Art Friday: sunlight

Charles James Lewis
Art Friday: Sunlight

I love homes that are flooded with light, especially in winter. Sunlight really does make me feel happy and so pleased that I am alive. This isn't surprising as sunlight is like a medicine the boost the spirit on a sad day, it is a  powerful healer, tonic, germ killer, remedial agent, and relaxer. Have you ever sat quietly in a sunny spot in your home and go from feeling frustrated and irritable to feeling happier and more joyful? I have. 

Your husband and your children will also enjoy these sunny spots and get the same pleasure as you or I. As homemakers, we should always be looking for way to make our homes as healthy as possible, not just physically but mentally and a sunny room does wonders to the mind. Sunny rooms encourage laughter and smiling, one can't remain glum for very long in a sunny room

All these paintings have a lovely homely feel about them, rooms that I would love to wander into and sit down with a cup of tea and book, or perhaps meet a friend for a chat or a place for quiet reflection. Some have chairs by windows which would be perfect for reading or napping. These are my sort of rooms that I would love to have. 

Cats also love sunny aspects in a room and are always able to seek out the sunniest spot in the home, like me, they took love rooms flooded with sunlight. 

Are you a fan of sun flooded rooms? If you have rooms that are dark, think about painting the walls a light colour such as white, add bright colours (perhaps yellow) in the way of cushions and throws, make sure that curtains can be drawn back to let in as much light as possible and rearrange the furniture so those favourite chairs catch as much sun as possible.  I like flowers and pot plants in a room - choice  cheery flowers such as daisies and select pots that are bright and sunny in appearance.

If the problem is bad, perhaps consider adding a skylight. 

Todays art is all about rooms washed in sunlight.

Light gives of itself freely, filling all available space.  It does not seek anything in return; it asks not whether you are friend or foe.  It gives of itself and is not thereby diminished.  ~Michael Strassfeld

Patrick William Adam - Interior, Morning

Where there is sunshine the doctor starves.  ~Flemish Proverb
Patrick William Adam - can't you imagine eating breakfast at this table and enjoying the summer breeze through the window. 
Patrick William Adam
Josephine Grant - The Green Chair
 Stephen Darbishire  - a perfect place for reading. 

Stephen Darbishire
Stephen Darbishire

There is nothing wrong with having a bright and sunny bathroom - would be just gorgeous on a summers evening!!
 Stephen Darbishire - my sort of kitchen!!! 




If there is one spot of sun spilling onto the floor, a cat will find it and soak it up.  
~Jean Asper McIntosh

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Comments

  1. I too am a great fan of bright sunlit rooms and also of arranging flowers around a room making it more homely for family and friends to visit.

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    1. Flowers are wonderful and can make such a differences to a room. But I need to be careful not to select anything that will affect my husbands hay fever (such as jonquils that are in flower at present).

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  2. These are beautiful paintings. I just appreciate so much the time you take to brighten our days with artwork we might not ever see, otherwise. Thank you :-)
    Christine

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    1. Christine - I love doing these art fridays and knowing that they bring joy to someone makes it more worth while!! So glad you enjoy them :)) I try and select art that enhances a persons day - there is so much sadness and ugliness around that it is good to see something of beauty or feminine.

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  3. These are lovely - I too love sunny and open rooms - love all the huge windows in our house!
    These paintings remind me of winter, rather than summer. In summer, with the hot sun, I prefer to draw all the curtains or blinds and make things darker to make them cooler... So that's why I think of winter when I look at the paintings! I also think that the piano would be rather quickly ruined if it sat there in the hot Australian sunshine (third-last painting)!!!

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    1. Winter, autumn and spring I can open up all the curtains and let the sun in, however in summer I usually have them shut to keep out the heat. Yes, things would certainly start fading!!

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    2. PS forgot to mention, most of these are done by English artists who don't really understand a hot summers day!!

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  4. What beautiful pictures!!! I love them. Have you heard of Susan Rios? She is my favorite painter and her paintings are a lot like the ones you pictured. I won't buy a house unless it is sunny and neither will my children!

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    1. Thankyou Lori. Yes, i have seen Susan Rios and her art is lovely - very feminine. In Australia it is important to make sure the house is facing the right way so the living areas get the morning sun and not quite as much of the hot afternoon summer sun that makes the house very hot.

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  5. I love *every* single one of these! Just beautiful :)

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    1. Thanks Jes, so glad you enjoyed them. I will post them on your linkup on Monday :))

      Have a lovely weekend.

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  6. Lovely! when it's very hot, I do keep the curtains drawn, and I do love a candlelit, dim room in the evenings. But when there's a cool breeze and sunlight, nothing's better than letting it in. The pictures you chose are delightful.

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    1. I agree, in the middle of summer all my blinds are shut until the sunsets then I open everything up. And in winter, once it is dark, I always make sure the house is shut up and cosy. But in Autumn and spring I make sure I leave them open as long as possible to enjoy the last of the rays. My cat also loves to look out of the window to see the birds flying about at dusk!!

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  7. So beautifully inviting and charming.... I love the sunlight and it is cheerful and uplifting... I used to place mirrors to catch the sunlight and reflect it to another room, then another mirror there to reflect it and so on... .and rooms that NEVER get sunlight... had sunlight. :) Silly, but it was encouraging... and my young son helped to move the mirrors to catch the sun's rays all day long.... :)

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    1. Sunshine is great for our health and wellbeing, I often wondered how people coped in their dark houses centuries ago, such as the cottages in places like Scotland. I wonder if they got depressed due to the lack of sun.

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  8. Beautiful post! Thanks for sharing at So Much at Home's link up.
    God bless.

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  9. I love sunny spots too :-) We have a chair and table set in the corner of our bedroom that sits right where the sun comes in and it is just beautiful. I am often there reading or just de-stressing. We are getting a skylight put into our darkest room next month actually and I'm so excited, I think it will really transform it :D
    Beautiful pictures - they are so welcoming!

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    1. I have been sitting outside since the weather has warmed (a little) and the days are long and I feel so much better - sunlight is very important to our wellbeing.

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