artists
Judith Rowlands
In 2020 we invited artists to share their day. During retirement, Judith Rowlands discovered her love of painting, sharing her wonderful eye for colour.“
My friend sent me this poem that she had written in 1964. I read it in the garden and it struck a note. It has so much hope and exuberance coupled with that feeling of regret that redeems itself in the end. It is just like a garden and seemed so appropriate this year.
April Tryst
“When you are old, you will remember this –
The blossoms sparkling in the April rain,
A morning full of daffodils and love.
Come, gather up the petals on the lawn,
And scatter them with kisses in my hair,
The dark hair gleaming with the passing sweet.
See where the blackbirds sing of April joys
And hop beneath the willows weaving white,
Oh love! Are you not dearer than all this!
There will be other Aprils and the scent of Spring
Strangling the senses in a sweet embrace,
Breaking my heart with beauty that must pass…
Now I am gone, what is there left to tell –
The tender trysting of an April day,
And yet, you will not easily forget.
You will remember me when you are old
Caught in the sunshine of your April hours,
Webbed in with wonder – at a single kiss!”
The garden is important to me and most days in spring and summer I venture out to weed, deadhead or simply enjoy the flowers. This April and May, however, the blossoms have been strangely abundant and simply glorious.
The weather too has seen us sitting on the terrace until quite late into the evening. Sometimes we are still there playing scrabble while the sun sets. Lunches and dinners have been light and colourful to match the mood and senses of the weather. Lots of vegetables and good spices. A game of scrabble ends the evening while a walk is obligatory in the afternoons.
The weather too has seen us sitting on the terrace until quite late into the evening. Sometimes we are still there playing scrabble while the sun sets. Lunches and dinners have been light and colourful to match the mood and senses of the weather. Lots of vegetables and good spices. A game of scrabble ends the evening while a walk is obligatory in the afternoons.
All these experiences and the assault on my senses is seen in my art at the moment. I say at the moment but I am a beginner on a journey.
Sometimes I wish this journey had started a long time ago but other times I welcome the learning and the voyage of discovery.
The colours I see, the moments in nature, the poems I read and I remember that influence my thoughts and my life. The people in my life who inspire me. I thank them all.