Posts Tagged ‘red’
lily-of-the-valley
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lily-of-the-valley
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Convallaria majalis L.
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where they came from
I do not know, perhaps
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from my mother’s old home
in a shovel-full of lilac
a sheet of white writing paper
in a green box crammed with letters
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perhaps from my grandfather’s farm
tucked in beside the creeping Jenny
a green and white plate printed
with a saying about home
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perhaps from a seed in the gravel
spread on the paths or the road
a line of red pebbles
in a spill of quartz
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every summer the colony spreads
green flames lick at gravel
white bells, delicate perfume
scarlet berries
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a letter not written
a plate hung on the wall
a pathway leading home
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All my best!
Stay safe!
Jane
red, red, red
Autumn, no doubt about it. When I go outside, I see red everywhere. The red of the leaves of red maple, many already on the ground. The red of the lily-of-the-valley berries. The red of the crab apples on our little tree at the end of the walkway. The red hips on the rose bush beside the driveway. Red, red, red.
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red, red, red
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each rose hip edge
an ellipse to complete
the curve of rambling canes
berries red, mellow to orange
the white shine, highlight, tipped
with the black remains of blossom,
once pink, now vermillion of vermis,
cinnabar, poisonous, mercuric, toxic
lily-of-the-valley, raceme of berries
dangle, vivid crimson blush, bright
spot on fevered cheeks, the child
thought the berries good to eat
scarlet sigillatus, decorated
small images, pixilations
of woman with camera
limps to reach third
red, ruby, purple
red crabapples
in bunches
hanging
in rain
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Copyright Jane Tims 2019
All my best,
Jane
red, red, red
October and autumn are upon us. I took a walk around our yard this morning and although my camera was not behaving (I bear no responsibility), I can show you some of the ‘reds’ I saw.
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the red of maple leaves turning colour (I always think they look like stained glass) …
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the red of the berries on our rose bush …
the red of the berries of lily-of-the-valley …
the red of the tiny apples in our flowering crab …
the red of the Virginia Creeper leaves …
Copyright Jane Tims 2017
blueberry red
The Isaac’s Way Summer Art Auction #27 in Fredericton, New Brunswick has ended! And my painting ‘morning sky’ has sold for the full price of $260. I am so pleased since the charity is to provide for MUSIC lessons for kids-in-need.
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My painting in the next Art Auction (runs September 25 to late January, 2017) is perfect for fall. It is entitled ‘blueberry red’ and depicts a blueberry field near Stewarton, New Brunswick in late autumn when the blueberry leaves turn a brilliant red. The painting is 24″ wide by 20″ high, acrylic with gallery edges. I am donating 50% of the proceeds from my painting to the charity. I hope you like it!
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September 10, 2016 ‘blueberry red’ Jane Tims
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Copyright 2016 Jane Tims
red sled
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on her sled
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from the window
I watch her
she is one red mitten, lost
on the path, smitten
by the four-footed track
of a wild rabbit
hurrying home
or the toe of a red
shoe, peeks from under
the hem of a white
crinoline, a cardinal launches
from one tree, snow-laden
to another
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Copyright. 2015 Jane Tims
harvesting colour – blackberry red and pink
Autumn is officially here; summer up and left last week. My complaints are suddenly of chilly evenings, not too-warm nights! But with this season comes a series of dyeing projects I have been looking forward to – dyeing with berries and autumn leaves.
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berries harvested at our cabin in 2013
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At our summer property, we have blackberries in profusion. They ripen slowly over a period of three weeks and we eat our fill. This year I decided to sacrifice a few for the dye pot.
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Dyeing with berries is easy. I brought three cups of berries to a simmer in three liters of water for about an hour. The strained liquid was a bright red, the colour of ripe cranberries …
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dye from blackberries
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I dyed alum-treated wool with a slow simmer and an overnight soak. The result was a pale pink, a welcome addition to my collection of ‘mostly brown’ …
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pink wool dyed with blackberries is front and center … other wools are dyed with (clockwise) oak (dark brown), meadowsweet (orange), bugleweed (brown), tansy (gold), lily-of-the-valley (grey), and beet root (deep pink), and in the center, carrot tops (green)
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I also tried dying linen and cotton with the blackberry dye, and these gave me the burgundy I had hoped for …
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back left to front: wool, linen, cotton and another cotton, dyed with blackberries
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I think I will be using the pink/burgundy cotton as the backing for the small ‘harvesting colour’ quilt I plan to make. I’ll hem the linen and use it in my kitchen.
