art auction – new painting
September 17, 2015 ‘Outside-In #3 – Far from the Sea’ Jane Tims
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I have submitted another painting to Isaac’s Way Restaurant, for their 25th Art Auction and Sale. This event will run from September 27, 2015 to late January, 2016. The proceeds from the auction go to sponsor kids-in-need. My latest painting is titled ‘Outside-In #3 – Far from the Sea’.
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The painting is the third in a series of still life paintings I have done about the many elements of nature we bring into our homes. This includes items collected on walks, motifs on fabrics and metals, small statuary and so on. My first painting in the series was ‘Outside-In’, a Chinese dragon hiding behind a glass cloche. The second painting was ‘Outside-In #2’ , a still life of a potpourri jar.
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February 12, 2015 ‘Outside-In’ Jane Tims
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May 2015 ‘Outside-In #2’ Jane Tims
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For the new painting, I used Chromium Oxide Green, Burnt Umber, Titanium White, Phthalo Blue, Cadmium Yellow, Quinacridone Magenta and Cadmium Red.
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If you are in the Fredericton area, please drop in to Isaac’s Way. Their food is delicious and over fifty artists have their paintings on display. Bid and you could take home a piece of original art!
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Copyright Jane Tims 2015
stinkhorns – what’s not to love?
This morning I was trimming the vines at our front door and resting occasionally in my yellow lawn chair. Every time I sat down, I smelled a very disgusting smell. It didn’t take me long to find the source. Something I have never seen before – an Elegant Stinkhorn fungus (Mutinus elegans).
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under the yellow chair is a pink stinkhorn fungus
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Elegant is not an apt word for this fungus in my opinion. Its fruiting body consists of long pink cylinders covered with a dark brown mucilage at the tip. They belong to the family ‘Phallaceae’ (I understand the source of this name). The cylinder emerges from a whitish ‘egg’, a puffball-like body. Flies were buzzing about, attracted to the putrid smell.
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My thought when I first saw the fungus was that Aliens had invaded. Actually, the fungus has found an ideal location to grow. Recently it has been very wet, after a long spell of dry weather. The area where I keep my lawn chairs is mulched with wood chips, providing a source of food for the Stinkhorns. I think the space had been made more habitable by the lawn chair which has kept air movement down and humidity high.
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Sorry. I am a botanist and I understand that I am the invader on our property. But these look disgusting, smell disgusting and, if people have to come to my front door, no one will ever visit me again.
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Copyright Jane Tims 2015
in the shelter of the covered bridge – a narrow bridge
On our drive last weekend, we visited three covered bridges.
Usually our visits last at least an hour. At each bridge, we:
- get a good look at the abutments beneath the bridge
- watch and listen for birds
- identify the trees near the bridge and any wild plants in the vicinity
- photograph the covered bridge and any interesting architectural elements
- take notes about the state of the bridge, any new construction and the condition and covering of the roof
- look for animal tracks, holes made by woodpeckers, birds nests, spider webs and feathers
- record any notations in the bridge – carvings, chalk, felt marker, pencil, pen and paint
- make a list of the sounds I hear and try to absorb the ‘feeling’ each bridge evokes.
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Florenceville Bridge, New Brunswick
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I knew ahead of time, the Florenceville Bridge across the St. John River would be a different experience. Walking the bridge would be unlikely – there is no pedestrian walkway, the traffic is quite heavy and the bridge is narrow. I did cross the bridge in our truck, a harrowing adventure since the bridge traffic is two-way. Cars slow down when they meet, but the locals are seasoned to the width and scary-brave.
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a red truck and a white truck meet and pass on the narrow bridge
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Only one span of the Florenceville Bridge is covered (built in 1907) and this is very well maintained. The other four spans are steel trusses. The pigeons perching on the roof of the bridge are its most obvious wild life.
