Early Fall Morning on the Bluff in St. Martins, NB

Natures layers of texture and soft color

We let the surrounding field grow this year for a change and now it has turned golden... it makes a beautiful contrast against the treeline.

 

The Mountain Ash along the driveway and the surrounding hedgerow borders,

 are laden with berries...We have always tried to encourage native plants and shrubs that feed the birds and wildlife...  and I love how the color brightens everything up.... soon the birds will find them. The Robins and Cedar Waxwings love them.

As I was wandering around in the warmth and calmness of the morning, taking pictures, Church bells began ringing. 

 It was Sunday... It was pretty special. 

I can see 3 Church steeples from up here, this is the closest one down on Main St.

 ...there are even a few bright red berries on the Holly bush this year.

Love these 3 Sisters...  They are Spruce Trees.

....might be almost time to carefully prune a couple of the trees in front of them so the view is better exposed.
 Blueberries and cranberries, in season, grow just below them to the right on the sandstone bluff... intermixed with low growing juniper.

If it seems I am obsessed with the view of Quaco Head jutting out into the bay... I am. 

In all weather conditions it is the highlight of my view... It never disappoints... 

 it shows what is happening with the mighty tides.... coming in, heading out, high tide, low tide..

 and the way the light changes on its surface as it moves from east to west.

I love the way the morning sun highlights the eastern exposure of the houses in the distance.

It feels cozy here in the hidden firepit when a fire is snap, crackle and popping.

White Flocks at the corner of the greenhouse.

The children's camp tucked into the trees.

 The Virginia Creeper changed from green to crimson without me even noticing.. 

How time sneaks up on a person.

The natural world  is taking a well deserved rest... a new season has settled in

 ... a lovely place to have our coffee and tea this morning. Fresh air, beautiful view and birds flitting back and forth, church bells ringing...
 we sat in wondrous contemplation...

The Rosa Rugosa is still treating us with blooms scattered here and there. such a hardy shrub... rarely needs tending.

 Fall has arrived and its only just begun.

Photographs taken by me, Gwen Buchanan, early Sunday morning, Sept. 28

from up on the Big Red Rock, St. Martins, New Brunswick.

Desideratum Art Studio.

Texture

The character of surfaces ...
 elements transformed by time or manipulation...

flocked and gathered, gauzy fabric discovered in the ends-bin at a favourite fabric shop... 

an aged, rough, thick, salvaged  floor plank, now cut with a scalloped edge,
 serving  its second life as
the strength giver in an east facing  window seat in a corner of an upstairs room...   

the coolness and durability of  leather surrounded by fur and fleece...

...the interrelation of these elements stimulate the senses...

their surfaces draw one to touch... to linger... to feel... with  eyes, fingers and imagination..

abstract is real...   visually tactile...  satisfying on a gut level...

 discovering, assembling and working with these mostly found materials was exciting...

and when I have a chance to sit here, it makes me feel good.... and I remember the "Process",
my favourite part of creating.


 ...my Best to you All....

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Self-Portrait Linocut by Beck

I love Black and White...   I love Faces...  and I love the strength of these lines..

This is one of my favourite artworks....  It was done by my daughter, Rebecca.  

This piece hangs where I can see it when I enter the house... 

She stares across the room towards the front door... watching all who enter.

... rather like a Guardian...

 She hangs just above the steel wood rack ... the fuel for our homes hearth...
...perhaps she guards over our warmth too...

...oh and along with John who keeps the wood rack filled and the fires stoked.

Linocut self-portrait approx. size 6" x 9"...  

Antique frame 15" x 17".. used as I found it, chips and all... I like things that show their life ... 

...Hornet's nest and tiny bird nest on twig hang above.
... the heavy duty 5' tall wood rack, John made.

Rebecca lives happily in Saint John, New Brunswick with Stephen, Hannah, Callum and Ben... my darlings, All. 

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Sunrise and Seasmoke

...click pictures to enlarge to feel the effect and imagine looking out from high on a bluff...



The extreme cold of the night has given way to a most delicate sunrise... a little later in appearing today.... due to the mass of seasmoke rising, mounding and billowing above the surface of the Bay of Fundy...

...blocking the view of our neighboring province... Nova Scotia... 30 miles away... altogether...





To watch this happen is like receiving a gift.... from the world... such anticipation...




Light and colors changing... as... and when Nature decides...




Across the snow covered yard...




Past the village below... out into the Bay of Fundy...



The Seasmoke rises... illuminating the tidal marsh ... in various shades of beauty...




It is Glorious!............................ It is Magnificent!..........


...actually words can hardly describe the emotional response this draws forth....





It can't be packaged.... bought or sold...

It gives itself... free of charge.... to anyone who waits for it...


...or if that soul happens upon it by chance.... they will never forget it....
and they too... will become one of those who wait....





This is Mother Natures offering............ her way of saving grace when she causes us mere mortals to endure these -20C temperatures...

A Balance, I would say.....

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