New landscapes. . .

Out to Sea  .  8 x 10"  .  oil on linen

My last post talked about layering, specifically about beginning with an underpainting.  Here you can see the end result of the two small painting supports I featured in that post having  the blueprint stated in an underpainting. 

 This small painting speaks to me in so many ways as I am familiar with and dearly love the marshy/water landscape.  Living many years in Florida, along with my countless visits to Charleston, SC., and having gone to school decades ago on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. . .well, the daily rhythm of time and tides, not to mention the distinct muck smell of the marsh are embedded in my spirit.  

There's a saying about being "at sea" which really means being "confused, perplexed, bewildered" - you get the idea. Although I love the intent of that expression because I love language, I admit that I find the sea, in all its deeply mysterious complexity, quite soothing. Have you ever wondered why we love to sit near the water, gaze upon it and somehow feel we're in touch with something that can't be described?  As our breathing slows and our body relaxes, are we lulled by an ancient rhyme of life itself?  A cadence that hearkens to our beginning?  

And yet. . .

The River's Bend  .  8 x 10" . oil on linen

There's something to be said of rolling hills, lush green forested landscape, stretching out over distant languid mountains, causing us to wonder exactly how far can we see!  A river continually flowing next to the highway causing our imagination to wonder about who has lived on the river, perhaps used its life-giving properties to sustain home and hearth. 

 This also gives rise to the notion of ancient sustenance as it was all here well before us humans.  

This only makes me think, "Oh yeah, technology is great," but when we look for solace, for comfort, for our imagination to wander, we look to our planet and to nature.  We take a hike, sit by a stream, listen to bird song, become mesmerized and frozen with fast heart beats at seeing a majestic animal in its natural setting!  What a fleeting joy rush. . .compliments of mother nature.

So, on this first day of summer, 2017, I'm hoping you get to the sea or to the mountains to find what simply can't be found in front of a computer or TV screen.  Joy to this beautiful world and the wonders it gives so freely. 

 Please take a silent vow to protect it as you take in its beauty, peace and wonder, to give back to it with the thought of how truly important, and might I add necessary, its gifts are.