Here is the uncropped photo, taken by me, with my cheapo camera, on the terrace, in the shade .... yeah, I know, I need to get it properly scanned.
To Autumn is one of my favourite Keats poems. We had to learn it by heart at school and it was no chore, I date my Keats obsession from then.
I got in the maturing sun, the bees that think warm days will never cease, the soft-dying day and the gathering swallows twittering in the skies...
No full-grown lambs, stubble plains, river sallows or cider-presses - well this IS Hampstead and not Winchester where it was written.
I have substituted a thrush for the redbreast of the poem too.
Keats, who lived in the left part of what was then known as Wentworth Place, referred to the thrush in the garden in some of his letters to his great love, Fanny Brawne, who lived on the right hand side of the house. In one letter to her he mentioned "your new black dress which I like so much", so I have given her exactly that.
This afternoon I am collecting a large batch of cards and prints of Virginia Woolf's house (Monk's House) to send off to the shop at ..... Monk's House. I will be delivering this picture for scanning at the same time and cards and prints of it will be in my online shop next month.
You do beautiful work. I'm curious as to the type of paper you use. Is this speciality paper or recycled? Hope you don't mind me asking.
ReplyDeleteHi Paula and thank you!
ReplyDeleteOf course not!
I usually start with a Canson paper base as I really like the subtle colours. Often use white cartridge or ordinary white printing paper for flat whites like stuccoed buildings. All the rest is from discarded magazines I come across - jumble sales are a good source. My daughters often supply their cast-offs too. I try to stick to nice thick glossy ones like National Geographic or Vogue though. I love the way you can transform, say, the photo of a vista of burnt out forest in Russia into Virginia Woolf's cottage roof in Sussex!