Breezy Days

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt, this month is watching the weather, today - Blue Skies

Ravenglass is one of the coastal villages of West Cumbria, the gulls are flying on the breeze. The painting is by the watercolour artist Alfred Heaton Cooper(1863-1929) known for his paintings of the Lake District and the Norwegian fjords.  The scene is a  reprinting of one of the early railway companies (Furness Railway) postcards showing the view from Gull Island of the village and a steam train crossing the viaduct heading south.

'A Sudden Gust of Wind' (after Hokusai) by the Canadian photographer Jeff Wall. The original is a photographic transparency which is in an illuminated display case. The Hokkusai can be seen on Wikipedia's Jeff Wall page.

 For contrast here is an idyllic still summer day in the Koli National Park, Finland. Lake Pielinan seen from the top of Ukko-Koli, a hill named after the God of the Sky (and weather), Ukko 

Darkness

See It On A Postcard's  Thursday Postcard Hunt - Halloween, Black or Orange

Winter Sea (1925-1937) - Paul Nash (1889-1946)

 

What sinister thing journeys across the water when light turns into darkness

Danjuro VII as Warrior Monk, Benkel 1852 - Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1864)

 

Who will protect us?

 

Wizard of Oz Cover Illustration - Temujin Doran

 

Or maybe it is all an illusion and just the perfect time of year to tell eerie tales of witches, ghosts and goblins. Happy Halloween.

Send a Letter

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt for Shapes in the form of Letters

The Irish alphabet has 18 letters. It uses the Latin alphabet but omits eight letters used in English J K Q V W X Y and Z which are only used in loan words.

Oh no some letters are not going to make it onto the train

but these are on board and as the train speeds through the night to Scotland  the traveling post office's workers are sorting them ready for the morning delivery. The full Auden poem with the night train steaming through the countryside in 1936 can be seen here 

Beaches

See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt is at the beach

A choice of beaches at Carnac, the Grande Plage with its 2 kilometres of sand is the largest of the five but the Plage de Legenese, is said to be the most sheltered from the wind.

Heading for the west coast of Denmark famous for its sand dunes along the North Sea. It looks very peaceful

Bank Holiday crowds at Morecambe, Central Promenade early 20th century

Join the crowds at Morecambe. In the past the railway branch line would have terminated close to the sea front bringing day trippers and holiday makers to the seaside resort. A statutory public holiday (Bank Holidays are usually on a Monday) would be a peak time at seaside resorts. The crowds on the promenade will see the expanse of Morecambe Bay and the Lake District hills beyond.  Those on the beach have other things on their mind.

Tree Time

 

See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt - Parks and Gardens visiting National Parks

SJ Lamorna Birch travelled the length of England and Scotland from his home in Cornwall to paint travel posters for LMS (London, Midlands and Scottish) Railways. This view of Loughrigg Tarn was painted c1925. One can walk around the tarn and is one of the 'Miles without Stiles' walks in the Lake District National Park.

 

Another 'Miles without Stiles' walk is around Tarn Hows and is a very popular walk with fine views. 

Lathkill Dale, Nr Bakewell

A sunny walk along the Lathkill River which lies at the heart of the Peak District National Park. 

Blue Yonder

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt is enjoying spring and the colour Blue

Apollo 11 Launch - 16 July 1969

A perfect launch from Cape Kennedy to set foot on the moon

Decent of Soyuz TMA19M Decent Module, June 2016

A safe deployment of parachute and a decent to Earth after six months orbiting our planet on the International Space Station

Zennor Village with Church of St Sennara and the Tinners Arms

Back on terra firma on the tip of England in Cornwall. It is said if one wants to find a pub then look for a church tower. St Sennara is a Breton saint and shows the Celtic connection between Cornwall and Brittany.

.At the Postal Museum you can travel underground on Mail Rail, a postal railway which once traversed London through narrow tunnels (1927-2003),  today the experience is just for pleasure. The Postal Museum started life in the basement of  GPO Headquarters in 1969. It moved in 1998 to Mount Pleasant archives but this card brings us to the present day. A publicity/donation appeal card issued in 2016. The Museum and Mail Rail opened in its present building in 2017.

