Watermelon Sky

Comment

Comment by Resident Curator on July 13, 2021 at 8:57am

Curator’s Comments:  

 

This joyful and quintessential summer piece, posted back in 2009, came up on the site today. Having admired your work since I joined the site, each painting offers surprises when revisited.  The juicy watermelons are heavy and luminous, floating through the sky without any anchoring cast shadow.  The illusion of flight is enhanced by the gull in the bottom of the composition, which seems ready to perch on a slice. The cool blue and violet shadows in the bird connect her to the space, and keeps all emphasis on the watermelons. I appreciate the larger percentage of quiet space in this image, which focuses the viewer on the vibrant and slightly exaggerated local hues and textures, while the small melon provides spatial distance and variety of form. I dare say it adds comic contrast. I also find it interesting the magical realism in your practice leans towards slightly simplifying abstraction, whereas Watermelon Sky is actually quite representational in subject, if not context.  It is a refreshing treat to view this work on a hot summer day.  I do hope you consider adding recent work to the site.

Comment by Bob Batchelor on April 22, 2009 at 10:45am

Fantastic work.