Fleeting silence

[Howard Brown]

https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/monochrome-painting-in-black-and-white

Naturally this exhibition intrigued me. I heard Jennifer Sliwka discussing it on radio – she mentioned the concept of silence in painting, I think. How might this relate to clouds I wondered. One answer might be this short lived little cumulus – both pictures are timed to the same minute (N.B. You can get two pictures in one post, but the forum uses a push down stack, so my end of life snap precedes the earlier-in-time snap).

[Howard Brown]

The Angelus

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09c0m4m

This talk is by my favourite lecturer, Neil MacGregor. He focuses on prayer, reflecting on how this most highly individualized of activities is also a profoundly communal act.

Likewise, cloudspotting, methinks. MacGregor talks of the angelus bell being rung to remind people to stop what they are doing and pray – a moment of silence in prayer perhaps. What might be the cloudspotting equivalence? What might remind us to stop and look up?

I can only think of setting an alarm on your smartphone.

[Michael Lerch]

In my case,living in the desert with up to 285 days a year with no cloud,I make it a habit to check the satellite weather web sites, preferring NOAA. If anything is coming in I see it before it gets here. And probably for the same reason, once the weather is here, its very difficult to ignore the window(s). Im retired now . So the pull to have a look is easily placated having nothing pressing to do most of the time. Trust your inner voice..

[Hans Stocker]

Well, you delivered quite a concrete answer to the question Hygge put forward, Michael. I love this image I get of the NOAA that tolls the bell for cloudspotting chances. Knowing that only 80 days are available for cloudspotting I do respect the diversity of spottings you already have produced for the gallery and of course also for the black and white threads. Fantastic!

[Howard Brown]

Richard Bergh, Swedish I think, has a painting called ‘Silence’ – it seems to be of a graveyard. But I can not find a good version of it  (apart from Pinterest which wants me to sign up), So this is another Berg picture, Honfleur (click open menu at the top)

https://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/full.php?ID=276769

[Laurie Floyd]

I found this link for Bergh’s Silence:

https://theartstack.com/artist/richard-bergh/silence-1893

I hope it works for you too, Hygge.

[Howard Brown]

Thank you very much, Laurie. It is interesting he has chosen linearly horizontal clouds in contrast to the sombre linearly vertical trees.

[Author]

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