"I am not one who was born in the custody of wisdom. I am one who is fond of olden times and intense in quest of the sacred knowing of the ancients." Gustave Courbet

13 June 2011

Questions.

Collins, Fire Island Marsh, 2003


The artist on landscape painting ...

I love the connection between painting outside--scrupulously observing the details and nuances of nature--and painting in the studio, remembering, inventing, and conceptualizing the landscape. Each time I paint outside, I'm desperately trying to record all that I can, to organize the infinite complexity of nature, but sometimes it is hard to know what to look for and pay attention to. Once I'm back in the studio, I find myself asking a million questions—such as whether the horizon could conceivably be pink at this time of day or the surface of the water could ever be lighter than the sky in a certain context—and wishing that I had noticed more when I was outside. At these moments I vow that I will pay more attention when I'm outdoors, and when I go outside, I end up working with a renewed intensity because I have so many questions in my mind.

Read the rest here.

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