daffodils are coming out : photos Steph Driver :

there is just room to show you 2 of the pictures I sent in for the next Wivenhoe Trail which will be 13 - 15 May this year... Do come & see some more at my studio... WHen the trail map is ready you will be able to download it from the WIvenhoe Art Trail website...

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Golden Sunset (oil on canvas. c. janetdriver) Yesterday (Sunday evening), at WIvenhoe St Mary's Holy Ground meditative service, we were asked to share our experiences of a memorable sunset...this painting is of the one I tried to describe... I felt words alone were not enough for the beauty of this sunset...or at least, not my words...and so I have found this painting to share with you, hoping I have been able to convey something of the joy this amazing sunset gave me...the wall of this house glowed golden with reflected light, and the leaves on all the trees were bathed in golden light as well... IF, like me, you enjoy sunsets and love to see how their colours are portrayed inj paintings, then do search the internet for MOnet's houses of parliament sunsets... or the dramatic sunsets by Turner, whose vast glowing canvases are in the Tate gallery. I am wary of putting my own dramatic red sunsets on this blog, as some people might find them disturbing... I was once warned by the father of a friend of mine, when I was only just beginning to try painting in oils and he saw one I was secretly quite pleased with: a dramatic sunset seen across the sea while on holiday in cornwall... "Oh Janet, do be careful about painting sunsets like this... they will remind too many people of explosions during the war, you know..." I realise I am very fortunate that sunsets for me are signs of joy, and not at all fearful images... and I tend now to make sure I paint the more joyful golden glow that sometimes fulls the whole sky just before the red ball of the sun sinks low... I have seen this golden light shining miraculously through mist and fog turning them from dull grey into glowing light... someone asked me "Why paint fog this colour instead of grey... I mean, fog is always dull, grey and depressing, isnt it ?" Well, one obvious answer is another question: "does anyone want a dull grey, depressing painting to look at "? but, seriously, have you never noticed how the sun can shine right into fog & mist, especially when the light is at a lower angle during autumn or springtime, making it glow with golden light just after dawn or near sunset ? D o watch out for it, as it really makes such a transformation ! This nextpainting is of the early morning sun shining through the sea-mist as we watched from the ferry to the Isle of Wight crossing the Solent with the Needles on the horizon...

HeQui Epiphany

detail from jesusmafa epiphany

the magi: Ravenna mosaic This 6th Century mosaic reminds me of the carol : "three kings from Persian lands afar..." except that of course these are not kings, but three magi... wearing just the kind of clothes one could imagine being worn by Persians of that time ( I understand Persians introduced the wearing of trousers rather than long flowing robes ).Many years ago I found a lovely childrens book retelling a Chinese legend which gave the delightful story of a group of astronomers who, on discovering the new star, set out on a long adventurous journey all the way from China, via the silk route, and eventually down into Jerusalem and on to Bethlehem to find the young Christ child... Now theres an idea... it could be interesting to write a childrens story of astronomers from a country [ like India, where archaeological evidence has been found of buildings used for astronomy...] making a similar journey & bringing in the cultural background from Asia where astrology is so much part of everyday decisions...it could be fascinating...

c. janet driver

c.janet driver "Darfur Madonna" was painted well over 10 years go, before we retired from our parish in Tooting...an area of mainly people of African or Afro-Caribbean origins... it was painted as a prayer-painting for the people of the Sudan, particularly the women and young children who, like this lady, had had to flee from their homes as villages were burnt down and all vegetable crops destroyed by rebel fighters... sound familiar ? yes, sadly South Sudan has suffered intermittently during this whole decade and is once more inthe news as their government seeks to restore law and order... fighting... drought...devastating floods... famine... and now covid... this "Darfur Madonna" sadly still stands as a prayer-painting for those who have survived through aid agencies support...hoping to help rebuild lives into the new year and beyond...

janet driver : acid-etched deep green leaded glass panel For several hours high winds of 56 - 60mph have been buffeting our trees around, making me feel almost sea-sick ! so I have chosen a still & peaceful image to follow after the rolling & rollicking branches... In fact this hanging plant I came across a few years ago when visiting a butterfly house near Kew Gardens was so still... merely turning very slowly as it hung down above a pool surrounded by exotic plants and beautiful butterflies...I remember the amazing stillness I felt as I sat beside the water quietly sketching this beautiful flower...

I hope that by choosing to focus on either my glass panel or oil painting you might be able to catch a glimpse of silence, stillness & thankful joy...

                    Reflections...oil on canvas, Janet Driver (after Monet’s river Seine near Giverny paintings)

'On the Wings of the Morning" oil on canvas, Janet Driver