When the Sun Shines...and then the snow !

A carpet of snowdrops just outside my studio, and a curtain of catkins dancing in the cold winds... Then suddenly the sun shines...

and in the freezing snow a redwing joins our blackbirds pidgeons & magpie for the last red crabapples, whilst our cat mews pitifully looking out of her catflap wanting us to change the weather!

And today the snowdrops are completely hidden under a blanket of thick snow

Spring has been arriving earlier each year

And now freezing winter has followed after

Surprised by early Daffodils

Daffodils in December ???     ...growing outside... just after Christmas. I could hardly believe it !

I mean daffodils growing outdoors...

Hope for New Year

the light shines on in the darkness  [oil painting c. Janet Driver

This was painted with the prologue of St John’s Gospel in mind:

“In the beginning...”

how can my mind fathom the depths of that phrase? 

I may be able to remember all the decades back into my childhood;

then trace back centuries through history

to when this gospel was written

but then I need to stretch my mind back through geological time...and even further  ...

so through slowly & meditatively painting this canvas
using several glaze layers to build up the depth of blue 
interspersed with spiralling colours...  
thinking of all the photos of early galaxies from the zooniverse website 
which challenge my horizons, stretching my mind over thousands of light years
of stars shining through chaos and dancing...
and light still shining on through the darkness...

hoping that this new year may bring more hope shining through the chaos of last year

Christmas Eve

experiencing seasonal delays in uploading pictures !!
apologies

but wishing you a joyful Christmas

& you might enjoy this link to St Mary’s Church, Wivenhoe Christmas eve baptism:
https://wp.me/p4gMuH-Wz

White Poppies

All Saints Day & White Peace Poppies seem to go together...

Why ?     Well, I remember martyrs like Janani Luwum who was killed during the time of Iddi Amin in Uganda...and the priest in France killed this year in a terror attack during worship....and all the many others that come crowding into mind who have been killed whilst persuing peace and reconciliation, or living an ordinary peaceable life...

White Poppy: pastel sketch : Janet Driver

And so, once again, this year I hope to wear a white peace poppy...if I can find one...

‘be careful what you wish for’  ... rain was definately on my wish list... but not for today.
 We hoped to walk and enjoy the autumnal colours before the leaves finally gave way to winter. But a painting from a few years ago will bring back memories of autumnal sunshine...

and then this photo for the reality of today!

Surprised by Almond Blossom

Wind ripping across the garden;
Rain pouring down...

 Studio dismal & uninviting,    raw, damp & cold.

Even the cat hesitated on back doorstep
loath to let me out...

Waiting....

 I suddenly saw white almond blossom
sparkling in the rain
against the dark hedge

 thank you for making me pause and look...

The artist Stanley Spencer
set out to paint a series of 40 paintings for Lent...
 with the idea that a new painting could be put up each day in his church at Cookham
 so that people could drop in and meditate everyday.

 Its not surprising the series remained unfinished,
 but I love the unusual way he envisaged Christ in the wilderness...http://www.artgallery.wa.gov.au/collections/documents/spencer_conv.pdf

 The Taize App ...page for today quotes from Br Rogers writings:

"...like the Almond tree that begins to blossom in the light of springtime, God makes even the deserts of our soul burst into flower."