Elliston, VA 5x7

Comment

Comment by Resident Curator on July 15, 2013 at 8:07pm

Curator’s Comments:

 

I’m pleasantly cajoled by the way the billowy clouds roll along with the small cylindrical hay rolls below, and replicate the movement.  I don’t know if the scale indicated is 5 x 7 inches or feet- this would certainly change the impact, or intimacy of the space. Either way, I enjoy the significantly larger proportion of sky than ground in the painting, creating an uplifting and airy mood. While I see deliberate use of atmospheric perspective with rough texture and warmer yellow-green tones in the foreground, the high chroma cerulean blue in the background hills and sky create a quixotically flat and almost theatrical shift.  I’m not certain what’s intended, if anything, by the slight diagonal traverse of the horizon line.  But the triad of downy cloud formations follows the dropped trajectory of the ground, adding just a tiny more bit of sky on the left side of the picture plane.  Bedford County # 12 has the same three unusual cloud shapes, creating a dominate arching visual pattern.  Interestingly, despite their uplifting swell, these clouds also carry the bulk of the weight in the landscape.  The viewer is pleasurably situating just above the tree line in both pieces, adding to the buoyant sensation of the landscapes.