Face detail in earth pigments, John Lyons
That constant urge
to create—to re-present
the world around us
upon stretched cloth
that grows in the fields
daubed with silica and clay
with manganese
and hydrated iron oxide
We carry these pigments
in our bones
we who have sprung
from the very bones
of the earth
all the hardness
and the softness
of our bodies
and our eyes
devouring everything
we see
shape and colour
texture and weight
our lives a constant
interpretation
of what it means
to be and to live
and to love
John Lyons
art
Portrait of the artist
Face, John Lyons (40 x 40 cm, oil on canvas)
I know this face
from somewhere
those piercing eyes
looking out from the canvas
There have been subtle shifts
since it last appeared
alterations in the tone—
the cadmium red sharpened
the yellow ochre lightened
the titanium white
slightly buffed to lower
the intensity
I think of this study
as a field or a terrain
out of which an image
emerges organically
much as though
it were alive
I like the uneven
surface of the land
the imperfections
the different shades
and tones
a face from the earth
and of the earth
dust of my dust
which once was
John Lyons
Landscape with blue sky
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
Love’s bone structure
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
The promised land
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
Love’s hard lines
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
Eternal art
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
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
(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
Working the land
Land, John Lyons (40 x 40 cm, oil on canvas)
Think of it thus
as a garden
as a small plot of land
the soil recently
turned in preparation
for a new crop
In the artist’s mind
the seeds may already
have been sown
Who knows what
may appear—a portrait
of a face once beloved
or a landscape remembered
with affection or
some other grand gesture
Earth colours
will be applied —
this too is the work
of sunlight
and what is born here
will live forever
John Lyons
