Saturday, March 31, 2012

Painting the sea


Recently I had the good fortune to be asked by a beach gallery to show my paintings...mostly marine related. It gave me the opportunity to paint the sea on a more regular basis. This became part of my daily painting rotation if you will. The sea is a genre which has incredible range for an artist. It's important for a working artist, because as an artist I need a reason to paint the sea other than the inspirational aspect, which is surely important to the creative process. However, the occasional genre painting won't elicit the growth and knowledge of a subject like painting it on a regular basis will.

The sea evokes extreme emotions. From the romantic peaceful sublime as a sunrise in “Dawn Seas”, to the raw power of “Breaking Thunder”. And, it does this with hypnotic rhythm.  Humans migrate towards her, sailors cross her and surfers can’t resist her. They try endlessly to tame her and if not tame her, merge as one – if only for seconds.

"As a painter I want to capture the essence of those moments in my paintings." 


642 Dawn Seas 44x44 oil on linen completed 3//20/12

583 Breaking Thunder 44x40 oil on linen completed 8/14/11

641 The Matador 48x48 oil on linen completed 3/7/12

I am currently painting the Atlantic side in and around Virginia Beach with the help of photographer and artist Matt Haddaway.  Virginia Beach has a large surfing culture to draw inspiration from. Many of my marine paintings, as well as “The Matador”, a painting showing one of those moments, are available through the Richard Stravitz Fine Art Gallery in Virginia Beach Va. 


No comments:

Post a Comment