I was very pleased that my oil painting “Yellow House by the Sea won honorable
mention at recent show with the Independent Art Society. Oil painting, is a fairly new medium for me
so it was quite encouraging especially since there were so many really good paintings
in the show.
The judge was Paul Bachem a very accomplished oil painter
whose work I greatly admire he wrote this about the painting “ Although there
is a sunlit feel to this painting, I found myself reacting to what seemed like
loneliness here. The house sits amid a rather sparse setting and, as is always
the case in my own work, I find myself wondering about the people who live
there out in the middle of all that quiet. I felt the same way about this piece
as I often do about Andrew Wyeth’s work. I don’t know if this is what you
intended Vivien, but that is how it struck me when I first saw it. “
The painting was one of a few I did on Block Island while
visiting off-season. (You can see more on my June 29, 2014 post ) I am always very
relaxed on Block Island and enjoy the quiet before the summer crowds. The yellow house is
actually a Bed and Breakfast called Avonlea where we once stayed and I was
painting it from one of the Blue Dory Cottages, which look towards it. I really enjoyed
painting at this spot for all I could hear was the ocean waves and the birds
chirping, some so very friendly they would come over close to me as if
to watch me paint. And yes the Island during off-season has a rather haunting loneliness feeling of a Wyeth painting.
