98
FRANNY SWANN
For forty years I have had the privilege of
living in the Darent Valley and seeing it
through Samuel Palmer's eyes. Even a few
of the trees that he drew still stand. Every
autumn the valley fills with mist and in the
very early morning the sun can present as
the moon. I've always wondered why this
fleeting, magical drama doesn't feature in
his work. Sometimes the mist settles like
a shroud on the valley floor; sometimes it
rises to meet the sky. One possible reason
was that at this early hour there were
few villagers around to populate his work.
Palmer stated that landscape without
churches and figures 'can be but Paradise
without an Adam, you have just a frightful
kind of Paradise left – a Paradise without a
God.' 'A frightful kind of Paradise: Mist in the
Darent Valley from Shoreham Road.'
A frightful kind of Paradise: Mist in the
Darenth Valley from the Shoreham Road
Crayon and white/black gel pen on black card
31 x 76 cm
W W W . F R A N N Y S W A N N . C O M
