I’ve been running my affirmation campaigns driving the results towards “general peace and calmness” along the lines of what I experienced as a young boy growing up in the 1960’s. In those days, my Summers were filled with a calmness, a warmth and an unhurried lifestyle that reflected everyone around me. And after the extremely hectic life of the last decades, I have finally decided to put my foot down and yell STOP! at the top of my lungs.
And of course. My affirmation campaigns always work.
As a result everything is really slowing down all around me. Everything is slower. Calmer. Better. Kinder. Softer.
I do not know how great this influence is, and whether it can cross the oceans and influence other MM readers, but there is a great noticeable difference around me and my reality.
Everything is so much slower. So much more relaxed. It is unhurried. It is not frantic. It is soft like soft butter, and slow like a tranquil Summer pond, and peaceful like a bubbling brook under the deep shade of deep dark trees.
Back in the 1960’s, as a boy, the only thing that I needed to worry about was the big tureen of spaghetti sauce simmering on the stove and filling the house with the luscious smells, the occasional slam of the screen porch door in the kitchen, and the dogs in the back yard wanting to go for a walk. In those days, the only concerns that I had were my friends who wanted to ride their bikes with me and go exploring in the woods, and my sister talking on the phone.
This is a “feeling” an overall “quality” that permeates everything in my life right now. And since it does, I find that art from one hundred years ago seems to resonate with me. And this is one such artist that painted those times. And when I view these paintings I can easily see how calm and unhurried those days were.
I hope that they register with you all as well.
Stanhope Alexander Forbes
127 artworks
Irish , Social Realist painter and draftsman
Born 11/18/1857 – Died 3/2/1947
On Paul Hill
1922. Oil on canvas. 89 x 119 cms | 35 x 46 3/4 ins. Currently located at Penlee House | Penzance | United Kingdom
Look at the picture. Notice what the children are doing in the background? Notice the pace of the boy leading the horses. Notice the way the horses are behaving. What about the weather.
It’s all calm.
It’s all unhurried. Pleasant. Easy. Soft. Clear. Nice.
The Fishermen’s Expedition
61 x 77.5 cms | 24 x 30 1/2 ins
Oil on canvas
Yet another calm, and relaxed scene. You can almost hear the splashing of the water against the wooden hull of the boat.
The Drinking Place
1900. Oil on canvas. 174 x 152.5 cms | 68 1/2 x 60 ins. Presently at Oldham Art Gallery | Oldham | United Kingdom
I like this late afternoon image. The horse drinking from the cool pool. The man on the horse pausing for a rest. The deepening gloom under the trees. Really lovely.
Off to the Fishing Ground
1886. Oil on canvas. 119.5 x 156 cms | 47 x 61 1/4 ins. At Walker Art Gallery | Liverpool | United Kingdom
It carries you off. Have you ever been on a fishing sailboat? Well this was what it was like. I do love the way he painted the water on the deck. And the details on the sails.
A Fish Sale on a Cornish Beach
1885. Oil on canvas. 121 x 155 cms | 47 1/2 x 61 ins. City Museum and Art Gallery | Plymouth | United Kingdom
Again. Just average people having an average day. You can just imagine this, can’t you? A calm unhurried life. No one screaming at you through media to buy! Buy! Buy!, or news about some great pronouncement for war, laws, or taxes. All is just devoid of all that bullshit.
The Huckster
1917. Oil on canvas.
I really love the colors and the proud, broad strokes. Obviously the idea of a horse and wagon carrying produce is well before my time, I do remember my grandmother in Pittsburgh getting fresh vegetables delivered in a horse drawn wagon with radial tires. Of course this was in the late 70’s and early 80’s.
Home-Along: Evening
1905 . Oil on canvas. 120.6 x 180.9 cms | 47 1/4 x 71 ins. Bristol Museum and Art Gallery | Bristol | United Kingdom
Dusk is my favorite time in the night. Here in Southern China, when the sun starts to set a cool breeze develops and the temperatures drop to nice manageable levels. People go outside to play, chat, have a meal, or just to sit. It’s really quite lovely. I love the collie in the lower left hand corner of the picture.
Amongst the Pines
111.8 x 137.2 cms | 44 x 54 ins
Oil on canvas
This speaks to me. I can’t for the life of me understand why. But it does. Maybe it reminds me of the pine groves near the lake in Erie. Or perhaps a forest trail, or the edge of a gold course. What ever, it’s a really calm and pleasant image. Having this painting grace my living room would be really lovely.
Women’s Royal Naval Service Ratings Sail-Making: Onboard HMS ‘Essex’ at Devonport
1918. Oil on canvas. 106.6 x 137.1 cms | 41 3/4 x 53 3/4 ins. Imperial War Museum London | London | United Kingdom
An interesting painting and would make for some great conversation. I really love the artist and his style. It effectively captures the mood at the vision at that time. Really quite lovely.
The Seine Boat
Another powerful painting. I wonder what they are looking at. Calm. Unhurried. Relaxed. Thoughtful. What happened to the human race?
The Terminus, Penzance Station, Cornwall
1925. Oil on canvas. 111 x 137 cms | 43 1/2 x 53 3/4 ins. National Railway Museum, York | York | United Kingdom
A lovely vision of a busy train station. Not really “my cup of tea”, but actually well done and calm. I just cannot imagine anything being as noisy and boisterous as your would find today.
Through the Marshes
1927.Oil on canvas. 64.8 x 74.8 cms | 25 1/2 x 29 1/4 ins. National Railway Museum, York | York | United Kingdom
Another lovely painting. I do love the colors. Isn’t this a lovely view? Doesn’t it just calm your soul? Doesn’t it make you feel good, and well?
The Little Smithy
1894. Oil on canvas. 61.3 x 77.2 cms | 24 x 30 1/4 ins. National Museum of Wales | Cardiff | United Kingdom
I’ve never been in an actual smithy. I walked by one in an Amish community, and it did look a little bit like this. I also, as a boy, used to play in an old boarded up shed that at one time was a blacksmith. (You could tell by the faded letters on the front of the building.) We used to go root around in there getting old newspapers, old bottles and crocks.
The Pond
Oil on canvas. 49 x 61.5 cms | 19 1/4 x 24 ins. Newport Museum and Art Gallery | Newport | United Kingdom
Again. Lovely colors. Relaxing. Calm and pleasant.
Conclusion
I do hope that you enjoyed this nice visit to my art presentation. I hope that it means as much to you as it does for me. In any event, have a great day. Spend some time with your little guys (pets) , friends and loved ones, and go by yourself a Snickers candy bar. Enjoy the little things.
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Oddly enough, (or not) this is exactly how I’m spending my Sunday afternoon with some good ol’ eggs and ham, my five dogs, nine cats, semi watching the Tokyo Olympics and enjoying your selections of Stanhope a Forbes. He certainly worked well with water in all it’s rippling forms and different lights and reflections. Good stuff. Thanks for the calming images.
Beautiful. The pond is very special.
The thing with paintings (different to pictures). in essence it is a person who draw or spread oil colors on canvas (in this example), can be pencil on paper or scratches on cave walls. yet our mind create this reality. there is no pond, kids or any other thing there, nor a picture (light capture by a machine, digital or film) of them. it is only something your mind create with the help of course of the painter. or maybe, it is a world the painter created and our mind interpret. I know it sounds strange, but that is strange if you do think about it. Anyway, it is beautiful even without thinking.