

Also a healing plant, the yucca can help all sorts of ailments:- Arthritis, rheumatics, cholesterol, high blood pressure, digestive problems, etc.--- An ancient healer!

The tree is more than a first seed, then a stem, then a living trunk, then dead timber.---The tree is a slow enduring force straining to reach the sky.

Antoine de Saint -Exupery.--The Wisdom of the Sands.

Translation--Stuart Gilbert.

UNDER-WATER----TODAY'S PAINTING.

Under-water---24x24 inches ---acrylics on textured surface,- €220

I'm working with texture again and really enjoying it! This one is larger and I still appreciate the sense of freedom to experiment. Ifeel this surface lends itself so well to abstracts and the theme of mystery,a theme that the sea embodies. Here when the southerly wind is gentle the sea takes on a translucent quality, almost mesmerising , drawing you into its depth and soft yet intense colours---a beautiful moment!

Why do we love the sea? It is because it has some potent power to make us think things we like to think.

Robert Henri.

BLOSSOM TIME.---TODAY'S PAINTING.

Blossom Time---12x16 inches.----Watercolour---- € 120

May time is here---a lovely month. A time of sweetness, but not a cloying sweetness,-a freshness before what becomes here the sapping heat of summer days! For me a time of nostalgia:- blue skies, bluebells,strewn blossoms on the grass, the delicate scent of lilac with its tinge of sadness. A time when beauty is not full blown but hauntingly unforgettable.-----Yes---May is my favourite month!

MORNING VISIT.

This morning a new visitor arrived outside our window, perching happily on the bamboo plant. Not our usual cheeky robin or the sparrows, but a bright , colourful little chap, quite at home and friendly.Whether an escapee from a cage or from further afield I don't know, but he certainly wanted attention.Not atall camera shy he posed unselfconsciously,----very photogenic too!----Sadly we had to go out for a while and on our return our visitor had flown. -----Still,- I'm glad 'I snapped 'him, that small glimpse of beauty to brighten our morning!



A bird does not sing because it has an answer,--it sings because it has a song.

Chinese Proverb.

TODAY'S PAINTING----SUNNY SIDE.

Today's Painting---Sunny Side. 24x24 inches.---acrylic on stretched canvas.

I'm used to teaching older children, but I always remember a five week teaching practice at college where I had a class of five year olds from a very rough area of London. these little ones needed so much affection and attention, and charged around most of the day like small human dynamos, leaving me in a state of physical and mental exhaustion well before home time. I remember too, though, how every afternoon they really loved resting their head on their desk and happily listening to the afternoon story. Up until then some unseen force seemed to drive them but they truly longed for this 'stillness'.

Me too!!---In this pressurised society, where everything seems to be geared to speed,I need that moment of stillness each day to try to find some kind of balance.Painting, meditating, reading, these suit me fine,---If I miss them I'm more of a mess than usual!

'Don't underestimate the value of Doing Nothing,of just going listening to all you can't hear, and not bothering.'

Pooh's Little Instruction Book.----inspired by A.A Milne.

SEA LIFE.

I thought I'd try a little textured painting today, -nothing elaborate, just a small canvas with textured background. Really enjoyable, I like the feel,---allows me to experiment and maybe be a little more whimsical. Anyway I'll work with the small size then maybe venture into deeper water.

Today's painting:- Sea Life- arylic on sretched canvas 8x8 inches ---€95

Man will begin to recover the moment he takes art as seriously as physics, chemistry or money.

Ernst Levy.

The true painter strives to paint what can only be seen through his world.

Andre Malraux.

TODAY'S PAINTING----TULIPS

Flowers again!--- For me each kind has a uniqueness, a 'personality' that is so impressive. The tulip, before full bloom, for me has a luminous quality, that subtle sheen and smoothness that simplicity of form that make it a delight to paint. Later , quite different, ---almost poppy- like with its coal black centre.

According to Persian legend, the first tulips sprang up from the drops of blood shed by a lover and so for many years it became the symbol of true love.

On a different note, in some parts of Japan, a flour is made of them, and apparently in times of famine the Dutch ate tulip bulbs when food was extremely scarce.

