MOTTO FOR 2011

Life is full of magic . . . find some

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

"Highway 20 Sky"


It's my painting I can change it if I want to. The version above is the latest. I wanted to make the road a little more interesting and break up the mass of trees. It worked I think. (If I didn't think it worked I would have gotten rid of it.) What do you think?


16 x 20
I take regular trips to Panama City in my other business. I think the fastest way from Tallahassee is on State Road 20. It's a two-lane trip right through the middle of rural North Florida. There are a lot of acres of planted pines and scrub oaks. If you have driven it enough times you remember previous views that are now obstructed by rising pine trees. This is one of those areas where the trees were harvested and not replanted. Its a different kind of composition. I want to believe that it is not bad to be different.

I was reading one of my favorites blogs by a successful artist and he explained that people don't want to visit your blog just to have you talk about your art. They want instruction or something. Unfortunately, that assumes I have some gem of instruction. Since I don't, and since I'd like people to visit I've decided I would try include gems of instruction from other artists. Like a hall of fame of meaningful quotes. That way you can be assured of finding something worthy when you visit.

This one is from Robert Henri. He is a famous American painter and teacher.

"A landscape has got to mean a great deal to anyone before it can be painted in any worth-while way. It is harder to see a landscape than to paint it. This is true because there are lots of clever people who can paint anything, but, lacking the seeing power, paint nothing worth while."

From The Art Spirit page 209
Hmmm? When I read something like this I wonder where Professor Henri would come down on "Highway 20 Sky"? Am I seeing? Or, am I clever?

Thanks for looking.




2 comments:

AmtrakAIC said...

Hi Steve,

My name is Greg Steele. I have created a facebook page as Robert Henri. Please add as a friend and look around. I just linked back to your page from it. I will search through "the Art Spirit" and find a quote to comment on your painting as Prof. Henri. And I hope the post pushes some traffic your way. The friends list is not very large (the project isn't that old) but they are doing some interesting stuff.

Hope to see you on facebook soon,
Greg (aka Robert Henri)

Steve Andrews said...

Greg,

Thanks for looking. I will be glad to be a friend of Robert Henri. That sounds like an interesting and challenging project.

Steve