Venetian red, John Lyons (40 x 40, oil on canvas)

Out of the red earth
        a light warm pigment
from pure ferric oxide
        the iron in the blood
of Renaissance art
        used with lime white
to create skin tones
        faces and hands
and naked bodies

Here in the background
        to an embryonic study
of a human head
        a first pass over
the main features
        to relay the exacting
geometry of eyes
        forehead chin nose
and mouth : a synthesis
        like all art — statement
and understatement
        observation and adjustment
much like life
        much like love

John Lyons