Hazy Spring Day

8.50" x 8.50 " oil on paper

This piece was inspired by a misty day at Conn College Arboretum in New London CT.  I challenged myself to use more white pigment than I usually do.  White is a double-edged sword in a painting: it's useful for creating a sense of "distance", but it can also create muddy or chalky tones. This time I got the balance to my liking. I enjoyed creating the feeling of an overcast misty day with chromatic gray trees, against a sliver of new spring green grass. 

Artists to View: Stuart Shils & Annie Wildey

Recently I've discovered two visual artists I would like to share with you. The first one is Stuart Shils, a Philadelphia-based artist. I love his simple statements of paint that catch a moment in time full of atmosphere, and spontaneous brush work.

Stuart Shils Website

Interview with Shils by Nicolai Fox, 2012 :

"The path we are trying to make and to stay on is to work and to follow that internal, flickering meter of response, intuitively, and at the same time to be aware of the intellectualized/analytical mind and history; and concurrently, pushing it all away. But where is that other place...? That place is not in the intellect, it’s something else and you have to go out there as a foot soldier ready for battle and willing to risk desperation."  

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Annie Wildey is an artist based in CT.  Landscapes are one of my favorite subjects; but in this case it is not just the subject matter that appeals to me in Annie's artwork. Her ability to describe the water and distant atmosphere with her brush or palette knife is exceptional, and it carries over to her urban scapes.  I like that some of the painted edges are sharp, while the remainder are lost in the haze of atmosphere.

   Annie Wildey's Website

Interview with Wildey on Polly Seip's Blog, 2012 :
"First and foremost I make art, because I am moved by something. This might be found in a rusty urban underpass, a seascape, the fog.... I tend to be drawn to moments and experiences, capturing the mundane, the overlooked, finding beauty in the banal, simple everyday moments or the force of nature."