Of Interest to Young Ladies: A Quiet Place

Springtime in the Fields
Dahl, Hans...

Hardanger Fjord

Dahl, Johan... (Norway, 1788-1857)

The lovely paintings of three 19th century Norwegian artists, Johan Christian Clausen Dahl (1788-1847), Hans Dahl (1881-1919) and Hans Andreas Dahl (1849-1937) exhibit the sweet freedom of young ladies surrounded by mountain majesty and quiet waters.  It was, however, very difficult for me to distinguish between these three painters,  particularly between Hans Dahl, and his son, Hans Andreas Dahl.  Some of the art sites were inconsistent in their claim of artists, saying that the ones by Hans Dahl were done by his son, and vice-versa.  It is good that father and son shared their values so closely that one could not tell their art apart. They must have been wrought together at the heart.

Summer Morning Before the Fjord

by Hans Dahl   1881 - 1919  or  Hans Andreas Dahl, 1849-1937

One reason that it is so hard to figure out the difference in these artists, is that the styles of clothing and hair stayed fairly consistent between 1800 and 1900, the period of time that these three artists lived. The length of skirts and hair seem to have been long, and other artists of the period have shown the same thing in their paintings of women.

Summer in the Mountains of Norway

by Hans Dahl

I have included these paintings in this lesson for young ladies, because I believe that the faces show genuinely happy expressions from freedom, quiet, surrounded by God's big garden. In today's jaded world, it is rare to see young women with countenances that show a pure love of life.

 Youth was once a time of care free days and wonderment, with time for learning to be creative and observant, but today, many young women carry around a huge burden of discouragement and despondency.  Today, I hope to share some things that might be of value on  how to overcome that discouragement and develop confidence in life.

One of the most basic things to creating a sense of well-being and ultimately, happiness, is time spent in beautiful solitude. I have been trying to encourage young ladies to find a quiet place each day, in which to take in the word of God, speak to God, and  find ways to creatively carry out His will. On several occasions, Christ asked his disciples to come away with him to a quiet place.

Our hymns admonish us to seek quiet places to be alone: I Come to the Garden Alone, There Is A Place of Quiet Rest, and many more. Spend some time alone singing all the verses of these old songs.

  A quiet place can be a back yard garden, if you have one, and if it has enough privacy. If there is not a place like this, there might be an opportunity to create one.  Indoors, a girl might find a quiet corner with just a chair by a window, or a special desk where she can keep her Bible and some writing materials.

We begin by finding as many places in the Bible where the word "quiet" appears. Carefully write out the verses, decorate them with borders, and think about them. Let God speak to you through the scriptures. Speak to God through prayer.  Translate the words into your life. With prayer and God's help, you may be able to do them.

 The word "quiet" has great significance to God, for His Word records the following:

Psalm 107:30 Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Proverbs 1:33 But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.
Ecclesiastes 9:17 The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.
Isaiah 32:18 And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places;
1Th 4:11 And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;
1Ti 2:2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
1Pe 3:4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

The last verse here, which is Ist Peter 3:4, is very significant. It shows how the Lord admires the quietness.  While it is good to have some social skills, God has said that he prizes the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit. Cultivate this quietness in your life by finding at place apart from the noise and haste, each day. It will renew your mind. The busy world around us can be very uncertain and upsetting. Those quiet times in life will provide stability.

A Young Harvester At Sunlight, by Hans Dahl

Edmund B. Leighton: A Brush With Refinement

Edmund Blair Leighton, British Painter 1853-1922

A few years ago, the only paintings I knew of Edmund B. Leighton were Stitching the Standard and Favour.  Many more of his paintings have gone to auction and been photographed and reproduced for the public to enjoy. He was very talented at painting human figures, and so accurate with his backgrounds of bridges, doorways, entries, buildings and other structures, that one might think his secondary interest was architecture. Linger a little at each painting and look into the backgrounds. Notice the roof tops, the gates, the boardwalks, the oval entries and the building structures. He included these in many of his backgrounds.

During his life as an artist, his critics claimed he was just living in the past, and that his art would probably be unknown to future generations. How wrong they were: today, thanks to people who share his work on the web,  Edmund B. Leighton's canvases are enjoyed by young and old alike and his work is probably more popular than it was during his own lifetime. His paintings are a little evidence to we moderns of the clothing and building materials that people admired.

