Looking up through trees – 5
Next one in the series! The large tree in this painting is a hemlock. The under painting was transparent red medium with some cad orange.
Here is Tom’s haiku!
Sturdy standing trunk
Straight and tall unbending now
Sways in winter storms
image (c) 2017 Hilary Farmer
poem (c) 2017 TJ Radcliffe
Looking up through trees 4
The next in the series with a lovely haiku from Tom! (The under painting for this one was transparent red medium.)
Tousled heads held high
Reaching up into blue sky
Breathing ocean air
image (c) 2017 Hilary Farmer
poem (c) 2017 TJ Radcliffe
Looking up through trees -3
Number three in the series, this one has a magenta under painting. The particular tree is an enormous western red cedar with a twisted trunk I saw in Stanley Park. I like how it starts to melt into the sky.
Here is Tom’s haiku written for this one!
Braided branching trunk
Twisting high into the sky
Shadows down below
image (c) 2017 Hilary Farmer
poem (c) 2017 TJ Radcliffe
Looking up through trees – 2
Next in the series! I am enjoying these. 🙂
Here is Tom’s delightful haiku for this painting!
Sunlight shimmering
Dark green spaces simmering
Forest scent of life
image (c) 2017 Hilary Farmer
poem (c) 2017 TJ Radcliffe
Looking up through trees – 1
I have started a series of small (6″x6″) paintings of trees with the idea that they will fit together into a grid of 9 paintings and give a complete sense of looking upward in the forest. I do love trees and spending time enjoying the trees on the West coast has inspired me even more. I am also trying out using various colours for underpainting for this series running from magenta through the various red tones to orange. It’s an experiment for me! You’ll be able to tell the underpainting colour from the signature which I do with a tool that removes the top layer of paint.
Once all the pieces are done, I will put them together and likely add some finishing touches to make sure everything works together. This allows me to do a larger piece in bite-sized segments!
No poems for these until the series is complete.
UPDATE: There may be poems for these! …and here is the haiku written for this first one. Thanks Tom!!
Green jigsaw puzzle
Forest fitting together
Corner piece of sky
Image (c) 2017 Hilary Farmer
Poem (c) 2017 TJ Radcliffe
sunlit posies
A joyful little painting – I’m happy with the way the contrast between light and dark really makes the flowers pop!
Here is Tom’s poem. He says he sees this painting as a metaphor for some beautiful, elegant woman basking on a yacht! 🙂
Overflowing blossom
scarf tied ’round round throat
basking in the sunshine
living life afloat!
image (c) 2017 Hilary Farmer
poem (c) 2017 TJ Radcliffe
moonlit grove mandala
All colours are on the blue side of the spectrum to give the feeling of a moonlit evening.
As with other tree mandalas I have done, the trees are interconnected with a pattern of Celtic knots and an eye motif is integrated into the design which speaks to a kind of awareness. I started thinking about trees this way last year after reading the book “The Hidden Life of Trees” by Peter Wohlleben.
quadrant – with rabbit
And here’s a brand new poem from Tom responding to the painted version of this mandala …words that enhance and fulfill the image.
Trees might speak in cold moonlight
rumours swirling through the leaves
contemplating wrong and right
dreaming of a day to seize.
Crescent moon by Earthlight fulled
rules the zenith, riding high.
Apples weighted by the pull
toward the centre. Whispers, sighs
pass from bough to branch to root
down to where the Earth abides.
Watchful rabbit, owl’s hoot
safely distant on the tide
of silver shining in the night
turning darkness fair and bright.
image (c) 2017 Hilary Farmer
poem (c) TJ Radcliffe
