YELLOW DANCE /FIRE SHADDOW

 Dear Reader

It’s warm and dry without much rain. The farm country just north of Adelaide has experienced some horrific bushfires with a loss of human life and property, as well as animals. I painted this picture above on the Rivergum track last week. I walked this track, looking at the country and thinking of these fires. I was well away from the fire zone and this is a regular painting haunt for me, but a fire that affects your community also touches you.

Just a few weeks ago the landscape was still green, and friend, you may recall a couple of paintings that I shared with you on this post http://lynnlobo.com/2015/11/05/river-redgums/

All these paintings were painted at the same time of day – between 8.30am to 10.30am. I love walking through and painting the same place repeatedly. I’m studying the colours, atmosphere and light through the seasons, and at different times of day. I know these are not dramatic vistas that take your breath away. Rather, I’m interested in a close observation of the little things in nature. It’s not very scientific or measured. It’s a study through my senses. Painting is a doorway for my senses to open. Stopping to look closely is just the beginning.

I study the various colours of the grass as it gets brittle, changing leaves, trees as they shed bark and grow new skin. The bush smells different through the seasons as plants release their scent into the Spring warmth. The air becomes dryer and somehow feels thinner in summer. I wonder how can I express that in paint? How can I paint the quality of air between the trees and is it possible? Through observing nature, I’m really observing myself. I’m painting an inside out story to discover the subtleties of my perception.

I like what Frederick Franck says as follows.

Seeing into one’s “own nature”, far from being self-analysis – as if one were an object – is the perception, the experience, of Nature as it manifests itself in me, outside me. This seeing-into is at the same time the leap out of the isolation of the ME into the community of beings and things, in the absolute present, the Absolute Presence.

His book The Zen of Seeing (1973) is beautifully written and drawn by his own hand. It”s a great read.

The above painting is called YELLOW DANCE /FIRE SHADOW.

It’s an oil painting on canvas 23cm x 30cm (9” x 12”).

It’s available on my website. Go to Portfolios, then click Available.

You can also leave a comment on my blog by going to the bottom of this page.

Thanks for reading. Lynn