Sunday 13 February 2011

Love, and The PreRaphaelites

Today I woke up eager to get on with the day, and filled with happiness. I am spending the day with the man I love most, the man I love with all my heart and soul. We are going to an art exhibition in Birmingham, “The Poetry of Drawing”, a collection of Pre-Raphaelite drawings and watercolours.
 
I love the work of the PreRaphaelites, with its deep symbolism, crowded detail and glorious colouring; wonderful stuff. I remember very early on when the the man I love (I’ll call him Dylan) came to visit me and he told me about his friend who had a picture on her wall of a woman in a boat (she wanted to be that woman, I think)....I nipped upstairs, took one of mine off the wall, and showed it to him saying, “Was this it?”
 
 
 
He said that picture has followed him around. Waterhouse’s Lady of Shalott has long been a favourite of mine too, not least because it’s based on Tennyson’s poem which I also love (not much of a poetry person really). I was lucky enough to see the Waterhouse exhibition a couple of years ago at the Royal Academy, and got to see the Lady in the flesh....ok, in the oils...I was moved to tears to see her at last. I can confirm that she’s even more beautiful than a printed reproduction can show; every strand of hair lovingly painted in. It was fantastic seeing Waterhouse’s masterpieces gathered together; absolutely brilliant. Wonderful.
 
I’ve been to quite a few galleries and exhibitions over the past few years and want to see as many of the PreRaphaelite paintings as I can.
 
I said I’m not much of a poetry person, but there are times when it comes in handy....like this poem of William Blake, which just about sums up days like today:
 
He who binds to himself a joy
Does the winged life destroy;
But he who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in Eternity's sunrise.

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