As you look at the paintings and read the titles, you can certainly see what Edmund Blair Leighton admired the most in life: ladies going to or coming home from worship services, gentlemen tipping their hats, beautiful fabrics, country scenery, and stone structures on which he sometimes signed his name. By beholding the paintings for awhile, you can probably figure out the story going on in each one.

I have posted here only a fraction of the paintings now available for public viewing.  Some of the paintings seemed to me to be a kind of series, as they had similar themes and faces.He collected swords, helmets, furniture and other things from former days, which he used as props for his paintings. His wife reportedly helped him a great deal by sewing the costumes depicted in his paintings.  He painted a world that was fast fading from his own times. Those who live the country life today will be able to appreciate the scenes created by  this Victorian artist.

Sunday Morning, 1891

by Edmund Blair Leighton

A Nibble

by Edmund Blair Leighton

Waiting

by Edmund Blair Leighton

The Gallant Suitor

by Edmund Blair Leighton

A Quiet Moment

by Edmund Blair Leighton

After (church) Service

by Edmund Blair Leighton

Chaff

by Edmund Blair Leighton

Sorrow and Song

by Edmund Blair Leighton

Look carefully in the background of this painting and see the story that is going on. I wonder if the boat in the distance is carrying a family in mourning, hence, the title that was given. The young lady in the boat in the foreground seems to be looking over at the other boat, making me wonder what she is thinking. Edmund Blair Leighton's paintings all seemed to have a story going on inside of them.

Wash Day 1898

by Edmund Blair Leighton

Ribbons and Laces

by Edmund Blair Leighton

A Wet Sunday Morning

by Edmund Blair Leighton

Sweet Solitude

by Edmund Blair Leighton

Favour

by Edmund Blair Leighton

Lay Thy Sweet Hand in Mine And Trust Me

by Edmund B. Leighton

On the Threshold

by Edmund Blair Leighton

A Fond Farewell

by Edmund B. Leighton

Lilacs

by Edmund B. Leighton

The Request

by Edmund Blair Leighton

Leighton in 1816

by Edmund B. Leighton

The Shadow

by Edmund Blair Leighton

Market Day

by E. B. Leighton

September

by E.B. Leighton

The Golden Train

by Edmund B. Leighton

Courtship

by E.B. Leighton

Stitching the Standard

by E.B. Leighton

The Accolade by Edmund Blair Leighton.

A few years ago I reviewed briefly the plight of these Victorian painters who brought life so vividly to the canvas and compared them to the 19th century radicals who wanted to squirt paint all over the place and call it art, leaving only the most sophisticated intellectual to understand it.

 Paintings such as those you see listed here, need very little more than a glance to reach your heart with their message, and it takes only a moment to see the story inside of it. The average person does not have to have the painting explained to them. 

 When the modern-art painters came on the scene, they knew they would need more than just a showing of their paintings, to make them popular and to sell, so they ridiculed the Victorian painters and their work, using the media to print all kinds of things that would create doubt about the value of their work. 

 They could not exist, side by side, with this wonderful art,  so, some of them  put powerful pressure on the museums and art schools to remove the old paintings and substitute the modern art, with verbal shame tactics that made people feel they were not being fair or open minded if they did not exhibit the modern art and put aside the realists. 

 Seventy-five to a hundred years later, the old paintings surfaced out of the attics and basements and back rooms, and were put on auction.  What a loss that even our own grandparents had never seen art like this, as it was hidden from the eyes of the world for so long, to make way for the likes of Picasso (a communist who hated America but who gladly took the money from the American people for his "art"), and Henry Matisse, Edward Munch, Marc Chagall, and many others. 

 Visiting a nearby museum that featured Winterhalter in one room, and, across from that room,  a modern artist, visitors naturally drifted to Winterhalter. The modern artists were long deceased, but they must have observed this during their own time, and figured the only thing to do to promote their work would be to get rid of the competition.  They succeeded for many years in keeping many of the Victorian paintings in the dark. 

