“Various winds, the Sea Wind, the sound-laden winds of Evening,
Blowing the stars towards them bringing snow”
from ‘Various Portents’ by Alice Oswald
Before the snow came, the towpath was lined with bare stems of Blackthorn and barbed Dog Rose. Only the vivid yellow of the Gorse enlivened the grey and the sparse winter landscape.
It won’t be long however before the Blackthorn and Cherry Plum will be in blossom, and then later, on long warm summer days, the Dog Rose, Sea Aster and Sea Lavender.
Blackthorn 1 – oil on copper
For now though, the riverbank and the far shore beyond are cloaked in ice stone snow, the Gulls, hungry, wheeling above. And the river, as ever, a beautiful place.
Painting The River, A Diary 