Wednesday, October 8, 2014

The Blue Dome of Heaven, non narrative painting, Constable, Monet, Cezanne




Sky Study, 2014
 oil on panel  5" x 8"

"It is the soul that sees; the outward eyes present the object, but the mind descries. 
We see nothing till we truly understand."
John Constable



Sky With Hill, Provence
  oil on panel  6" x 8" 

"Paint what you really see, not what you think you ought to see; not the object in a test tube, but the object enveloped in sunlight and atmosphere, with the blue dome of Heaven reflected in the shadows."
Claude Monet

Painting from nature is never copying the object; it is realizing one's sensations."
Paul Cezanne

Presented here are two small studies concerned with the atmosphere and space and the "blue dome of heaven" that Monet refers to. I have felt during all my years of painting that narrative or specific nostalgia for days past or a rural agricultural past are unimportant and I think this is what these great painters are speaking to. The best painting immerses the viewer in a sense of visual situation, nothing more nothing less. Constable, whose sky studies are a constant source of wonder, spoke of truly understanding that which one's soul sees. That is the task I try to set before myself each painting - I suppose happiness is constantly reaching for something enthralling that remains just out of reach. Enjoy!




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