Yellow

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt for a spring and one of the colours that mark its arrival, Yellow

Bamforth's 'Tempest Kiddy' Series No 472 (Illustrator Douglas Tempest)

"Here's a spot of Good Luck ... A Double Dose for You" 

 A card sent in 1934 from 'Grandma', who was visiting the seaside resort of Blackpool, to Alison in Cheshire.

"In the Car" - Roy Lichtenstein

Fast forward to 1963 and fast cars, a Hitchcock blond  in the driving seat and her squared jawed companion. This large Lichtenstein painting is based on the comic book series 'Girls Romances'. (The original story graphic revealed -  Tony Abruzzo panel with speech bubble.)

SVR Poster Series No 6 - Kidderminster (Artist - Alan Reade)

A world away is The Falling Sands Viaduct carrying the Severn Valley Railway over the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal whose bridge has the more parochial name of Bridge Number 16.

Petite Pink

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt is celebrating the colours of Spring starting with Pink

A Flower Fairy Alphabet by Cicely Mary Barker

The Mallow Fairy will have to wait a couple of months for Mallows to flower but once they do they will be everywhere and the fairy will have long months to fly amongst them. 

The story is that wherever and whenever a seed sprouts a Flower Fairy is born, as the plant grows, the fairy grows. 

Peruvian Lilly - New York Botanical Gardens

The Peruvian Lilly has been grown in many gardens away from its South American homeland

A pink eared bunny for Easter Week

Dogs

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt is looking for Pets

Its springtime, blossom and flowers are blooming, and there is no need to wrap up in layers to

Cifford's Tower, York 1952-1953 by LS Lowry (1887-1976)

take a dog for a walk. Lowry usually has a dog somewhere in his urban paintings. This one is unusual in that he is away from his home base and they are not random dogs (and the occasional cat) walking through a crowd but feature dogs and their owners. Lowry's three paintings of York which were commissioned for £50 in 1952 are here.

Fidelity by Briton Riviere 1840-1920)

Originally titled Prisoners when shown at the Royal Academy in 1869 the painting depicts a young poacher and his loyal dog locked  in a prison cell and no doubt about to face some harsh punishment (the Victorian game laws were enforced with great severity). The painting was purchased by the industrialist and philanthropist Lord Leverhulme in 1903 who changed the name to 'Fidelity', shifting the focus from the crime to the comfort and love of a dog.

Farm Life

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt is down on the farm with animals

Yew Tree Farm, Coniston, Lake District

A much photographed farm. On postcards but they usually feature cars by the house, however this is an older card so there are just some peaceful cows and quad-bikes. Yew Tree Farm, a 17th Century farm house and barn with spinning gallery.

Mossy Bottom Farm with Shaun the Sheep and Bitzer the sheepdog. In the 'Shaun the Sheep Movie' Shaun's flock and Bitzer are in the "Big City" trying to rescue the farmer who has amnesia. What could possibly go wrong!

 Not as much chaos will be caused with this flock of sheep in Allhallows Lane, Kendal in the early 1950s.

Light Dazzles

See It On A Postcard's  Thursday Postcard Hunt looking for light, or bright, colours

Venice, the Bridge of Sighs - exhibited 1840

JMW Turner working his magic with water, sky and light in a dreamlike view of Venice. A place he visited three times.

Pottery by Patrick Caulfield 1969

The paintings of  Patrick Caulfield (1936-2005) from the 1960s are characterised by flat areas of colour with objects defined by outlines. 'Pottery' is probably his most famous painting from that decade. His style would change permanently in the 1970s with highly complex paintings that play with definitions of reality and artifice.  From static colourful pots

"Fashionable Irish Sheep"

to sheep bringing a splash of colour to an island that has 40 shades of green.

Happy Christmas

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt, what else could it be today but.... Christmas

2022: Christmas (Artist - Sami Saramaki)

 

The gift givers arrive

 

taking a break with the robin.

