Watching The Rain

58” x 20” x 1/2” abstract acrylic triptych painting by John R Redmond

Hi All,

After a two month slightly enforced break during the months of June and July I returned to my urban cave from Rancho Del Greely. Del Greely is where they make really good bread. There the coyotes howl at 4 a.m., the dogs bark at the 6:30 a.m paper delivery and black crows have the last early morning caw. The sun shines hot on the back unpainted wooden deck. A gazebo protects one from the June bug and mosquito hordes. It’s wild suburban territory by the twin lakes pond. But the humans are kindly folk at Rancho Del Greely. Plus they make some wicked music.

I had a creative backup and the triptych painting I post today was one of the first to come out upon my resurrection and return. As a triptych it is composed of three panels. I used a fair amount of black undercoat in this painting. When you look at the enlarged images you will see that the black is balanced by some delicate pastel colour. It is a kind of visual counterpoint.

20” x 16” x 1/2” panel – part of triptych painting by John R Redmond

It is quite a challenge to create a triptych employing the painting method I use. The three panels are painted simultaneously. I pour, splash, dribble and spray the colour onto the primed and under painted canvas. Spray misters filled with paint and water are useful for the purpose. Water flows you know. The three surfaces on which I paint vary so getting the panels to work together colourwise is my direction. The under painting helps to unify the piece visually.

26” x 20” x 1/2” panel – part of triptych painting by John R Redmond

This triptych has a serious watery feeling about it. Although black and stormy in look, the delicate pastel colour gives it a certain luminosity. Colour more than balances the tempest movement of the ample amount of black in the piece.

20” x 16” x 1/2” panel – part of triptych painting by John R Redmond

Click on any image to view it enlarged. If you would like to view my paintings check out previous blog entries or scroll down to Froggy at the bottom of the page. Click on Froggy and hop to my online store with links to EBay. I'm also on Etsy. Search for seller johnredmond (no spaces). You can find me on Facebook, MySpace and, "tweeet twweet," Twitter (Redjar7).

During July I wrote a tune titled, “Watching The Rain.” The image in the songis of shared experience on a rainy day by a young man and an old man. The experience is mine of many moons ago while a member of a cross-Canada relay run team promoting peace. Further along in this blog posting I share portions of the lyrics with you.

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From ‘Watching The Rain’ – song by John R. Redmond

My mind was running peacefully

Across the breadth of a wide prairie

By my lonely friends I’d been left behind, again.

I found myself on a rainy day

By a window in a mid-west cafe.

Seated beside an old farming man

I was dreaming, staring at the rain.

He said, “son you watch the rain like a farmer.”

I said, “no.”

He said, “yea.”

“Your hands don’t look like the hands of a man from the country

But you sure know how to watch the rain coming down

Like a man from the country.”

This detail image above reminds me of a stained glass window.

I’ll share the whole of those lyrics with you another day. It is in line to be recorded at Studio Del Greely.

ciao again,

from a wee, sleekit, cowrin, tim'rous beastie

in a li’l backwoods Celtic corner of the Milky Way,

John Redmond

Ottawa, Canada