ancestral colours...

Jean-Baptiste Valadie

French painter born 29th December 1933

proudly

I walk in my ancestral colours

and gaze sadly on

your parched

your scorched

urban spaces

Eastern Dream...

Eastern Dream (1904) Jean Lecomte Du Nouÿ (1842-1923)  Oil on canvas


when I sleep
in your world
I awaken
the spirit of
your eyes
your nearness
your breathing


I feel the wings
of your presence
bearing the joys of
our yesterdays

closer
and
closer

Sunset in Egypt...

Sunset in Egypt with Two Bedouins on Camels by Louis Amable Crapelet (1822-1867)

leaving the sunset behind

leaving old ways

to re-emerge

tomorrow

Philae Temple and the Nile...

Philae Temple and the Nile - CharlesThéodore Frère (1814-88)

some may see ruins

isolated

out of touch

but as I rest by the waters

and gaze

steadily

slowly

I see

the meaning of my soul

View of a Village...

 View of a Village - Eugène Galien-Laloue (1854 - 1941) - oil painting


in search of new happiness

when the channels were slow
and a little village was
an everywhere

Houseboat on the Nile...

Houseboat on the Nile by Léon Belly (1827-1877)


there are those who watch
in a cocoon of sanctity
and those who energise

self
and
non-self

the mountains and the rivers...

Mai Trung Thu (1906-1980) - Vietnam
In 1937 he visited France and settled there for the rest of his life.


the mountains and
the rivers are
your torment
and
your friends

they challenge you
to ask questions 

and
find answers
within

in the dream ...

Henri Rivière (1864-1951)


in the dream of
pale morning light

some sails fill
with the colours of a new day


others
wait 
sleepily
for their own
special colour

to waken them

In a sandalwood world...

Paul Jacoulet (1902-1960​) born in France but raised in Japan - printmaker - Sandalwood Smoke 1948

Eastern dreaming
A world of nightingales
Butterflies
Flowers and
Willow patterned bridges
Drizzled with scents of
Sandalwood
Dust

Apple Tree

Paul Ranson (1861-1908) ~ Apple Tree with Red Fruit
~

Golden worlds of sweet
Blood red
Fruits
Where the clouds rain sunny smiles
On the weathered twists
Of gnarled woods and
Shiny
New leaves

A Winter's Street

Camille Pissarro (1830-1903) ~ Danish West Indies, Caribbean + France
~ Street Winter Sunlight and Snow (1872)
~

Skeletal threads of the white season
Tall ribbons of darkness
Low drops of warming colour
Tense canvas of
Breathless
Quivering silence