We’re into our first month of summer here in the UK but it already feels like we’re in the thick of a long, hot season that’s more like what I might experience back home in Australia. I’m a cold-lover – give me a chill breeze and a cardigan any day – but I’m determined this year to find all the good in summer and to enjoy it while it’s here, even with temperatures already reaching beyond what these little brick oven UK houses can endure.
So I’m painting away at images that represent summer to me – the good of summer – even if it’s a touch idealistic. My aim is to avoid the more obvious images because I think the cliches have become almost negative for me. As one who doesn’t normally like summer, a scene like an open, crowded beach in the baking sun just makes me want to run for air conditioning. This year, I am determined to enjoy all the romanticism of summer, even if it’s just through art. But cliches or not, idealistic or not, what says ‘good summer’ to you?
For me, it’s unusual kinds of images like “Summer Lane” below.
When I see an image like this, I instantly feel summer. A good summer. A summer I want to go and find. I think of hot places like Italy and Greece, with the high, bright sunshine and the strong shadows, and the colourful crumbling laneways that lead to the deep blue ocean beyond. It’s the baskets of flowers hanging from open windows, curtains over the open doors, or shutters closed against the hottest part of the day. It’s those towns and villages that invite me to stop and admire as much as make me want to wander on to see the view at the end or what street lies beyond. It’s wondering who lives here and imagining the people who are sitting out the hottest part of the day in the deep coolness of their tiled-floor stone-walled houses. Places like this, though sleepy and relaxed, are also alive with culture and community and the bliss of the kinds of fresh produce that hot Mediterranean climates grow.
It almost makes me want to move to a place like this. Almost.
This image was adapted from a photograph on Unsplash.com A special shout-out to La So or larasophie996 for the image. https://unsplash.com/photos/vk4vjTNVrTg
About the Author: Lisa Saul
