- In this Americana Landscape Painting, "Hazy
Passage," an original oil on panel, I wanted to tell the
story of the old and the new in a setting of abundance and isolation.
As I painted this artwork I found that the absence of people
made them more present in the yearning heart of the viewer. I
too yearn for human presence even in the midst of crackling silence.
The crops are coming in and where is everybody, what are they
doing? Perhaps the layers of haze are a gently clever means that
the intelligence in the spirit of nature itself has employed
to help meld the passing of time for the generations that got
us here as can be evidenced in the great American barns that
are left behind still standing contemporaniously serving a grander
purpose as they beckon future generations to do good work and
even contribute to a legacy of lasting value in the spirit of
our efforts we empart on the land, both present and future. I
tried adding all manner of things to illuminate the presence
of spirit in this painted image but each time I found that the
imagination of the viewer filled in the mystery of absence with
much-much more than I could ever illuminate in a complete accounting
of all bits and pieces that are the usual suspects that so often
kill the spirit of such a subject through over explaining.
-
- In this work, like in life, searching is
the way to self discovery. Yes they'll be back, they always come
back and I'll be waiting and watching the hazy passage of more
than any artist can really speak to in one painting.
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