Seeing

Cormorants

8x10 oil on linen panel

#14/#24

painting along the loop road, Schoodic, Acadia National Park

"Drippy" trees and moss

The painting above was done on the same foggy day as #13.  I found the shapes of the Cormorants sitting on the rock interesting against the foggy background.  The photographs above show a really interesting way that some trees and moss seem to be dripping down over a rock.  I would drive past these trees and was fascinated by their shapes.

It is interesting how people see things differently.  When we had put out our paintings (the other AIRs and myself), I mentioned these interesting tree shapes.  The interns and teaching assistants, who also would drive past this spot, hadn't noticed.  I think as artists we are attracted and notice colors and shapes of things around us, that many people may not see.  Part of it is training ourselves to see things in a more "artistic" way.  But part of it is also the way that many of us are made up.  I firmly believe that people can learn to be more mindful and cognizant of our world around us.  When I teach classes, and workshops, that is something that I stress.  So many beginning painters particularly, paint what they think they "know" is there, not so much what they see.  Many have to slow down to really learn to see what they are painting.  Seeing is one of those things we keep developing as the artistic journey goes on.