Friday Five: Artistic Endeavours (again, counting is nebulous)

Last year, Scarey Sis (who is very good at this sort of thing) arranged a painting 'competition'. Family members who were present were tasked with painting a picture of the view. We were at Inverallt House on the edge of Loch Long, so those views were pretty spectacular, and everyone was free to interpret this as they wished. They were given two hours to get on with it.

Art has never been my strong point, but I do love words, and have always wondered about the adage that a picture is worth a thousand of them; surely that depends on the description? My part in this tomfoolery was to write the accompanying descriptions for the images, as if they were to be hung in a gallery. Incidentally, all of the artists approved the comments and said that was, indeed, what they had been implying with their picture. There were no winners or losers; creativity was the name of the game. If you want to pick a favourite, however, go for it!

8 Images on a Theme:

The confidence and expertise of this image makes the viewer instantly want to be there. The brush strokes are busy and exciting suggesting a story in the movement of the water and the boat, and the dripping of the tree. Painting disparate colours in close proximity reflects the nature of water and creates interest and pleasure. Texture and technique create a tactile impression that invites touch and interaction. If one could pop into a painting, this is the one to choose; the smell of the sea and the tang of the seaweed is in the paint itself -a delight to all senses. It expresses a world of possibilities and adventure if one is only willing to embark on the journey.

There is a beguiling simplicity in this image which is both assured and playful. The sailboats are almost cartoonish in their size and placement and are innocently unaware both of the gathering clouds and the nearby presence of military hardware nosing round the corner. The artist has manipulated the scenery to include Ben Arthur in a distant profile, while cladding the foreground hills in comforting autumnal colours. This combination of the gentle background and sharply-outlined features heightens the dichotomy of the image; the big boats may be threatening or protective, depending on the current viewpoint.

Cleverly here the artist has incorporated the painting position into the painting itself. At once both comforting and disorienting the image highlights the capacity to look both forwards and back simultaneously. Without even placing people in the landscape, the artist implies their presence by the addition of the summer dwelling. Although the doors and windows are closed to indicate the height of the season has passed, there are still hints of warmth in the suggestion of a blue sky and the gentle sloping of the hills. The outline depiction of the sailboat indicates time passing, while the passing resemblance of the gazebo/ tree trunk combination to a teapot registers a persuasion of autumnal domesticity, as we wait for the current storm to blow over.

This is potentially the most creative response to the project. Bands of colour indicate strata layering up over a long passage of time. The colours chosen have a distinctly maritime feel and reflect the tones of the loch and its shores. Superimposing the richness of objects found on the shore enforces the layered approach. The seaweed, leaves, ferns and shells provide the connection between earth, sea and sky highlighted by the layers of colour. By drawing these in dark outline, the artist casts these objects as shadow paintings or cave drawings made by early civilisations to suggest their links to the land before letters and language. The framing can be seen as a border to the lens of the light of the lighthouse or as part of an elaborate tartan pattern which again anchors the drawing to a firm sense of place. It is a defiant assertion of belonging that current political events cannot alter.

What a delight to see such a joyful interpretation of landscape. All of the natural elements are present and correct, from the shore cluttered with rocks, shells and seaweed, to the clear demarcations of the trees on the hills. While these and the lighthouse, along with the tidal movement of the water, are all suggested through colour and wash, the highlight of the image is clearly the Loch Long Monster, presented with more clarity than its surroundings. The inclusion of this mythical beast brings a fanciful element to the reality of the scene. The jaunty tam o'shanter on the monster's head instantly makes it friendly rather than threatening, and the location is obviously Scotland. In troubling times of disunity and encroaching differences, this image seems to welcome all-comers and celebrate diversity.

This image is a faithful representation of the scene, with some excellent layering and shading creating mood and atmosphere. The placement of the featured item in the background provides depth and perspective, while challenging assumptions: generally lighthouses are depicted as pillars of light shining forth, whereas this minute beacon is almost hidden. The viewer is aware that it will make its presence known when necessary and guide travellers home to safety. The suggestion is to look beyond the immediate present for signs of future hope and comfort.

