Stonehenge & Stourhead

This was one of my favorite day trips our group has taken so far. We first stopped at Stonehenge. It is one of those sites you hear about all your life so actually seeing it in person was a cool feeling. I was surprised at how close it was to the freeway and modern life. I imagined it to be off in some remote field but as the town has just been built up and around this famous site.

Stourhead was the next stop on the agenda. It is a beautiful landscape garden designed by Capability Brown. The pond was unbelievably placid and the colors of the scenery was unreal. It provided for some great drawings in my sketchbook.

London Lanscapes...Up Close

For the country walk and Hyde Park visits, I decided to focus on close-up details of the landscape. I often find that when I am taking pictures of vast landscapes or large structures, I overlook the little treasures that make up the bigger picture.  I tried to be mindful of the beauty that was under my feet or right by my side and feel that I was able to capture some of the vividness of these small pieces of nature.

I was very drawn to the bright colors of all of the flowers.  I positioned the pink flower off-center and in focus so almost everything in front and behind was not in focus. I think it puts a nice emphasis on the flower. 

The purple flowers were growing on vines on a stone wall and caught my eye with the odd-numbered petals on the flowers and leaves, which I find aesthetically pleasing. I also loved the blue flowers as I have never seen a flower with that color before.

I love the how the dew of the morning was captured in the drops of water on the leaves that covered an entire field on the country walk. 

This autumn leaf is one of my favorite photographs. Fall is such an amazing season; the smell of the leaves, the colors, the crisp air. I lay down on the grass and I was amazed at how well my little camera was able to capture such rich color. I like the shadows on the grass and the red-green contrast between the leaf and the grass.

I thought the landscape design of this little cottage was very charming. In these photographs, I tried to portray the cottage through a passerby’s point of view. When I look at them I feel as though I have been strolling down the cobblestone road and have just stopped to peer through the garden vines to see the cottage. I feel like they are both very

inviting pictures for the viewer.

This photograph was taken as I was running to the train station after the country walk. At first glance I was frustrated because the gorgeous colored leaves were blurry. As I continued to look at it, however, I couldn’t help but like something about it. The blur effect gives the subject a sort of movement quality that feels like the quick passing of time. It reminds me of the fleeting autumns in Utah with their vibrant colors that, all too quickly, fade and fall to the ground, only to be covered by snow.

Stratford Upon Avon

I loved our visit to Stratford Upon Avon. It was so fun to see all of these old farms and cottages and be able to associate them with Shakespeare. I feel like I put him on a pedestal sometimes and forget that he grew up in normal circumstances. It was neat to see the reenactments and to try to imagine what Shakespeare's childhood might have been like.

These pictures were taken at Mary Arden's farm, Shakespeare's mother's birthplace. They had a meal reenactment inside where we learned about where everyone would sit and what the workers' lives would have been like.

Shakespeare's wife, Anne Hathaway, had a cottage with beautiful gardens and a charming ambiance. While walking through some of the rooms in the house I learned that the people of that time were very superstitious. They made their beds short so you couldn't lay completely flat. They thought you looked dead if you laid straight on your back and brought bad luck.

Shakespeare lived in this Tudor house until he was about ten-years-old. There was a strange man inside the window seal dressed in black reciting soliloquies from Hamlet. He was quite passionate about it, he really gave my Hamlet performance a run for its money.

Turner

In his landscape painting, The Fighting Temeraire tugged to her last Berth to be broken, J. M. W. Turner uses color, texture, and contrast to depict the last moor of a historical British naval ship. While earlier European landscape paintings were justified by the depiction of historical or mythological figures, Turner was able to capture the beauty of the ocean sunset and ships without having to justify it by portraying any unfitting human figures.

Turner creates a nice contrast between warm and cool colors on the canvas. The sky surrounding the two ships is described with subdued purples and blues while the sunset sky on the right is filled with bright, vibrant reds, oranges, yellows, and pinks. This contrast of colors seems to evoke the sense of loss and the passing of an era. The two ships are framed by the cool colors of the sky and of the water, creating that feeling of defeat. Turner also uses color to give the two ships contrasting feels. The old warship is large and white, giving it a pristine, majestic light. The new, steam-powered boat in front, however, is dark and small and seems to corrupt the beauty and the prestige of the veteran warship. This may be a reference to the Industrial Revolution and how factories and new technologies dominated the simple routines of everyday life that people were once used to.

At the same time however, the visual warmth of the sunset gives a sense of hope to this feeling of loss. Perhaps Turner is also trying to capture the decline of the power that the British had over of the sea and the ability to look to the future for prosperity in some other aspect of life.

            The grand scale of the painting also affects the emotional impact on the viewer. The enormity of the canvas is almost overwhelming for the viewer and really brings the image to life. It allows Turner to use larger, thicker brushstrokes that capture the dynamic rays of light and the immensity of the clouds and the sky. Turner also uses thick amounts of paint, especially in the sunset, that create a buildup of paint around the sun. This creates a palpable, visible consistency, giving the sky a more organic, life-like feel.

            Turner uses pleasing, aesthetic qualities to capture a spectacular landscape image but also communicate larger philosophical ideas such as the loss of a strong past and the hope of a bright future.