Poetry and Art: Ripened Color

pastel painting of a meadow with adirondack chair
Evening on the Meadow, pastel, 23″ x 15″, 2009 © B.E. Kazmarski

Celebrating the first day of autumn, no recording this time, just art and words expressing the simply beauty of a field of ripe grasses, and the surprise through years of painting to find colors from all the seasons in the highlights and shadows of the grasses.

The painting above is of Fern Hollow Nature Center near Sewickley, PA of the meadow habitat from their hilltop acreage. The Adirondack chair really was there from someone sitting to watch birds and butterflies over the meadow. A friend in another organization had taken the photo and gave it to to use for design in a newsletter, but as soon as I looked at it I thought, “That would make a great painting!” I painted it in pastel as a donation to the Allegheny Land Trust’s annual Bounty in the Barn benefit in 2009.

pastel painting of grass, trees and sky
High Noon, pastel, 7″ x 15″, 1998 © B.E. Kazmarski

The painting at left is, of all things, the view from the edge of a parking lot, but it was so lovely, the grasses spilling over the edge in front of the pine trees so dark in shadow at noon, and a lovely September sky.

Ripened Color

June 12, 2000

The field of grass
In September has reached its full maturity;
As the wrinkles of a face
Share the joys and sorrows of a life’s journey,
The field in the shadows and highlights of its grasses
Holds the colors of all the seasons.

The amber of ripe stems
Is toned with the warm, rich lilac
Of a winter sunset.
Shadows hold the deep bright blue
Of the early summer sky
Blended down to sienna
Borrowed from leaves in a winter pond.
In the highlights, the bright delicate green
Of new leaves on willows
Mixes with the yellow
Of silver maple leaves in autumn.

poem and art © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

See more of my landscape paintings in Fine Art.

Read more of my poetry in Creative and Professional Writing.


All images used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in using one in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of this image or a product including this image, check my Etsy shop or Fine Art America profile to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit Ordering Custom Artwork for more information on a custom greeting card, print or other item.

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