Saturday, August 18, 2012

John Constable in Speedway


I don't like drama in my life, but I love to see it in clouds.
I was introduced to the artwork of John Constable
in one of my first college art history classes.
While my preference is for contemporary art, Constable's
land and seascapes stick with me; there are times when 
I will just stop to watch the clouds as they scud
across the sky. Often, when I am at the Coke Field,
I'll stand on the little bridge and imagine it's
a field in the English countryside.

Below is Ploughing Scene in Suffolk, painted in 1814.


But the one below, a seascape study, is my favorite.
Our storms generally come out of the plains
of the Midwest. On occasion, I saw dark clouds
approaching as we drove west from Ohio.
The vast, green farmland of Ohio was as good
as any ocean to see thunderheads sweeping in,
dropping curtains of rain on their approach.


3 comments:

dive said...

Gorgeous, Speedway!
Having just returned from Suffolk (visiting mum … she's 75 this week) I'll repeat my invitation for you to come over and enjoy the real thing.

-K- said...

Many years ago I worked on the Mississippi River and from the pilot house you coud see the thunderheads coming straight down the river. Unforgettable.

Speedway said...

Thank you, Dive. I didn't know I could stalk clouds, but I feel like I've been doing just that these past few weeks.
Yep, I'd love to come to walk in JC's steps (Snicker).

It's funny how beautiful the Coke Field can look to me, even though I can see trash washed up in the creek, know that it's really a drainage ditch (it's a creek, but just tolerated by the drain people), and that there's a Coca-Cola bottling plant behind me. There are also coyotes and foxes in the little woods, but I've yet to see them. Sorta stalking them, too. Clouds are easier.

K., thank you for visiting. I've noticed your pictures and really like them. When I spoke of seeing the clouds approaching over the Ohio farmland, I was speaking of trips my ex and I had taken to spend weekends on our sternwheel houseboat. I would never have thought the man who takes pictures of Madonnas at an LA recycling yard would have ever have ridden in the pilot house of a boat on the Mississippi. Was it on a barge or a sternwheeler?

Ironically, I am trying to finish up a paper on the history of steamboats. I'm not an expert, but the time spent on the river has given me a love for the boats' history and the people.