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keeping watch
(Florenceville Bridge)
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fifteen pigeons swim through air
fill gaps on the ridge line
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perch on the shingled roof
scrutinize the traffic
the squeeze of half-tons
on the bridge
the kiss of mirrors
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pigeons quit the ridge, glide
to the shingled shore
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river winds shiver
hawkweed and sumac, displace
blankets of wild cucumber, billow
the skirts and Tilley
hats of tourists
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Copyright 2015 Jane Tims
in the shelter of the covered bridge – a ghazal
Yesterday, we drove to see a few bridges in north-western New Brunswick. One of these was the North Becaguimec River #4 (Ellis Covered Bridge) in Carleton County.
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the North Becaguimec River #4 (Ellis Covered Bridge) in Carleton County (Sept 2015)
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The bridge was built in 1909 and is 18.3 meters long. It shows lots of recent maintenance, including a shingled roof and new timbers and boards in the roof area.
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The late summer season dominates the atmosphere of the bridges we are visiting. At this bridge, the choke cherries are black, the purple asters are the dominant flower and clematis has set its fuzzy balls of seed.
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the North Becaguimec River
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The North Becaguimec is a rocky brook, very shallow after a dry summer.
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Although there are usually lots of spider webs in a covered bridge, this was the first time I saw a spider. The spider was still and stubborn, not moving for me or my camera.
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As I have said before, in making my manuscript of poems about plants and animals living in the shelter of the covered bridge, I have been trying some different poetic forms. This is my first ghazal.
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Ghazals are meant to tell of the pain of loss and the triumph of love in spite of loss. A ghazal consists of 5-15 couplets. The second line of each couplet repeats a refrain established in the first couplet. The poem can follow any meter but the meter must stay consistent in every line of the poem.
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the spider waits
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North Becaguimec River #4 (Ellis Covered Bridge)
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in the covered bridge a spider weaves and sets its bait
between the beams, and confident, the spider waits
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cedar shingles, boards replaced and rafters new
but traffic sparse, and in the web the spider waits
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aster, shepherd’s purse and mullein crowd the road
no risk from the press of tires, and the spider waits
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after the flood, drifts of birch and maple high
on the river shore, the spider mends its web and waits
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a skater bug steps and skips on the river’s skin and fears
the water’s dry, and in its web the spider waits
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on aging crib work velvet moss and lichens grow
landscape formed on rotting wood, and the spider waits
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years since they wrote their names on the wall of the covered bridge
crickets sing, and in its web the spider waits
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Copyright 2015 Jane Tims
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a strange place to grow
Who knows where life will flourish? Yesterday morning, I found a crowd of tiny toadstools beneath our truck. Although I looked around, I couldn’t find them anywhere else in the yard. But under the truck the microclimate was just right for this faerie land to grow.
Copyright 2015 Jane Tims
in the shelter of the covered bridge – the Canal Bridge twenty three years later
Last Friday we drove to see three covered bridges in Charlotte County, New Brunswick – Canal Covered Bridge, McCann Bridge (Digdeguash River #4) and McGuire Bridge (Digdeguash River #3). My husband, son and I visited two of these in 1992 as part of a project for Canada’s 125th anniversary (see
https://nichepoetryandprose.wordpress.com/2011/09/05/inside-the-covered-bridge/ ).
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Canal Bridge, Charlotte County, New Brunswick, August 2015
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The Canal Bridge was built in 1917. It crosses the deep natural canal connecting Lake Utopia with the Magaguadavic River.
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The Canal is wide and sinuous, unhurried in its flow …
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The water is very low this time of year. The shallow areas are inhabited by water lilies, water shield and pickerel weed …
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Many people have left their initials and messages inside this bridge …
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My husband couldn’t remember if we had visited the Canal Bridge in 1992. But almost immediately he found a small set of initials in black on a board heavily marked by red paint.
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To me, very familiar initials! Back in May of 1992, we had left evidence of our visit. A very emotional experience, seeing our initials more than 23 years later! It was hard to go, knowing I was leaving behind a little bit of my family history.
