NEWLYN'S CHRISTMAS LIGHTS... (FROM JENNY AITKEN'S PAINTING...)

                     Newlyn’s Christmas Lights…

(from Jenny Aitken’s painting…)

Reflection.

Introspection.

Newlyn on a December evening.

Dark.

Stark.

Yet random lights spatter in the harbour,

And occasional images, a fir tree maybe, 

Or a vessel, are wired for illumination,

A demonstration,

A celebration…

Shivering.

Quivering.

Hulks against the old quay wall.

Crusted.

Rusted.

Yet random lights scatter in the harbour,

And vocational images, a mermaid perhaps,

Or a fish, emblazoned for Yuletide,

On the quayside,

At the waterside… 

Pete Ray

December 2020

Newlyn often seems mindfully dark but excruciatingly fascinating.

Love it there, especially on the old harbour wall, which featured so heavily in the artwork of Walter Langley and other Newlyn artists from the past…

Jenny Aitken’s painting seems to contrast the merging lights across the harbour with the two plain, moored vessels in the foreground…

Magical place for me…