This artist has used a mixture of colours and techniques from dabs and dashes to swirls and blocks of colour. Not wanting to leave anything behind, the artist has revelled in all the tricks of the paintbox. Sky, land and sea are given equal weight in a well-proportioned depiction of the landscape, as seen through an open window. The addition of blobs of colour to represent buoys is inspired. At points laid on thick and in other places applied as a thin veneer to allow the paper to come through, the paint is versatile and becomes a character in its own right. The artist implies that the technique and the method is as important as the result.

With a simple but expressive colour palette and not extending to the edges, this image captures a fleeting moment. The sail boat is central and strong picked out in black and white, but it still manages to portray an element of fragility, surrounded by strong blue water. The dashes of black, green and grey enhance the feeling of uncertainty as the weather reflects a sudden squall of rain. Whereas the green suggests the nearby land, it is not particularly reassuring. This is a passionate painting full of movement and restless energy: unsettling and unpredictable.

A recap

Dripping with Middle-class Snobbery: Rack, Ruin and Murder

Rack, Ruin and Murder by Ann Granger

Headline

Pp. 314

As cosy Cotswold murders go, this is a fine example. There’s a dilapidated old manor house, a family fallen on hard times, a local clan of ne’er do wells, and an unidentified dead body that turns up on someone’s sofa. Inspector Jess Carter has to scurry about the countryside splashing her car down narrow pot-holed roads and falling in drainage ditches to discover the identity of ‘the stiff’, as the corpse is generally called, and reporting back to Superintendent Ian Campbell, with whom she is bound to have a repressed romantic relationship – this is the second in a series that currently runs to six, so there’s plenty of time for this to develop.

With the help of the clueless Sergeant Morton, Carter rather fortuitously (and not entirely convincingly) uncovers the criminal elements of the tale. As in all families and small villages, there are buried secrets. Old Monty Bickerstaff (he of the erstwhile grand country house and biscuit emporium) has been keeping one for years. Now he is finding he can no longer cope without his daily whisky, memories of the past are starting to trouble him.

Later, when truths come to light, he remarks, “Secrets are buggers. The only place for them is out in the open where they can’t muck up anyone’s life.” This is clearly the homily of the novel, but without secrets there would be no murder mysteries, so they must remain, no matter what young Tansy Peterson argues. “They were all so bloody hypocritical in those days. They really were. They were dead set on respectability. That didn’t mean they behaved themselves, just that they buried any bad news, any scandal, as they saw it.” This allows for some clunky exposition as the Superintendent explains to young people today what things were like in olden times, and that it wasn’t easy to get a divorce, especially if you were a woman.

As with all death-by-numbers stories, there must be multiple characters, whom we can count as suspects, and they must all be described succinctly so that we can instantly form impressions. Granger’s portraits are one-dimensional and often snide; she is particularly prone to class and weight shaming, and clothes are often shorthand for character. Naturally, Jess is perfectly positioned as the manic-pixie-dream girl trope, “a terrier of a girl, with short dark-red hair, a pointed chin and widely spaced grey eyes that sparkled with intelligence.”

Other women are described by age, weight and perceived attractiveness, for example one is “pretty in a wan sort of way", while another is “an overweight blonde wearing tight black leggings that did nothing to disguise her plump thighs and bulging calves”. Older people get short shrift in the description stakes – they are largely past fanciable age and therefore barely relevant. It always reverts to age, such as three women who have been firmly and inescapably labelled: “The oldest woman was waving her arms above her head. The youngest, overweight, lumbered beside her, mouth gaping and badly dyed scarlet hair flying. Between the two extremes of age came a middle-aged third who must be Maggie Colley.”

Men don’t necessarily escape the class, weight and age censure either, and middle-class snobbery fairly drips off the pages with character outlines such as, “a burly, bearded man in grimy jeans and quilted body-warmer worn over a plaid shirt” or, “a short, podgy individual, wearing a ginger woolly cardigan, baggy brown corduroy trousers and slippers.”

This is a formulaic and relatively shallow murder mystery, with one-dimensional characters and a somewhat petty plot. But, it is heart-warming and life-affirming as the murder is neatly solved, and the charming Cotswold village can return being a peaceful idyll, until the next time, which we eagerly await!