C H R I S T O P H E R B E N T P A I N T I N G S
Introduction
My paintings are concerned with observations of nature and landscape. Colour, texture, light and shade are a constant fascination for me. I have become acutely aware of the importance of spontaneity and vigour in the application of brush strokes and mark making and the fascination that these qualities have for the viewer. The poetry that appears on this website is by Kate Ruse if you would like to see more of her work please go to -
The Old Fishing Lake, Scraptoft Village, Leicestershire. Oil on deep edge canvas 100x100cm
Valley Mist. Oil Stick on board 21x21cm
Pine Trees, Corfu. Oil on paper 30x30cm
Storm Front. Oil on deep edge canvas 90x90cm
Detail from 'Dusk in the Fields'. Oil on canvas 90 x90cm
Scraptoft Hill Farm, fields. Oil on board 17x17cm
Flooded Fields. Oil Stick on board 15x15cm
Tides Out. Oil on deep edge canvas 100x50cm
Hidden Stream. Oil on deep edge canvas. 90x90cm
Reeds at the Old Fishing Lake, Scraptoft. 17x17cm
Tide Line, East Coast. Oil on deep edge canvas 100x70cm
Rain coming, Scraptoft Fields. Oil on board 21x21cm
Cornish Coast, Evening. Oil 15x15cm
From the poem B A M B O O by Kate Ruse
Black bamboo stems growing from midnight to midnight pausing each dawn for the slow burning sun to puncture the sky.
Bamboo Shoreline, Porthminster Beach, St Ives. Oil on board 17x17cm
Carp Pond, Botanic Gardens, Leicester. Oil 100x100cm
Porthminster Beach, St Ives, Cornwall. Oil on board 22x22cm
Early Morning, Frost. Oil on deep edge canvas 100x50cm
H A P P E N S T A N C E S by Kate Ruse
And quite apart from anything else there are the infinitely small
happenstances just out of our reach yet so remote. A slither of glass reflects the sun on a foreign beach. Wild orchids cling to the trunks of mango trees their buds compact and smooth as pearls. Leaves rustle on the jungle floor as fern fonds push against an ancient mulch. And if I close my eyes breath in and hold the pictures in my head for long enough I am both everywhere and here.
Godrevy Sands, St Ives. Oil on board, 17x17cm
Gwithian Beach, St Ives. Oil on board 17x17cm
Estuary. Oil on deep edge canvas 100x50cm
Fishing Lake. Oil on board 17x17cm
Edge of the Fields, Covert Lane, Scraptoft. Oil 17x17cm
A B L I N K by Kate Ruse
Sometimes when the sun leans down, leaking orange and rose madder into the rolling ripples of a mackerel sky, she fears losing the moment, for one small distraction something said, a borrowed thought maybe, can see the colour darken or dissolve.
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Morning Light, South Coast. Oil on deep edge canvas 60x30cm
Pollarded Willows. Oil on card 17x17cm
Oil Sketch, Fishing Lake Scraptoft. 17x17cm
After the Storm, South Coast. Oil on deep edge canvas 100x100cm
Untitled. Oil on deep edge canvas 90x90cm
The Way Home. Oil on board 17x17cm
Water Channel Between Fields, Scraptoft. Oil 17x17cm
Flooded Meadow. Oil on deep edge canvas 90x90cm
Fallen Tree, Fishing Lake. Oil on board 17x17cm
G O I N G H O M E by Kate Ruse
Before the chains defined your name. I spoke under charcoal rain clouds and made it home across a shadowy grey meadow of white flower heads. White and charcoal grey define a sky shadowy under clouds. I speak your name, make flower chains and head home across the meadow before it rains.
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Home Before it Rains. Oil on board 17x17cm
Wild seed meadow, Scraptoft Hill Farm. Oil on board 17x17cm
Untitled. Oil 90x90cm
Shoreline. Oil on deep edge canvas 60x60cm
November Frost. Oil on canvas 70x70cm
Padstow Estuary. Oil on paper 25x25cm
Break Through. Oil on board 23x23cm
Detail from November Frost. Oil on canvas 70x70cm
Three Crows. Oil on deep edge canvas 90x90cm
P A N T I N G H A R E by Kate Ruse
This night when your breath freezes and splinters to the ground and the moon barks red under a planet's shadow an icy celebration.
He is shaped by the winter solstice held by time and light hoarfrost in his heart panting like a crazy hare.
Winter Evening. Oil on board.21x21cm
First Frost. Oil on deep edge canvas 60x60cm
Three Crows. Oil on deep edge canvas 90x90cm
Scraptoft Fishing Lake in the Rain. 17x17cm
The Ditch Between the Fields. Oil on board 17x17cm
M O O R L A N D S C A T T E R I N G by Kate Ruse
A memory follows her like a troublesome dog up past the village to the crags behind where a shriek of purple stark among bilberry black propels her forward.
Exposed she stands caught in a wild wind that blusters the ash back into her hair. The fading sun unsure of its status in the bracken and the mist flares red turns a watery pink then succumbs to mottled grey behind cloud behind memory.
Zennor Walk. Oil 17x17cm
Blackberry Brambles. Covert Lane, Scraptoft. Oil 17x17cm
Cow Parsley. Oil on board 17x17cm
Flower Pedestal. Oil on board 17x17cm
Brambles. Oil on board 17x17cm
The Path to Scraptoft Hill Farm. Oil on board. 17x17cm
The Red Watering Can. Oil on paper 30x30cm
Mona Road Garden, Nottingham. Oil on board 17x17cm
Cloud Burst. St Just. Oil on board 17x17cm
Bamboo and Rocks. Porthminster. Beach. Oil 17x17cm
Autumn Fields. Oil on canvas 21x21cm
End of the day. Oil on board 21x21cm
D U S K O W L by Kate Ruse
Unseen in daylight, masked by bark furled leaves, matted branches, you quietly wait of a lower light. Then as clouds pass you glow, soft grey among the luminescent insects that flicker around the tree. Feathers bunch over muscle
as you rise to move from blind proximity to travel out where night vision sharpens. Now you can see the hoarfrost sparkle on the furrows, the tremble of hedge dwellers who, seeing your wing shape shadow the field, crouch back and hold still.
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