His Masterpiece of Life and Love
I wet the paper
Water sits a while before soaking into the fibres
Changing the structure forever
I wait for a particular sheen to appear
Then using a brush hand bound by wire
I carry across a wash of pigments
First, Raw Sienna
It spreads across the page with a satisfying flow
Merging with the cotton rough
It ceases to float and settles to stain faintly
Now a mix of Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Sienna
Blending to make blue grey
When dry these may granulate
Leaving a textured bronze
I watch and wait
Moving the board the flow is encouraged in a particular direction
I dab to remove the excess
I wait and watch
Sometimes I’m surprised
More often I’m dismayed
Step by careful step I add more
Encouraging the image hoped for
I hope for a great deal
For days, weeks I have been filling sketch pads with images,
Placing and replacing strokes of graphite in an effort to recreate a Master’s work
Following a Master gives so much to the wannabe painter
It requires careful observation
It demands hands on experience
Just now I follow the strokes of John Constable
As he followed worthy Masters long before
He painted mostly in oils
I work with watercolours
It matters not
From observing what he did why he did it I discover much
Composition, Line, Form, Function
Perspective, Values and Relationships
And in trying to follow
I discover what is done, the effect it has
Centrality need not always be big, bold, strong or loud
In trying to recreate Arundel Mill, Constable’s final work of art
I realise
The distant, pale image of the castle is so distinctive
It places the timbered and decaying riverside homes with subtlety
In trying to recreate his work
I experience the relationship between the elements
Light and shade, subtle inbetweens
Though my interpretation is poor
My efforts reward with a reasonable result
Although nothing to rival the Master
In this way I can learn from many Masters and their Masterpieces
However
There is One Master in my Life-work
I can only watch in awe as He works
How He places the elements of His creation amazes and astonishes
I try to copy, to follow but never rival Him
I need to study what He did
I need to trust as He guides
I need to honestly account the effect He has
I sift out variations
Substitute my choices, actions and decisions
Waiting
Watching
Listening for
Looking for
That subtle exchange
Of the Master’s work
Then in part I understand
I can never live as He did
I can never love as He does
But I can try to follow
His disciplines
His guidelines
Hoping to develop some of the skills
Some of the Way of Him in my Life
My aim is not kudos
It is perhaps what many artists’ desire
To have the viewer distinguish light and shade
To discover and experience a different way
But most of all
To recognise and follow Jesus Christ
To appreciate His Masterpiece of Life and Love
Words, Photographs and Watercolour © Denise Stanford
Within the Vine 