Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967), Rain and Wind Thru the Trees, 1935; watercolor on paper, 20 1/2 x 29 3/4 inches; Burchfield Penney Art Center, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Armand J. Castellani, 1976
Are those exquisite rainbow colors in the sky the Autumnal colors in the forming to be brought down by a succession of frosts? Are they so pale + dreamy because we see them through our dense earthy atmosphere?
I often think what wonderful air currents must prevail among the clouds, that they are woven into such diverse shapes and hap-hazard directions.
With twilight, a strong cool breeze commences to blow from the south. Is not a south wind most in keeping with that poetical sky!
If all musical sounds were to be forever silenced – orchestras, birds, human voices, birds + insects - and I were allowed to retain one sound to cheer me, I would ask that the wind might play in the tree-tops.
The wind! Motion is life. All is dead that stands still. Last night, after I had gone to bed in a sort of half-conscious state my mind reviewed all that I had seen during the day.
Charles E. Burchfield, Journals, August 17, 1914