Brown County Path
Oil on canvas
16x20
Two years ago I attended the monthly meeting of an art league I belonged to at the time. That evening the members were expected to bring in a painting for critique night. So I brought this one in. It's not my best work, but I always liked it for the vibrant colors I used. It was painted on a trip my brother and I took to Brown County, Indiana for a workshop. I was influenced by the purple haze in that part of the country. When we looked out at the beautiful rolling hills, one could actually see violets, pinks and periwinkle colors.
The artist doing the critique was actually an award winning watercolor artist. I admire his work even though it's totally different from mine. Now I'm the kind of person who is usually described by others as being private, reserved ... you get the picture. Mostly my work reflects my personality. But with this particular painting, my feelings for this scene seemed to spill over onto the canvas. I used cobalt violet in the sky, trees and ground. For me, it was "out there".
The funny part about it was when it came my turn to be critiqued, the artist doing the critique told me I should "tone it down". Of course, I didn't say anything. But later, I thought "tone it down?" That evening was kind of a break-through for me. I had never been told to tone it down. So therefore, since then I've been toning it up. And it's been so much fun. So satisfying. This is probably why I'm so drawn to art making. I'll never tone it down again.
