October 4, 2016 - 15:56
Approximately 2.5 feet wide and 2 feet high the painting of Cranberry Island is done in thick layers of oil paint. The bottom two thirds of the painting is split into two approximately right triangles with the separating line running from the top right to slightly above the bottom left. The bottom most triangle is thickly textured and the colors vary on a theme of dark blue. Dark purple predominates, accented with medium orange. In the bottom right corner there’s a splotch of reddish brown, dark green, and other earthy tones. The middle triangle is colored on an overarching theme of light blue heavily accented with white and purple. The top third rectangle is predominated by large splotches of off white set against a light blue background.
The painting looks very different from close up than it does from far away, in fact up close you can even catch a whiff of oil paint. Up close the three dimensional impressions made by brush and trowel are much more pronounced. This is particularly true of the bottom triangle in which the texture is very pronounced (there’s even a small scrap of leaf stuck to the canvas). The painting method is also much more varied in the bottom triangle leaving a chaos of direction. Some of the strokes are done vertically, some horizontally, some curving, some whirled, some wavy. The middle triangle is less chaotically textured but maintains some of the variation close to the bottom edge. The top third is much more uniform and the strokes tend to go from left to right. The off white includes splotches of red and yellow. This makes the image hard to characterize from close up.
From far away the chaotic details blend together somewhat and create a more coherent whole. It evokes the image of an ocean shoreline in the late afternoon. The lower triangle resembles the shore and curves upward from the lower left toward the upper right. The middle triangle resembles an ocean with the chaotic lower edge appearing similar to waves crashing against the shore. The top third resembles clouds against a blue sky. The light texture evokes images of a bright and clear day. A splotch of yellow on the off white of the clouds may represent the falling sun. A purple line (accented by white) stretches along the top of the middle triangle and resembles a horizon line. A small splash of neon orange on the horizon line could represent the reflection of a setting sun, or it could be intended to add to the chaos, or it could be something entirely different.
Despite the incredibly dynamic nature of the painting it is filled with happiness and serenity. It evokes memories of vacations with family to oceanside destinations and long days spent in the sun. The viewer can almost hear the sound of gulls and the toot of boats and feel the ocean breeze on their face. You can almost imagine standing on the shoreline and gazing out to sea.