Sunday, December 20, 2009

colour and light

i love colour and light.

in people and places.


christmas time
is made more magical
by the appearance of strings of coloured lights.

which are so often mirrored
in the spirits of the people i meet.


chasing away the darkness
of the early arriving evenings,
their soft blur
a playful
dance.

15 comments:

Richard Jesse Watson said...

These are great, Steven. It is so fun to take a slower exposure of night scenes at this time of year. Makes them shimmer. I have a neighbor who used to be curmudgeonly about Christmas and the holidays, and then he started to notice the lights. To really think about their brightness and colors. He said, "Can you imagine someone from another planet coming to Earth at this time of year? They would think something wonderful had happened.

Bonnie Zieman, M.Ed. said...

Your images of light and movement are positively lyrical. Thanks steven!!

steven said...

wow richard i love that! as a boy growing up in england, i was filled with the magic of christmas lights, the paper lanterns, the decorations, the little painted ornaments, it was all part of one grand painting for me. the colours and lights of this time still amaze me (as i am sure they would anyone or anything visiting from somewhere else!). have a lovely day, steven

steven said...

thankyou bonnie - they aren't high art or clever but they do tell something of the feeling i have when i see them. have a peaceful day. steven

Anonymous said...

I think these are some of my favorite colors. Wow. Impressive. I wonder what a blog would look like in those colors?

steven said...

mornin' abe! great question. there aren't a lot of brash bright colourful blog designs out there that i've seen. i've kept mine quiet on many levels, one of which has been its colour palette. it sets a frame for low distraction so that the little words and pictures can carry their own weight. have a lovely colourful day abe. steven

Golden West said...

Richard Jesse Watson is right - something wonderful did happen!

hope said...

I love how the lights make me feel like I'm cheerfully speeding on my way toward Christmas.

What lovely gifts you hand us. :)

steven said...

hello golden west - well yes! steven

steven said...

hello hope - i love being in a car and watching the lights pass by with my eyes narrowed so that the colours become filmy scattered dots and squigges and lines. i get gifts as well hope - from all of my amazing visitors!!! so thankyou. steven

ellen abbott said...

The outdoor lights are probably the thing I like best about the season (I don't celebrate it so no tree at my house). When I was a kid growing up everyone used the big colored outdoor lights. Sometimes people would go monochromatic. Now, all anybody uses are those tiny white lights and the 'icicle' lights. Not as wonderful. I really miss all the different colors of the old fashioned outdoor lights.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Here we have deep snow and lots of people have put lights in trees in their gardens, so everywhere looks magical (as longas you are viewing from inside the house by a warm fire). Have a lovely Christmas - best wishes to you and your family.

Jenny Stevning said...

One of my earliest memories (age 2) was standing at the big window at the front of our house. It was a winter night(Colorado), and I was watching the lights on the cars that meandered through the one lone road that ran through the valley we lived in. I was enthralled - a beautiful loneliness.
What is it about lights? I often keep a string of colored lights up all year simply because I like the comfort they bring.
The photos are great! I especially love the last one!
Thank you, Steven! (Also, thank you for the mending well wishes.)

Caroline Gill said...

I, too, am a glutton for light. It is after 11pm and I am staring out over Swansea Bay, with small drifts of snow. It is too dark to see the moors of Devon across the water, but the lights of the Bay sparkle like a crystal necklace in the bitter air. The lighthouses (and there are several visible from here) are like bright jewels.

I love your light images, Steven: very cheering.

Crafty Green Poet said...

these are beautiful festive photos!