Today's Painting:- Tulips----acrylic on stretched canvas.

FLY WITH ME.

I know that my paintings and poetry try to convey a sense of lightness and colour, but these I believe to be the essence of Life, these and energy, all coming from a loving Source.I hold on to these as Reality, because otherwise for me nothing makes any sense.

Fly With Me.

We really should be flying you know!

We should soar to the heavens each day,

find a new life in the realm of light,

be happy with the clouds, the sun, the clear blue sky,----

saturate our senses with beautiful light.

We should rise to the heavens, float in space,

Feel free and happy and full of Life.

We should be as we can be, wish to be, and are;

we are love, we are light, we are stardust.

Believe me!

Today's Painting:- 'Light Reflections'-- watercolour --7x10 inches---€100

with mount.

LINA'S EASTER COOKIES.

Lina is the dear Italian friend who each week bakes us the most delicious bread using a variety of flours:- potato,maize,soya etc. --always wholesome, always perfect.Easter is the time for her cookies! Quite irresistible these,-a melt-in-the-mouth experience! This year she tried a variation on her usual recipe,--Here it is!

Yoghurt Cookies.

1 tub of plain yoghurt

1 tub of sugar

1 tub of ground almonds

1 tub of melted butter

2 tubs of flour

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1 quarter teaspoon of salt

2 eggs---grated orange peel.

Beat the eggs with the sugar, add the melted butter, then add the almonds, orange peel and flour sifted with salt and baking powder. Place in the fridge overnight.

Roll out and cut into shapes. Bake in oven at 180 c. for 15-20 minutes.

HAPPY EASTER!

EASTER MORNING

Morning of all mornings, Day of all days, -New Life surges through the world in this moment of Glory.Much work still to be done to synchronise with this Spirit of Life,but I personally believe that It is always fully available to us if we can only believe in It and keep on trying!

Today's Quotes.

On Easter Day the veil between Time and Eternity thins to gossamer.

Douglas Horton.

Our Lord has written the promise of the Resurrection not in books alone, but in every leaf in spring-time . ------Martin Luther

Painting---acrylic on stretched canvas 24X24 inches

€220---Into the Glow

GOOD FRIDAY

Today's Painting-----Light Vibrations ----Acrylic on stretched canvas 12x16 inches.

A Day for reflection and hope.-A Day that speaks convincingly of the victory of Love over Fear,Suffering, Evil, and Death.A Love that was so powerful that it surmounted all of these to culminate in a supreme Resurrection. A Power that I believe will ultimately allow Humanity to unite in an empathic bond with God and each other and so restore the world to its true meaning -as Love.

Today's Quotes:-

Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence.

Eric Fromm

Love is above all the gift of oneself.

Jean Anouilh.

You don't have to go looking for Love, when it's where you come from.

Werner Erhard.

VINO-VINO!

Joey, proprietor of the little 'Italian' coffee shop that we love to visit, presented us last week with two bottles of his home-made wine .A delicious blend this,-no heavily adulterated grapes with additives, preservatives,-those awful sulphites, just a lovely old recipe from grapes planted by his father. So powerful though---A little hint of champagne here--- and so relaxing!

Why can't all wine be enjoyed like this? We seem to have removed ourselves so far from from that simple, pure, wonderfully intoxicating taste that it has almost faded from memory.So good to revive it ,---so good to appreciate wine as it should be.-----So 'Cheers 'Joey!-----I'm off now to sample just a little more.Wrong time of the day they tell me----but who cares?!

Today's Quote.

Wine is sunlight, held together by water.

Galileo.

'

FLOWERS

I truly feel that plants and flowers are my sustenance as much as food! If I'm feeling jaded and my surroundings are in sympathy ---bring me a cheery plant or lightly scented flowers and in that moment there is a transformation of body, soul and surroundings! Also in that moment I simply have to believe in a God who is beautiful, loving and divinely creative!

Today's quotes:-

People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time, to have such things around us

Iris Murdoch.

Perfumes are the feelings of flowers.

Heinrich Heine.

I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers.

Claude Monet.

If you've never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom.

Audra Foveo