oh, you know i love your work. it looks dark on the left. is that the photo? or i'm used to your work having a flat field? the darker cows make it look like it recedes and the mountains, though at the same time as being in the distant looks flat at the bottom so it flattens it out. not a bad thing. makes me think of a story book page. i like the richer color and contrasts compared to your other work. it makes me think of spring with the green and dafidills. the only thing i question is the hanging geese (which i love) being in the dead center of the canvas. which makes them the most important thing. which maybe you want. they are so specifically painted. if it were hanging in a gallery finished i would suppose it was very intentional.
so, there is a very life/death thing going on here (obvious i guess) it makes me think of the animals humans eat. which animals get to stay alive and which are killed for food. none of the cows seem dead where most of the fowl are. some are hiding and running seemingly off the canvas. are the women choosing who is going to die by who they will purchase to eat? i'm not up to date with my Greek or roman statuary so i'm not sure where or what they come from. they just represent 'human' to me. or the cows and fowl are the humans and the women the goddesses. i'm not sure if the potted trees are dead or still hibernating since spring is here. also the building with the pineapple (meaning welcome) may be heaven, with a dead cow and fowl and a goddess or angel in achromatic. there is also a since of travel with the cows and of following the leader... being herded but in line form just following the butt in front of them. the mountains make me think of north Carolina. the trees being in pots make me think they are trapped and not free. the one statue is a garden tender or guard.
i like your interpretation jeanine, don't think I've gotten that far yet :) do the geese stop your eye from moving due to their placement, or in your opinion does the composition work as is? dark on the left is largely the photo.
i have to fight a little to move it around, but not too much. the bright colors and lines of cows helps. now i'm thinking they are the holy ghost, Christ, and god
Sarah, What is the size? I really like the "drop shadow" effect- I think the added dimension allows us (the audience) to enter the space and interact with the imagery in a tactile way. Compositionally, it is as solid as a Mondrian in my view, and I love the gentle palette with the subject matter- which is not so gentle.
Hey Fred and Jeanine, The painting is 36"x20" I guess the impetus for the painting came from images of some roman statues that i stumbled across- reliefs of women selecting meats of various kinds from a butcher- which i loved and just kind of wanted to paint. i put them into this landscape/map-like space in which i wanted several mini scenes, which could be inter related, to take space. The problem I sometimes have, especially with larger work (and this isn't even very large) is that i keep wanting to add compositional/story elements. I'll get really excited and add something, but then that addition calls for the addition of something else and...so on... but here is a specific question, how are the flowers reading? I feel like they are the least resolved aspect of the painting. I half want to add lots more and half want to paint them out completely. thoughts?
Don't paint them out! they are kind of like the viewer. looking around. i wouldn't add more either. i just... like them. and i like the geese hiding behind one.
1. For me, The banners with blue waves are a problem. They are fighting with the flower pots and daffodils. Plus my eye wants to follow that fabric path but it keeps getting interrupted by all the verticals. It makes for a bumpy ride.
2. The woman/statue on the left is not pronounced enough. She needs a more defined house like the ladies on the right.
3. More flowers please. But I think they may need more shading to add depth.
thanks Beth for the feedback! def will be working the lady on the right and the flowers, but my daffodils have died.... i'm a bad mother, but still i think it's a sign- need to put it away for a bit and look with new eyes.
I love the ins & outs of this painting, how things move from front to back. My I enjoys following the cows along the paths. I'm not keen on the waves, I find them distracting pulling the eye away when I'm trying to look at the whole. I like the verticals and their shadows; except for the white vertical off to the right. I ook & say to myself - what is it? what's it's purpose? There you go. XOXO
oh, you know i love your work. it looks dark on the left. is that the photo? or i'm used to your work having a flat field? the darker cows make it look like it recedes and the mountains, though at the same time as being in the distant looks flat at the bottom so it flattens it out. not a bad thing. makes me think of a story book page. i like the richer color and contrasts compared to your other work. it makes me think of spring with the green and dafidills. the only thing i question is the hanging geese (which i love) being in the dead center of the canvas. which makes them the most important thing. which maybe you want. they are so specifically painted. if it were hanging in a gallery finished i would suppose it was very intentional.
ReplyDeleteso, there is a very life/death thing going on here (obvious i guess) it makes me think of the animals humans eat. which animals get to stay alive and which are killed for food. none of the cows seem dead where most of the fowl are. some are hiding and running seemingly off the canvas. are the women choosing who is going to die by who they will purchase to eat? i'm not up to date with my Greek or roman statuary so i'm not sure where or what they come from. they just represent 'human' to me. or the cows and fowl are the humans and the women the goddesses. i'm not sure if the potted trees are dead or still hibernating since spring is here. also the building with the pineapple (meaning welcome) may be heaven, with a dead cow and fowl and a goddess or angel in achromatic. there is also a since of travel with the cows and of following the leader... being herded but in line form just following the butt in front of them. the mountains make me think of north Carolina. the trees being in pots make me think they are trapped and not free. the one statue is a garden tender or guard.
i like your interpretation jeanine, don't think I've gotten that far yet :) do the geese stop your eye from moving due to their placement, or in your opinion does the composition work as is? dark on the left is largely the photo.
ReplyDeletei have to fight a little to move it around, but not too much. the bright colors and lines of cows helps. now i'm thinking they are the holy ghost, Christ, and god
DeleteSarah,
ReplyDeleteWhat is the size?
I really like the "drop shadow" effect- I think the added dimension allows us (the audience) to enter the space and interact with the imagery in a tactile way.
Compositionally, it is as solid as a Mondrian in my view, and I love the gentle palette with the subject matter- which is not so gentle.
Hey Fred and Jeanine,
ReplyDeleteThe painting is 36"x20" I guess the impetus for the painting came from images of some roman statues that i stumbled across- reliefs of women selecting meats of various kinds from a butcher- which i loved and just kind of wanted to paint. i put them into this landscape/map-like space in which i wanted several mini scenes, which could be inter related, to take space. The problem I sometimes have, especially with larger work (and this isn't even very large) is that i keep wanting to add compositional/story elements. I'll get really excited and add something, but then that addition calls for the addition of something else and...so on...
but here is a specific question, how are the flowers reading? I feel like they are the least resolved aspect of the painting. I half want to add lots more and half want to paint them out completely. thoughts?
Don't paint them out! they are kind of like the viewer. looking around. i wouldn't add more either. i just... like them. and i like the geese hiding behind one.
DeleteHere's what I'm thinking.
ReplyDelete1. For me, The banners with blue waves are a problem. They are fighting with the flower pots and daffodils. Plus my eye wants to follow that fabric path but it keeps getting interrupted by all the verticals. It makes for a bumpy ride.
2. The woman/statue on the left is not pronounced enough. She needs a more defined house like the ladies on the right.
3. More flowers please. But I think they may need more shading to add depth.
Well that's it for now.
thanks Beth for the feedback! def will be working the lady on the right and the flowers, but my daffodils have died.... i'm a bad mother, but still i think it's a sign- need to put it away for a bit and look with new eyes.
ReplyDeleteHey Sarah,
ReplyDeleteI love the ins & outs of this painting, how things move from front to back. My I enjoys following the cows along the paths. I'm not keen on the waves, I find them distracting pulling the eye away when I'm trying to look at the whole. I like the verticals and their shadows; except for the white vertical off to the right. I ook & say to myself - what is it? what's it's purpose? There you go. XOXO