Madonna of the Rose Garden by Stefano da Verona (c1377-c1438)

 

Gift to the world

 

In the Woods

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt looking at Scenery.. with animals

A handsome elk with its velvet antlers in summertime, when the living is easy

Illustrator - Jaana Aalto

 A wolf moon appears in January, when the days lengthen and the cold strengthens

 

Surprised! by Henri Rousseau (1891) 

A tiger stalks its prey in the warmth of a jungle as imagined by Henri Rousseau (he never left France). The first of his many jungle paintings it is also known as Tiger in a Tropical Storm. So warm but wet.  The rain and lightening are difficult to see on the card and better seen on this larger version.

Advert Cards

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt in Autumn looking for the colour yellow

The card shows Haverigg and the River Lazy slowly making its way into the estuary. Wastwater, England's deepest lake located in the valley of Wastdale with its legend of a banshee living there.  A ferry crossing the River Mersey and Manchester Town Hall. A Marie Curie Cancer Care charity "I'm supporting" postcard, they use a yellow daffodil as a symbol.

 

 Still in North West England, the cyclist is on Blackpool promenade, Blackpool Tower in the distance. The was a card promoting the Blaze Summer Programme in 2010 which featured new work linking art and sport, people and places.

'Taxi Driver'

A Volkswagen "See film differently" card an advertising theme that ran in the UK in 2007 and 2008, part of their support for independent cinema. You can't get more yellow than a New York taxi and here the film is summed up in two objects. The taxi driver Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro)  buys four guns and I'm assuming this one is from the famous De Niro improvised line "You Talkin' to Me" scene where he practices by aiming and looking into a mirror. 

I may be visiting the wrong places but it is rare to randomly come across modern advert postcards nowadays.

 So I will finish with its distant cousin the museum card. A replica of the 'Rocket' steam locomotive with its famous yellow livery. There have been many replica built and rebuilt of this locomotive designed by Robert Stephenson which won the Rainhill Trials of 1829. This year was the 200th anniversary of train travel 1825-1859 which included a replica running of this at the Shilton Railway Museum. The chimney is shorter than Stephenson's original to be able to run under bridges.

 

 

Famous

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt for Famous People

'Magic of the Movies Series'

"They had a date with fate in Casablanca". I've lost count of how many times I have watched Casablanca. Most of the witty and often quoted dialogue was actually written day to day with none of the actors knowing until the final day of shooting how it was  going to end. The film was premiered in NY November 1942 (just after the Allies landed in North Africa ) with theatrical releases in January 1943. (Behind the Fog 10 surprising film facts)

A young Charles Dickens painted by his lifelong friend Daniel Maclise in 1839 when Dickens would have been 27. Pickwick Papers had been published in 1836 and in 1839 he had two monthly serializations running concurrently of Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby. Many of Maclise's paintings were based on literary sources both ancient and modern. He also worked as an illustrator for Frasers Magazine and illustrated works by Dickens and Tennyson among others. The two friends would both die in the same year (1870), Dickens worn out with work and travel at 57 and Maclise of acute pneumonia. Maclise was born in Ireland (Cork) so lets visit his homeland with a royal couple 

'Queen Elizabeth II ad Prince Philip on their historic State Visit to the Republic of Ireland 2011'

being shown the art of pouring a perfect pint of Guinness although both declined the opportunity to drink it, there may have been some Irish banter at this point.

Animals Illustrated

See It On A Postcard's  Thursday Postcard Hunt - Illustrated Animals

One of Dick Bruna's alphabet cards and of course M is for Miffy

Frog by Matsumoto Hoji

Matsumoto Hoji was active in the late 18th Century. Little is known about him but must have been well known in the past as his frogs appeared in the 'Meika Gafu', a compendium of famous artworks and artists published in 1814.

Illustration - Jackie Morris from The Lost Words book

A frog almost hidden by a Lady Fern on what looks like a misty morning by the pond. From frog

to a dog in summertime.