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| "Past Thanksgiving - November Barn" - oil painting - © Bruce A. Morrison |
A
few friends have noticed I haven't been "yarn spinning" for a while.
Getting caught up in other things always gets the better of me...I'm
easily distracted... SQUIRREL!!!
Where
was I? Oh ya; I think I'm changing my old format up a bit and will
eliminate the "Archival Works Friday" theme; but still occasionally give
some insight to what steers me and my work derived from it. I'll try
and bring these up from time to time. I have to admit I never liked
schedules because too many things pop into my head and I just give in to
whatever shouts the loudest.
Some
weeks back I posted an image of our old stucco barn here on the
acreage...it was a still late fall evening under a crescent moon. It
was taken on the evening of November 26th and posted the next morning. I
will post that November 26th Photograph in my first comment below...so
you can make a comparison from the original photograph below...
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| Original photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison |
I've
always been partial to crescent moons. And I've always been partial
to the stucco barn here; I believe it to be the only such barn in our
county. I could be mistaken but have looked for 20 years and not found
another. The barn was retrofitted with concrete stucco sometime shortly
after WW2...concrete block reinforcement of the north and west sheds
was done first, and concrete buttresses added to the north shed to
support or reinforce the addition are fairly unique for an "old" barn as
well.
I've
done paintings of our stucco barn a couple times in the past...still
regret selling one of them. And Georgie - bless her (!) has also
painted the stucco barn a few times - literally! She has been up there
with the barn swallows many times in the past 20 years with her bucket
of paint and brush!
After
I first brought the November 26th barn image file up on the computer
screen, I liked what I was seeing...the photograph was nice yet there
were elements in the picture's foreground that did not lend nor add to
the support of the image. But I was struck by what I saw in my mind -
could I do it justice? Well, that's always the question when I pick up a
paint brush.
I
set out to simplify and celebrate the light and the delicate crescent
hanging in that last glow of the remnant day. That silhouette of our
barn was almost iconic and somber in color and tonality. Did I mention
loving that crescent phase? I embellished it ever so slightly, by
increasing its size by about 50%...not too much to make it seem too
unreasonably exaggerated.
There
was much too much "busyness" in the foreground...all the bushes and
shrubs add nothing to the design and composition - they will not be
included. That lone crab apple intersecting one of the barn windows was
actually two trees, one had been damaged by strong winds many years ago
and I couldn't bring myself to cut it down...it was still gifting us
with a flush of deep prairie rose colored blossoms on its lop-sided
trunk each spring. Another opposing color crab was planted next to it a
few years ago and they seem quite happily married now. It will be
painted as one, as that's how it appears.
The
complete idea of the very closest foreground leaves and gravel drive
will give the image a resting place, a foundation to support the image.
I appreciate those leaves; fall is nearing its end...their least bit of
color notes are peaceful on the eyes.
But
- as you'll notice, I gave the scene my own color interpretation...I am
NOT trying to lavishly copy a photograph but give my own sense of the
"emotion" the original scene evoked for me.
These
are my thoughts and goals as I worked on this painting. These are the
ideas that formed this attempt to remember this moment in oils. It left
a lasting impression on me and this small token of an idea, albeit
small, is part of this memory.
"After Thanksgiving - November Barn" - oil painting - © Bruce A. Morrison
A little distraction as we wait for spring here...the prairie is covered well up in this corner of the state...quite different from the past 2 winters. But we are still listed in the "Extreme" drought designation. My biggest hope right now is that we do manage to get some spring melt into the ground here! We have a lot of seed under this cover - lets hope for the best!
Be good to one another and I hope to see you on the Tallgrass!
