Simplified, John Lyons (40 x 40 cm, oil on canvas)
My hands tanned
mottled and freckled
have aged but not grown old
an absurdity I know
but it is as if
for reasons unknown
they have been spared
the ravages of time
I observe them
this way and that
hold them up
to the light
relieved that they are
still fit for purpose
secure too in the knowledge
that neither the right
nor the left one
will ever betray me
John Lyons
A bad marriage, John Lyons (40 x 40 cm, oil on canvas)
There are no abstracts
I paint what I see
sometimes what I see
in the paintings of others
There are no sardines
nor were there ever
but what looks like
some sort of seafood
though there is no blue
nor water no shade of sky
and the composition
is trapped within
a narrow palette
There is a continent
of white and a patch
of dark leather and yet
it amounts to nothing
that we can define
Words and colours
are poor relations
each one jostling
hopelessly
to out-express
the other
John Lyons
The painting illustrated is an unfaithful copy of a painting by William Scott (1913-1989) which can be viewed in Tate Britain.
Burnt Sienna, John Lyons (40 x 40 cm, oil on canvas)
The beauty of colour
of shade and hue
of darkness and light
an uncluttered space
across which the eye
may travel at leisure
take in the air and allow
the mind to wander
with a ripple of emotion
Into this space
a stake has been driven
a subtle ivory black
buried in the canvas
that remains to be
consummated
Almost anything
could occur at this moment
as other gestures as yet unseen
queue to enter the picture
and yet restraint is called for
so as not to overwhelm
this peaceful terrain with a mass
of unwarranted marks
There is still work to be done
but in art as in life as in love
more is often less and less
if often more so let’s wait
and see
John Lyons
Reproduction, John Lyons (40 x 40 cm, oil on canvas)
Where the blood flows
where the flesh is warm
where darkness never
defeats the light and yet
where the light retains
dark mysteries of how
life will pan out and how
love diminishes all pain
Nothing is ever abstract
every gesture has meaning
every shape and colour
an intentional composition
a cotton canvas from threads
plucked from the earth
stretched on a wood frame
all things deeply rooted
in life and raised up
by the power of light
Figments of my imagination
following the intuitions
I scarcely understand
as I make my way
through life as I stumble
on through love
John Lyons
Reparations, John Lyons (40 x 40 cm, oil on canvas)
This then is life
a canvas gone astray
in which the colours
simply did not work
an abstract landscape
buried beneath
buff titanium
just the edges remaining
a few outlines
to facilitate
a reconstruction
the right tone of pink
a warmer shade of blue
and a mingling of green
upon yellow yellow
upon green
Art is not necessarily
a one-day event
it can be expeditionary
a reconnaissance
of unknown terrains
best to leave markers
in case steps need
to be retraced
This then is love
in which feelings
congregate and one
explores another
and confidences
are exchanged
and it all begins
to resemble the way
we pictured it
in our hearts
John Lyons
Out of Eden, John Lyons (40 x 40 cm, oil on canvas)
Out of Eden
there flowed two rivers
through fields of corn
and barley and rye
and people gathered on the banks
their eyes fixed upon
the shifting waters
and the sunlight
that danced on the surface
: this is where
our ancestors learned
the shape of love
and where they chose
their colours
John Lyons
Eden – a work in progress, John Lyons (40 x 40 cm, oil on canvas)
Here is land
laid on canvas
an Eden
of the imagination
out of which
two rivers flow
Shapes formed
from strokes
of the brush
using colours
out of the earth
here is light
and time
to contemplate
the distance
we have come
since our birth
all that we have seen
all that we have felt
all that we have been
The oils have yet to dry
and when they do
some will be toned down
others will be intensified
here is Eden
a work in progress
like us all
all who love
John Lyons
On black, John Lyons (10 x 12 in, oil on canvas)
Out of the darkness
comes a cascade
of colour
of light
of love
here where words
flow in streams
all the energy
of the universe
finds expression
art with its visual
voice and poetry
with its glowing
sequences of breath
heat and passion
a knife taken
to the cold canvas
out of it comes faith
and the hope too
that our lives
may be worth
remembering
forever
John Lyons
Tiny dancer, John Lyons (40 x 40 cm, oil on canvas)
Tiny dancer
a shape that shifts
effortlessly
through the air
Over land or sea
a silhouette gliding
through space
The exuberance
of movement
to time and yet
timeless
We hear the music
in our imagination
the dancer advances
in leaps and bounds
under desert blue skies
All is revealed
where masks are worn
where love never tires
and faith is never lost
John Lyons
Gestation, John Lyons (50 x 70 cm, oil on canvas)
This is how it begins
less an idea than an embryo
what it is and what it will be
who knows ?
What colours and shapes and textures
remain to be seen
As it stands
the easy stage is complete
where anything can go right
because there’s everything
to play for : the black mixed
with two shades of blue
the cadmium yellow cut
with a little burnt umber
I now need to hold back
to listen to the canvas
to turn it this way and that
scrutinise it
from every angle for days
or even weeks on end
before further decisions
are taken
In time it’ll tell me
what it wants to express
and I trust
as always
that it’ll keep me
in the frame
Can one fall in love
with cadmium yellow
or the cadmium red
that is currently absent
making the heart
grow fonder ?
Playful or serious
there’ll be a message
but it’ll string me along
keep me on my toes
until it finally decides
to reveal all
John Lyons
johnjosephlyons 