An Autumn Pastoral (Mottoes and Musings)

 

The origin of painting, according to the Pliny the Elder, was born out of the fear of losing love. There is a painting tilted The Origin of Painting by the Scottish artist, David Allan (1744-1796) at the national gallery in Edinburgh. It tells a story of a Corinthian girl who traced the outline of her lover’s shadow on the wall before he went into battle so that she can keep the likeness, a silhouette or an outline of her lover. 

 

The Origin of Painting ('The Maid of Corinth') by David Allan, oil on panel (1775), National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh. 

Autumn days are similar to that silhouetted portrait by the Corinthian maiden, representing an outline and a curve of life that is close to perfection. 

The days are brief but the colours are dazzling and unforgettable. From russet to oxblood, from brown to burnished bronze, from ochre to deep dark green, the leftover summer’s shade turns into a full spectrum of the colour wheel. It is reminiscent of a sunburst where no two colours are alike; each one radiates a range of shades. It is mesmerising.  

There is softness in the quality of light at this time of the year especially after a sunny shower. It is the colour of tarnished gold just like Allan’s delicate rendering of light in the dark room, creating nuances of warm tones.

 

“Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness…and the storms their energy.” ~ John Muir, The Scottish Naturalist ~ 

The summer is over and here comes crisp autumn...frosty mornings by the hearthside, inhaling smell of wood smoke and remembering forgotten autumns...

The glow of amber at the twilight is like an ode to tranquillity. It is serene and subtle, and it possesses hypnotic charm like a lamplight shinning in the windows. It seems to make time stand still. Like the Corinthian girl in the painting, I hope that I manage to capture these glorious days of autumn before they are gone.

An Autumn Pastoral, François Boucher (1703–1770) The Wallace Collection

 

In a tranquil garden corner...the sea air is pure, cool and bracing and the scenery is pristine. It is like a tonic for a lost soul.

One of the functions of portraiture is to record an individual’s temporal presence to make it more permanent and to preserve the memory of the individual. Capturing these autumn days in my journal is an act of preservation too. 

Welcome to my haven, my Eden on the sea, with David Austin Roses. 

It is what Professor Daryl O’ Connor, from the University of Leeds, called “positive memories”. His new psychological research shows that focussing on positive memories can help people who have previously been depressed feel happier.

 

When I come to think of it, this entire blog has been about “positive memories”, a place where I can console myself with perfect equanimity and forget all the torments and tribulations. It is a humbling experience to know that my positive memories are also helping others who read this blog. I am touched by this ripple effect. 

You are welcomed to come in here for a pause, a quiet reflection or a breathing space whenever you wish and my hope is that when you leave, you leave with positive memories and shimmering lightness.    

A friendly neighbour's cat - a sun-worshipper

Autumn brings a new insight and growth to be able to say: “This too shall pass” no matter how many problems and hardships we are facing in this world. No matter how carefully we lead our lives, we all encounter storms (both real and metaphorical) from time to time.

I remember the motto of Dr Kurt Hahn, a German educationalist and the founder of Gordonstoun, a prestigious school in Scotland where King Charles and his father, the late Duke of Edinburgh were both educated. Dr Hahn, a Jewish man, came to Scotland from Salem after fleeing from the Nazi.

Lunch is served alfresco among the flowers as the blooms sweeten the afternoon air and the glasses are filled. Everything captures perfect equilibrium and 'away-from-it-all' feeling...and no news from afar breaks the repose of this little paradise. 

Dr Hahn gave his school the motto, “Plus est en vous” meaning - there is more to you than you realise, the challenges you meet are there to reveal to yourself and others the riches that lie within, unexpected.

 

I'm looking for a harvest gift at my favourite gift shop, The House of Farnell, to give to my friends who are coming to have a harvest dinner. 

Image credit: House of Farnell 

I brought this wreath home with me to hang it on the door as a gift of an everlasting welcome.

Although King Charles once described the environment of Gordonstoun quite demanding for a sensitive soul like him, he later paid tribute to the school’s teachings. 

He said: “It was only tough in the sense that it demanded more of you as an individual than most other schools did – mentally and physically. I am lucky in that I believe it taught me a great deal about myself and my own abilities and disabilities. It taught me to accept challenges and take the initiative.”

 

Amidst all the tribulations, whatever is gnawing away in our hearts and souls, which may challenge or derail our expectations and put us beyond our comfort zones, please know that we are not doomed to be unhappy forever because “this too shall pass” and “plus est en vous” (there is more to you than you realise).

 

A harvest gift to my friends 

These mottoes bring comfort to me and I shall hold on to them in this autumn.

 A table setting for our harvest dinner with dear hearts and gentle people. I want the table to look a heartfelt harvest, laden with nature's abundance and treasures for the souls and the senses.

G. made a timeless coastal favourite dish - Lobster Thermidor as the main dish, served with chips. Unforgettable feast fresh from the ocean. 

G's dessert course is always sublime and generous. He made a delectable banoffee pie - this irresistible treat hit the spot!

The music to evoke tranquillity and the ambience of an old-fashioned, intimate gathering. We listened to a calming piano music "Numinous" by George Skaroulis playing in the background while we have our harvest meal.  

Numinous describes things having a mysterious or spiritual quality.

Houses live and die: there is a time for building

And a time for living and for generation

And a time for the wind to break the loosened pane

And to shake the wainscot where the field-mouse trots

And to shake the tattered arras woven with a silent motto.

 

T.S. Eliot, “Four Quartets” (Part II: East Coker)

 

My favourite farmshop - Farm to Table. I love coming here for buying the locally grown produce and for a wholesome lunch and scrumptious healthy baked goods by the heartwarming stove. There are more farm shops, integrated to farming than before. They are diversifying as they also offer classes, workshops and other events. People care more now about their food and where it comes from. 

~ Noteworthy ~

“How is one to live a moral and compassionate existence when one is fully aware of the blood, the horror inherent in life, when one finds darkness not only in one’s culture but within oneself? If there is a stage at which an individual life becomes truly adult, it must be when one grasps the irony in its unfolding and accepts responsibility for a life lived in the midst of such paradox. One must live in the middle of contradiction, because if all contradiction were eliminated at once life would collapse. There are simply no answers to some of the great pressing questions. You continue to live them out, making your life a worthy expression of leaning into the light.”

― Barry Lopez, Arctic Dreams: Imagination and desire in a northern landscape (1986)

 

"There are simply no answers to some of the great pressing questions. You continue to live them out, making your life a worthy expression of leaning into the light.”

― Barry Lopez, Arctic Dreams: Imagination and desire in a northern landscape (1986)

~ Noteworthy ~ 

“...as the day broke she divined rather than saw a scene of such breath-taking loveliness that for a brief period the anguish of her heart was assuaged. It reduced to insignificance all human tribulation. The sun rose, dispelling the mist, and she saw winding onwards as far as the eye could reach, among the rice-fields, across a little river and through undulating country the path they were to follow: perhaps her faults and follies, the unhappiness she had suffered, were not entirely vain if she could follow the path that now she dimly discerned before her, not the path that kind funny old Waddington had spoken of that led nowhither, but the path those dear nuns at the convent followed so humbly, the path that led to peace.” 

~ The Painted Veil by Maugham, W. Somerset (1921) ~  The last paragraph.

~ Happy Halloween ~