Burnham Beeches

Burnham Beeches is a woodland in Buckinghamshire, England famed for its ancient gnarled beech trees and was quite a popular subject for Victorian painters. But of all of the studies done of this area, I do believe Burnham Beeches by Myles Birket Foster ( 1825-1899 ) to be the most beautiful. It is a watercolor painted in the late 1860s by one of the most renowned of Victorian illustrators ( please don't ask me what the difference is between an author and an illustrator, because I haven't figured out the answer to that confonding question yet! ) and it captures the magical beauty of an Autumn afternoon. You can see a wee bit of blue sky peeking in the upper top of the background, the reflection the sunlight was casting on the stream beyond, and almost feel the warmth of this October day and hear the gentle rustling sound of the leaves beneath the two worker's feet.

On film, the only director who managed to capture accurately the essence and sheer splendor of a Fall day was Frank Capra, in those opening scenes from Arsenic and Old Lace. For a painting though, this little watercolor did the trick and is able to transport us into the very heart of Burnham Beeches by a mere glance.