Skying, freckled asphalt, and gallery walls

April, 2017

I have done a good deal of skying
—John Constable, October, 1821

Because some days should be marked in the sand before they pass, the field notes compiled away from the working table for the month of April are as lovely as they are still. In the gallery and out of doors, we have been reminded of the gentle art of skying. We have laid down wild tracks and made like stone-skippers in Aireys Inlet. Closer to home, we have sat for our likeness to be rendered upon the page, and captured a little of our many chance cat encounters. Reminders to be present, tailed, and fluffy like a cloud.

Title note and image credits: The title of this post, ‘A field mouse in my coat pocket,’ is in reference to John Constable’s ‘artist's concentration:’ “a curious proof of stillness with which he had sat one day while painting in the open air, was the discovery of a field mouse in his coat pocket.” (Memoirs of the Life of John Constable: composed chiefly of his letters, C. R. Leslie, ed. Jonathan Mayne (London: Phaidon, 1951),  p. 246.) The clouds (top) were captured at Aireys Inlet, while scampering high and low. And all other image details, captioned and linked upon enlargement.

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