Brittany Coast 8
oil on panel 11" x 14"
"Denn das schone ist nichts als des schrecklichen anfang, den wir noche grade ertragen."
For beauty is only the bearable edge of a knowing we could not endure.
R. M. Rilke
The coast where this painting was inspired is called the Finistere, or translated, the end of the earth. In medieval times it was believed to be the outcropping at the end of the knowable world by the people living there. It's easy to see how they believed this when one confronts the power of the sea and sky and rocky coast - all seeming to crash together. It is a magical place, one that conjures up questions of immense beauty and edges or limitations to what might be mortally possible. So to grab hold of some part of the effect of such a place one must go back to the basics of value and shape and space and form. Within this basic approach lies the poetry of the place, the visual impact of elemental powers colliding. Maybe it the only way we can find a window into understanding a small bit of the awe-filled experience of being in this world, at this time.
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