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!
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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