A landscape painter has a strong sense of the importance of ‘seeing’: The quality of the light, the nature of the air, the condition of the water, the colours that belong in the shadows.
I live with chronic illness and pain, and it is a remarkable experience for a moment to send the last ripple of yourself out into the natural world – to the light of the high looming clouds; or to sit at an outlook watching a stormfront roll proudly in, dragging her curtains of rain across the sea. It is wonderful to exist for a moment, outside of yourself and simply be in the world that is all around you.
In The Shadow of the Stars explores my relationship with, and the importance of, the quieter shade of things. It draws from the landscapes that I love so much to paint, the richness of the interior world and the minutiae of the day.
I often write poems about the same landscapes that I paint- and in painting as in in poetry, there is always a longing to escape this body to become a part of something much greater – I hope to live more in my spirit – I hope to live in The Shadow of the Stars.
Clouds – Martha Marlow, 2023
I lie pressed against the ribcage and soft body of the earth
And let the clouds burden me,
Dragging their cloud shadows
Across my face
