I am forever fascinated by how Nature can make the same view look so individual during different times of the year. As an artist, I love capturing these precious moments.
The varying times of the year brings different colours and introduces other aspects into a view. Sometimes, it’s the light shining through the trees, sometimes it’s the colour of the sky, foliage on the trees or the multitude of colours on the leaves on the ground. Sometimes it’s just the bleakness of what’s in front of us.
Whatever it is, there is always something that catches the artist’s eye. One of the questions I always ask students is, what is it about this view that make you want to paint it? Without a reason why, the viewer can never understand. For me, it’s important that the viewer feels my emotion.
My love of colour allows me to magnify the colours in front of me and in doing so, I transfer my energy to the canvas. The story then unfolds in front of me and allows me to add my own interpretations. In a way, the painting takes its own journey.
For me, just being in a secluded place, surrounded by nothing but trees or whatever is the view in front of me, has a big influence. I love the peace and tranquillity and being immersed in my own space. The outside world not allowed in.
However, painting in a group also has advantages especially for a beginner as comradery and encouragements add to confidence. Getting caught up in the moment can and mostly, does, impact how we interpret a view.
These four images are the same view but from different times of the year. Can you guess the seasons? What can you see in each painting? Do they each tell a different story?
Of course, art is subjective and what one person sees in a painting the person standing next to them will see something else. One person will see a lake, another a river, whilst someone will see flowers or even animals. We are all right – we are the only people who can see into our own minds and so no one is wrong.
That is the beautiful thing about art. We can have an opinion but there is no right or no wrong.