My cat, Huckleberry, sleeps beside me in my studio as ripe blackberries scent the warm sunshine and hummingbirds squeak outside my open door. There is so much bounty and beauty in August - warmth, food, color, parties, children home from school. But August also signals the end of all these things. Soon it will be fall and I will hunker down once more indoors in the quiet of my home. Maybe it is my Scottish roots that detect grief in the happiest of seasons. Maybe growing up in Maritime Canada taught me that winter is never far away.
This painting embraces August's ambivalence and shows a wistfulness for a simpler season - maybe for spring when joy is unbounded and mortality doesn't enter our thoughts.
This painting measures 8"x10" and is oil on panel.
Cat! This picture warms the cockles of my heart. Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteYour words are as beautiful as your painting, which seems to capture the soul of your kitty and the lusciousness of the fruit. Simply lovely!
ReplyDeleteBlack cat and blackberries, a good pairing. The kitty soaks up the warmth of the waning sun, the berries fruit their hearts out and we take what we can get of the season, storing up for the long, dark days ahead. I am of two minds on summer - not a hot weather person, I pine for cooler temperatures; but probably somewhat of a SAD sufferer, I need the light to feel good. So those 70 degree days that have been hard to come by this year - those are the ones I feel like I wish could go on forever! Reading lots of Tove Jansson lately, she really gets the whole summer/winter thing, hailing from Northern Finland as she does.
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