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Copyright 2015 Jane Tims
contemplation
contemplation
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still
as though cast
in bronze
mounted on rock
she watches
a strider
skate across
the surface
tension of water
ponders
his agility
the soundless stretch
of the meniscus
dimples on the water
thoughts
barely touch
the shallows
faded as the gentle
brush
of patina
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Copyright Jane Tims 2015
Wolf River apple
Wolf River Apple
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branch broken
tree lacking proper
care and pruning
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bee burdened
pink with blossoming
pollination
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apple swells
the skin smooth, palest
lime and rosy
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picked unripe
to escape worms, deer
and apple fall
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Copyright Jane Tims 2015
in the shelter of the covered bridge – a villanelle
I have been working at my series of poems on the plants and animals living around covered bridges in New Brunswick. I decided to try a new form (for me) – the villanelle.
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The villanelle is a structured poem with 19 lines and a prescribed rhyming scheme – A1 b A2 / a b A1 / a b A2/ a b A1/ a b A2 / a b A1 A2 . A famous villanelle is by Dylan Thomas – ‘Do not go gentle into that good night’.
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The poem below is based on my observations at the Marven Bridge (Belleisle Creek #2) in Kings County, New Brunswick. I have taken liberties with the form, most obviously in using words beginning with the same letter in place of rhyming. I would appreciate any comments, including for improvement of the poem.
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Marven Bridge, Belleisle Creek #2, in New Brunswick
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wobble
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Belleisle Creek #2 (Marven Covered Bridge)
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bridge shudders as we walk
spaces between boards cast light on the floor
photos out of focus, faint tremble
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cribwork and rafters, new wood
old nails work loose, grey walls frail
bridge shakes as we walk
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in the rafters, the paper nest of a wasp
in the mud, ephemeral, the tracks of a fox
photos out of focus, faint tremble
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a blue jay calls thief across brown water
at the shoreline, sensitive fern
bridge shivers as we walk
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on the ledge, bones, bleached white
skeleton of a bear, backbone and fingers
photos out of focus, faint tremble
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orange graffiti, letters round and wide
initials carved on the beams are faded
bridge quivers as we walk
photos out of focus, faint tremble
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Copyright Jane Tims 2015
in the shelter of the covered bridge – passage for horses
Why are covered bridges covered? The usual explanation says that a covered bridge lasts longer if the wood is protected from the elements. However there are other explanations.
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One of these claims the covering of the bridge made it easier to coax horses to cross the river. The horses, accustomed to entering and leaving a barn, would be less alarmed if a bridge was covered.
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In the early 1900s, when most of the remaining covered bridges in New Brunswick were built, horses were still a common means of conveyance.
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In my travels to study the plants and animals associated with covered bridges, I have come across three instances of the association between covered bridges and horses.
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In June, while visiting the Tantramar River #2 (Wheaton Covered Bridge, built in 1916), we saw a team of horses pulling a sight-seeing group across the Tantramar marshes.
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Wheaton Covered Bridge over the Tantramar River in Westmorland County (photo taken June 2015)
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team of horses drawing a sightseeing wagon near Wheaton Covered Bridge (June 2015)
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A notation in the Nackawic River #5 (Nackawic Siding Covered Bridge, built in 1927) mentions the use of the horse-drawn wagon.
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Nackawic Siding Covered Bridge in York County (photo taken 2012)
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notation in the Nackawic Siding Covered Bridge (photo taken 2012)
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And last weekend, in the covered bridge over the Quisibis River (Quisibis River #2, Pont Lavoie, built in 1951), we found a painting of a horse. Whoever painted the horse resisted the urge to make any other black marks on the bridge walls. Clearly, he or she had a single intent – to depict the horse.
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Pont Lavoie over the Quisibis River in Madawaska County (photo taken July 2015)
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portrait of a horse, in the Quisibis River #2 Covered Bridge (photo taken July 2015)
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When I close my eyes and imagine a covered bridge, I always hear the clatter of horses hooves on the wooden boards …
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Copyright Jane Tims 2015
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