It’s the Last Day of 2014!

“Quietly Beautiful”      Pastel    2.5” x 3.5”    $20      © Sharon Lewis
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            Female cardinals are often described as being a dull brown color. I think they are in fact often, quietly or subtly beautiful. I think some of the art I admire most is subtly beautiful as well. Don’t get me wrong; I love striking color in some art. However, if I think of the artists I have long admired such as Winslow Homer, Vermeer, Bierstadt, Mary Cassatt, I think of subtly beautiful work.

I think that they have so ingeniously woven their skill into the fabric of their art that they draw you in, fascinated by the image before you, and only later do you appreciate the great skill that produced that magnificent piece.

            I hope some day to produce art like that….maybe in 2015?

I hope that wherever you are, that you celebrate the end of the old year and the beginning of the new one with the warmth of family and friends and perhaps some quiet beauty.

Artists are So Easily Seduced

“Evening Light”   2.5” x 3.5”   Pastel    $20   © Sharon Lewis
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           Sometimes, when I’m thinking about what I enjoy painting, I start making a mental list. I love to paint skies, clouds, oceans, mountains, and then I have to stop myself before the list gets any longer because what I really love to paint is light. I can so easily be drawn to (or seduced by ) any subject if the light is just right. I believe the famous painter Vermeer was similar if you look some of his paintings. For example, look at how so often he takes a simple scene (See “The Geographer”, “The Milkmaid”,  “Woman in Blue Reading a Letter” or  one of my very favorite paintings, “Woman Holding a Balance”) and makes it beautiful because he poses the subject close to a window and shows you how the light absolutely transforms his subject. 

            When I was traveling this summer I noticed how the early evening light transformed ordinary roads and buildings into objects of beauty. This small painting is an example of how this beautiful light transformed grays into purples and dull browns into vivid oranges.

           

           I hope wherever you are, that you experience some transformative light. Happy Weekend!