Landscape with blue sky, John Lyons (70 x 50 cm, oil on canvas) 

The fact is
        that anything goes
as long as boundaries
        are respected
that is to say
        the sun and the blue sky
remain above the fields
        and farm buildings

Paintings are colourscapes
        full of hints and suggestions
Renaissance nativities or crucifixions
        have become easy on the eye
imagine now a stage upon which
        reds and yellows and blues
and whites dance freely
        and follow nothing but
the most basic rules :
        seek and you shall find 

John Lyons

          Third detail, John Lyons (oil on canvas)

The high cheekbones
        the shape of the eyes
the thin smile
        the unobtrusive ears
the slender neck
        her supple feet

The feet of a dancer
        trained to pace the floor
with dignity and poise
        a frame upon which
fabrics sat elegantly
        could bear the weight
of primary colours
        had she found
someone to love
        she might have
loved him forever
        dearly deeply

John Lyons

  Further detail, John Lyons (oil on canvas)

The colour of my words
        set against a dark grid
behind which the light
        struggles to be seen

So many horizons
        a maze of directions
that twist and turn
        bound by the canvas

My heart has become
        a plaything in her hands
she speaks of paradise but
        denies me the promised land

John Lyons

          Minor detail, John Lyons (oil on canvas)

Figment done
        in pigment :
the devil
        is in the detail
a composition
        to raise a hue
and cry

If you must have it
        at least let me see
the colour
        of your money

Here there is
        light and darkness
within the geometry
        of chaos

A representation
        of mood
of a life lived
        on the hoof
a mere hint at
        the hard lines
of the love left
        in her wake

John Lyons

Two peppers
        painted for no reason
green and white pigment
        on a background
of cadmium yellow
        on a circle of wood :
rough surface
        rough texture

The old argument
        art versus nature
rehearsed down
        the centuries :
that which lives
        and breathes
and that which may
        last forever

John Lyons

Shape of things to come, John Lyons (30 x 25 cm, oil on canvas)

A map of the face
        incomplete
a few salient features
        a few boundaries
unworldly colours
        applied impasto
cautionary
        exploratory

the gaze is there
        the expression
all that the artist
        assumes
that the viewer
        will see
the broad forehead
        darkness and light
an air of authority
        ermine and red velvet
princely or despotic
        shape of things to come

John Lyons

             (Groundwork, John Lyons (40 x 40, oil on canvas)

Marks on the surface
        a splash of colour
here and there :
        the mere suggestion
of a face
        a serious expression

Lines are left suspended
        just as time appears
to stagnate
        What if the figure
could speak ?
        What would it say
about the state
        of the world ?

John Lyons

      Dance of light, John Lyons (40 x 40 cm, oil on canvas)

She who dances
dances in the light
light dance against
the deep blue
in waves of light
a bold silhouette
against a barren
blue sky

In endless time
she dances
across the canvas
and fills the space
of my heart
her supple slender
arms moving
to the rhythm
of love

John Lyons