An ode to Turner’s Sunsetting over a Lake, 24 x 30 in, oil on canvas
As the season’s change, I’ve noticed that my palette changes. As the Fall comes to an end and I’m noting all the colors parading themselves on the hillsides in Bellingham, those hues start to make their way into my paintings. Today in the studio it was Alizarin Yellow and Quinacridone Red Gold.
Turner’s atmosphere’s–so progressive at the time he created them for their abstraction and emotive qualities–have been as equally influential to my work as have Rothko’s color fields. The simplicity of his compositions, the energy of his paint application, the absence of line or any definitive subject matter–all things I aspire to incorporate into my work. Texturally, he’s got a lot more going on than I do, especially with the scumbling broken color effect to his surface.
Today in the studio I ran out of surfaces to paint on–but so wanted to be painting. A work that had at one time been what I thought a successful abstraction–that I overworked until it had lost all its nuance and beauty had been sitting around for months waiting, I guess, for this moment. I’d been pondering this painting by Turner for some time, loving the loose shimmer and the sunset without being a sunset aspect of it. It inspired this work and allowed me a wonderful afternoon of painting.