Thursday, May 28, 2015

Morning Has Broken  



The beautiful, soft, glowing light of spring is slowly fading into the bright, vivacious light of summer, but before it goes I would like to pay homage to the exquisite light of spring mornings.  Mornings in May, when the fairies seem as near as the sunshine streaming and dancing through the trees, are the best time for an early morning cuppa plein aire.   


  Early one Saturday, my personal designer and I found a favorite canopy from her childhood and crept forth into the dewy grass.  We suspended the canopy from a majestic tree atop a hill where the morning light could shine through the boughs.  


With our favorite china and some fresh cut flowers 
the scene was set!


The light was so beautiful, and the company so sweet.  Drinking our favorite lavender tea and nibbling our favorite biscuits under a rosy canopy was truly a lovely celebration of the spring!

Claude Monet

Of course, all that lovely light made me think of art so here are some lovelies....

File:Frieseke, Frederick Carl - Afternoon - Yellow Room - Google Art Project.jpg
Fredrick Carl Frieseke

I have recently found two artists whom I believe captured sunlight and color beautifully, with their simple subjects.  Carl Frieseke and Louis Ritman were both American Impressionists who spent a great deal of time in France.  Although their styles were similar, their subject matter varied slightly from their French contemporaries.   Unlike many of the Impressionists, their focus centered around women in their daily lives instead of landscapes.  I adore the softness of light and color of Frieseke and Ritman's paintings and thought they were perfect to accompany this post about spring light, because after all Frieseke himself is believed to have said.....

 "It is sunshine, flowers in sunshine; girls in sunshine; the nude in sunshine which I have been principally interested in."


Louis Ritman

Louis Ritman

Louis Ritman


One of my favorite spring flowers is the sweet lilac of May, which is so beautifully depicted here by Mary Cassatt.   She seems to be able to capture the very nature of lilacs as they tumble out of the vase wishing to share their merriment with all they meet!



Enjoy the sunshine!