 As more of these beautiful paintings come to light, I realize what a great influence they are on refinement and manners of our own times. Perhaps that is what it was all about: a war between the rude and the crude, and the refined and the mannerly. The way the prevailing culture dresses and behaves, looks more like "The Scream" than "Coming Home From Church." 

 I have been ridiculed, without success, by these same kinds of liberals, for years, over my insistence that these beautiful Victorian paintings, which can be purchased as posters, should be on display on the poster racks at WalMart, instead of pictures of  the so-called stars that young women drool over.  Both have an influence, but one will be positive, and one will be deadening and negative.  One kind of art gives life and optimism in the hearts of young people. Another, gives them a dead-end.

 Pictures do have an influence on young people, and that is why I say that they need to have these kinds of paintings in their rooms to wake up to in the morning. If parents cannot afford them, then, at least, they can buy calendars with good art on them.  I am currently working on a Leighton calendar for next year, which I will offer here. If that cannot be done, at least, show them the paintings and encourage them to make their own, or just to observe nature and scenery around them at every opportunity, enjoying God's great big painting of the sky and the sea and the land. Young people are either going to scare us all to death in the future, with their values, or they are going to inspire and give us security in knowing they will follow what is good and right. Good art has an effect on their souls.

These artists are still inspiration, as we note their time in history, which was a time of turmoil. Having lived through national calamities and wars, they continued to produce beautiful, peaceful paintings that showed the glory of God's creation, dignity and honour.

Outdoor Projects

The Secret Garden, 1903

Sergeyev, Nikolai...Russian Federation,born 1855- died 1919

You can view more paintings like this here, where I have them in some categories and where you will be able to view the best paintings, suitable for your home and family. Sometimes there is a sale on posters and you can get them for as low as $4.98. I have noticed that allposters and other art sites takes some of the 18th and 19th century art out of their collection, and often leaves off the name of the artist. On Lovely Whatevers, I have tried to collect some of the best, and give the dates and nationality of the artists of this wonderful period of art.

A Child Size Swing

A viewer suggested I post some of the projects I've been doing around my home. Lately I have not had any indoor projects besides cooking with the season's produce, so I'll show you some of the outdoor things I did in the spring, just when the weather warmed up. These cast offs were in such bad shape that no one wanted them, and that is how I got them for nothing.   Before I painted the swing pink, it was a faded painted metal  and a plastic mesh seat, also faded. The name of the paint is Krylon, and the shade is called "Ballet Slipper." It makes a nice pale pink, that is almost white.

The pictures were cut from fabric and placed on the seat backs with clear varnish. After that I wound a garland of flowers (available at Dollar Tree or Wal Mart) around the frame.

A rusted baby bed spring becomes a trellis for future climbing plants.

Another project was to make a corner fence "planter" by painting two twin head boards into a corner fence planter. This was taken a few months ago after I painted the boards, before planting flowers, and now, there are beautiful flowers climbing all over it. I have seen the flower box corner fences in catalogs, and noticed they were quite expensive, often in the hundreds of dollars, so I was happy to get this one, even though some of the wood was damaged. It will work just fine outside.

Here is some more junk I am working on. That is an old music stand on the pole. I'm not sure of the identity of every piece of junk I paint. If it is trash, it can be covered in paint and used for other purposes.

The rain erased that dry, parched look from the grounds here.

A quiet place outside created with a blanket and a few cushions.

There are no grapes yet, but the vines shade this area and make it a perfect place to sit and look at the view.

An outdoor tea for two ladies.

For more interesting home ideas, have a look at some of these pretty links: http://bellasrosecottage.blogspot.com/

This one is in the new Victorian Country magazine which is on sale now at Walmart, where they sell magazines for a ten percent discount. http://myshabbystreamsidestudio.blogspot.com/2010/06/our-new-york-times-interview.html

There is a lovely artist here that I have been following http://nicoletadgell.blogspot.com/

A garden gazebo here, built from old doors: http://www.abitofparis.com/That's%20So%20Shabby%20Gardens.htm

When I look at some of these things, made so much better simply by applying paint, I cringe at the thought of some of the things I have tossed out. Some people are very good at developing new ways to use old items.

A Quiet Place

Eggs

Go Here
Giving Her Best

Pretty Tea Cups

http://www.royalalbertpatterns.com/Index%20pages/Series.htm