Thoughtful Kind of Day: Damn, It's Raining - Again

Breaking Wave

Charles H. Woodbury

1917

It's raining for the fourth day in a row.  Too many days to justify anymore that quiet is nice, house cleaning is gratifying, reading is transporting, and writing is therapeutic.  The TV has been on Wimbledon and Netflx the whole time, but I haven't been trying to justify that. Though even with my "shows", it's gotten a little lonely - John is out of town at the Wooden Boat Show in Mystic - and I'm starting to think and daydream maybe too much.

However, I have art.

I discovered a new artist, for me, someone who has given me much to think about.  Charles Herbert Woodbury (1864-1940), American painter, etcher, illustrator.  I've become fascinated with his seascapes - his representations of water in particular.  The still and shifting surfaces are thickly painted with rich colors that create both translucent and reflective qualities.  The water he paints is graceful and fluid in it's movement.  He is painting it as it is:  "...he painted what he saw, satisfied that what he saw was really there, all in proper relationship, checked and rechecked by endless reference to the real world" (David Woodbury, son).

And his maxim, “Paint in verbs, not nouns.”   

I can see that.

Gloucester Docks

Charles H. Woodbury

1935

The Irish Lady Off Land's End

Charles H. Woodbury

1900

The Blue Cliff

Charles H. Woodbury

1916

Deco Wave (Dancing Wave)
Charles H. Woodbury
1914

It's not intentional that this post is about water when it has been raining endlessly.   At least I didn't think about it until now.  It's a curious coincidence.  But Charles Woodbury helped me pass the time.

It's even raining at Wimbledon . . . ugh:

(www.london24.com)