Sunday, October 23, 2011

Painting the Night

I've always loved the dark. Perhaps it began while growing up in a secluded hollow with no electricity. I dream of being able to get away from the city lights that surround my current home; there is no true darkness where I can enjoy the beauty of the night. I regret that my grandson never knew the thrill of playing hide and seek in the dark and that millions of city dwellers will never be able to see the Milky Way or appreciate starlight. And so I compensate these days by doing night time paintings from time to time.

I've already mentioned the recent workshop I took from Marc Hanson. One of the things I admire about Marc is that he loves the dark as much as I do. He actually spent a month doing two small paintings each night in the dark. Marc also has the artistic capability to create night time paintings from daytime scenes, something I was determined to learn while he was here.

The painting you see above was done in one morning. Its inspiration was a photograph taken on a late afternoon when sunlight was streaming over the hill in summer time; everything was mostly green. Marc declared it a successful painting and commented that I might consider adding just a few stars but only if I wanted to. Mission accomplished. Although I can't often enjoy true darkness, I can always do paintings that will take me there.