Middle-earth Journeys

I love it, Riv! I can see Mrs Maggot has solved the problem of how to hang curtains in a circular window . I also love the rag sewn carpet and the half-door with the circle. I want to sit down now and have a cracking good meal there of bacon and mushrooms and nice, fresh, crusty bread. As there is no 'English' writing, will you send it to Andrew at Mallorn?

I agree about the yellow in the border. I can see the salmon one balancing out the overall colour much better, against all that terracotta. I think the idea of a bean-border is terrific though! It's a really pretty detail.

Riv, you have a real talent for making all of your locations look truly "lived-in." This is a real working kitchen. I expect to see Mrs. Maggot (that most worthy of hobbit wives) bustling through the door any minute, a kerchief around her hair, with a pitcher of new milk, a basket of eggs, and another basket with today's "pickings" from the kitchen garden.

Just lovely!

Thanks for all the input ladies. I have redone the border and as I thought, it makes a nice difference in the entire piece.


Farmer Maggot's Kitchen

© Rabbit Ridge Art™

There were certain things that were a MUST to me for this painting...

Bacon
Mushrooms
One of the dogs
Hearth
Plenty of fresh farm fare
Beer and ale

I knew from sketching the detail that I would only do one pass at this one because I would NEVER get the detail done a second time.

That really makes a difference! I don't know how to describe it well, but the new version is warmer, less garish. It's amazing what a different border can do.

The hearth/oven thingy is ingenius. Have you seen a contraption of this sort before? And I have had my eye on a rug like that at L. L. Bean for years--they never seem to go on sale!

That is a copy of an old rug that I have in my basement. Bought it YEARS ago from J C Penneys.

The hearth/oven came strictly from my imagination.

Great imagination! It would be cool to have such a thing in the kitchen. I wonder if it would really work?

For Hobbits maybe.

That's worked really well, Riv! It brings out the greens better too and it's even cosier .

Withywindle




Withywindle.
Image Riv Res.
© Rabbit Ridge Art™.

Beautiful colours, Riv, especially in the tree in the foreground. Very evocative!

Yes! Not what I would have expected, but it really has the feel of a magical riverscape. Beautiful!

It's really pretty Riv and I love the border!

Hello all! I'm back from another week of vacation, and so delighted to find another beautiful Riv Res original. I think it is just lovely, but I do have one small issue: In "The Old Forest," The Professor specifically describes the Withywindle thusly:

In the midst of it there wound lazily a dark river of brown water, bordered with ancient willows . . .

It makes sense that the water would be that special warm brown color (we see it so often in Southern farming country) what with all the run-off from Farmer Maggot's extensively cultivated fields, as well as from all of the other farms in Buckland and the Marish.

I'm no artist, but wouldn't browning up the water a bit give you additional contrast with the lovely blue sky and all the lush greenery?

I guess I am more of an impressionist, than a realist, Lindariel. This piece is my impression strictly taken from the evocative and lovely word Withywindle. I guess it is more art than photograph. It is what I imagine when I hear/read that wonderful word.

Just in case you all thought I'd given up on the Tolkien-painting front, I've been working on this. I'll say right upfront that it looks far more vivid on screen than in the original. Plus I know that this scene isn't actually described in the book , and my Elrond has turned out Native American, which was not my intention! I have loads of ideas about Tolkien-related stuff I want to paint, but I couldn't seem to move forward until I'd got this one out of my system . . .