Reverie... to Reconciliation!

Reverie

Reverie is a word that best describes my current state of mind. Such a state is defined in the dictionary as "an absent-minded day dream." In some fashion that is indeed true. Bearing witness to the colourful spectacle... pomp and pageantry of Autumn in Canada... does in fact take one's  mind beyond the normal realm of awareness and reality. It is for me... an altered state... indeed a dream world... where Time stands still and the world breathless in the face such beauty. To quote one line or two from "High Flight"by John Gillespie Magee, Jr, a long held and loved favourite of mine, it is that exact time for "Me" ...

" And while with silent lifting mind I've trod

The high untrespassed sanctity of space,

Put out my hand,

And touched the face of God."

While Magee's poem places him in a fighter plane soaring leagues above the earth and "I"... both feet on solid earth in an Island rich region of Ontario and richly coloured hardwood woodland... the state of reverie is basically the same. Though our journeys are vastly different... our common appreciation and gratitude are shared across space... and Time itself. We live... momentarily "in parallel" in our thoughts and sense of rapture.

My question to you today is: "When did you last feel a sense of reverie... rapture... in any moment of your daily life?" If you have to think too hard to answer that question, then you are not fully living your life. All that it takes to achieve such a state of goodness and well-being, is to make time somewhere to be alone in the majesty of wherever you call home... find a quiet place... and open up your senses to that space. See... smell... listen and taste it fully in the sanctity of your Self... and your Creator. Give thanks... that "You"... are FREE to do so!

I guarantee an instant and healthy "high"... one that you will learn... can be returned to... tapped into... whether or not you carry a painting kit or camera with you. Record it in labyrinth of your memory for rainy, grey and not-so-fruitful days!

I wish to share with you further a small sample of those things which caused me to offer these words and thoughts to you... a potpourri of recent photo images and paintings from other fall painting trips. I hope that they encourage you to seek out the beauty of your own worlds... in the hopes that it encourages you to feel blessed... as I do! Enjoy! I'd love to hear back to you about those beautiful places and raptures that you might have experienced!

Reconciliation comes out of  ... Harmony and Acceptance.... and with it Inner Peace!

I will close this post with a few lines from Robert Genn's Bi-weekly Newsletter that I received and read this morning. I have long admired both his painting and his writings... his "Two Voices"....

"I vowed no matter how corrupted or commercial I was to become as an artist, I would always put the simple love of painting before all."

Over my life time, I have tried to follow that same path in my own journey with my family... my friends and my students. Tomorrow... I journey to Port Perry, Ontario to conduct a plein air session in what is predicted to be cold, rainy and uncomfortable conditions. I will carry forward with me my own simple love of painting... hoping that those who have elected to attend will see it... and learn something that they can apply to their own painting lives... outdoors! Stay tuned...

This shot taken of "Me"... alone at Lake Opeongo in Algonquin Park.... cactures my moment reverie. Is it obvious... even without seeing my face???... "The face of God"!

Reverie can be shared! Bryn and I ... together on Thanksgiving Sunday at the highest point on The Thousand Islands International Bridge... The Islands lay before us for miles and miles... the waters of The St Lawrence .. a hundred and fifty below us. Pure reverie!

These woodland places are amongst the most deeply moving and sacred for me. The acrid caldron of woodland smells....  leaves on the ground ... moss and fungi and the pervasive dampness wet rocks are intoxicating. The silence is deadening... broken only by a patter of leaves striking the ground gently... and an odd bird migrant.

A precious meadow moment... lush in light and colour

An unexpected  rainbow moment yesterday... looking out at Cleopartra Island on my evening walkabout
!

"Signalling Autumn"... an 8x10 inch plein air sketch from the Oro-Medonte Hills

"Drying Out at Rose Bay, Nova Scotia" -  24x30 inch plein air oil on canvas

 "Bienvenue a Charlevois!" plein air oil on canvas 36x24 inches

"Drying Out in Whitney" plein air oil on canvas - 24x30 inches

"En Souvenir de AY Jackson" plein air oil on canvas 48x36 inches

" Leaning towards Autumn - 24x30 inch studio oil on canvas

 "Autumn Quietude, Round Lake" plein air oil on canvas 30x36 inches

"Church of the Redeemer, Rockport" - plein air oil on canvas 20x24 inches

My Reverie...

Moments  found alone... or shared with special people.
Moments of bliss
Moments of introspection
Moments of uplifting spirit and inner Peace
May they now be yours.

Good Painting to... ALL!