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March 18, 2012 ‘blackberries’ Jane Tims
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Copyright 2014 Jane Tims
harvesting colour – berries of Daphne
With the help of a friend, I have been able to add Daphne berries to my growing list of plant dye experiments. She invited me to harvest some of the berries from her Daphne bushes, before the birds ate them all. We spent an hour picking berries and catching up with one another. I went home with enough berries for my dye pot and some of her excellent photos of the Daphne berries.
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red berries on the bush (photo by L. Cogswell)
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close-up of Daphne berries (photo by L. Cogswell)
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Daphne’s beautiful crimson berries are poisonous, although the birds love to eat them. I was anxious to see what colour they would bring to my growing collection of home-dyed wool. I know from reading that the leaves and twigs of Daphne produce a yellow dye.
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In the dye-vat, the berries quickly lost their colour to the boiling water, making a pale rose-coloured dye.
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And the colour of the wool roving after an hour’s simmer in the pot? A lovely yellowish brown …
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pretty side of poison
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exotic, elliptic
berries among laurel
leaves droop vermillion
toxic pills, birds immune
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spirit of bubbling wells
and water-springs, Daphne
drupes in rainwater seethe
and berries leach rosy
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waters blush at this strange
use of poison, tint the
roving, wool lifts yellow
brown dye from the kettle
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scarlet Daphne berries
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Copyright 2014 Jane Tims
the color of September #2 – bunches of radishes
The reward of a recent visit to a local farmer’s vegetable stand – bunches of radishes.
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Painting with red is very rewarding. First, a little color goes a long way – I am still working with the small tube of paint I bought back in early June. Second, red wakes me up the way no other color can.
I did two paintings, one of the bunch of radishes, fresh from the vegetable stand, and one of an individual radish, fresh from the ground, dirt washed away. Hope you like them!
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August 31, 2013 ‘a bunch of radish red’ Jane Tims
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September 1, 2013 ‘radish red’ Jane Tims
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Copyright 2013 Jane Tims
apple picking time
October has taken hold and now signs of autumn are everywhere. Color seems to be the theme… the orange of pumpkins and gourds, the yellows and reds of the maple leaves, and the red of ripe apples.
On our way to the lake, we drive past orchards of apples. Most of the apples have been picked, but some trees are still laden with fruit. For me, the orchards are full of memories, of picking apples with my family when we were younger. I remember how much fun we had, my son and niece and nephew excited to be able to run free and pick the apples, and the adults thinking about the apple pie possibilities from those loaded trees.
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orchard outing
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wooden bushel baskets
of laughter, the delirious tumble
down the avenue of trees, shadows ripple
among the dapples, Cortlands tied
with scarlet ribbons and boughs burdened
to reach for us, my son grown tall
on his father’s shoulders,
stretches to pick the McIntosh
with the reddest shine,
small hand barely able
to grip the apple
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Copyright Jane Tims 2012
accents in red
We are still in the greys and browns of spring.
There are a few wildflowers blooming. The Coltsfoot is spreading carpets of yellow along the roadside. And flowers in the deep hardwoods have begun to display their delicate beauty. But most places are drab and colorless.
I watch for red this time of year. There are a few red berries, still clinging to their branches after winter.
And the stems of Red Osier Dogwood (Cornus stolonifera Michx.) are brilliant in the fields and ditches.
My favorite ‘red’ of spring is the muted red of the blueberry fields.
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fancy
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the blueberry barren
is faded scarlet
red osier in ditches
rosebush and hawthorn
a single berry, a single haw
Earth in brown
toenails red
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© Jane Tims 2012
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