Truth in Nature – Autumn

Autumn

Truth in Nature

The Last Mowing 12 x 16″ Oil

John is preparing for a major solo exhibition at the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art titled, “Transcendence: Truth in Nature.” In the course of writing about the paintings for the exhibition catalog, he walks the reader through the four seasons and the inspiration and challenges they bring to the landscape painter.

This week, we wanted to share some of his thoughts and paintings about Autumn with you.

“Fall and winter are my favorite times of the year for painting here. The colors in the Midwest are nothing like the spectacular and brilliant orange, red and evergreen displays that I had been used to painting in the hardwood and conifer forests of the Hudson Valley. Nor are there blue mountains rising up to create the perfect backdrop for any subject. It took me some time to adapt my vision to the subtleties of this midwestern landscape.”

“In my view, Fall is also the best sunlight of the year in our latitude. The light is no longer overhead, but comes in at an angle, increasing the shadow effects. Early morning and again in late afternoon the golden light clothes everything it touches with warm beauty. Rich shadows take on a coolness not present in the summer, making a wonderful color contrast with the sunlit world. There are so many subjects to paint each Fall that I get quite excited by it and it is hard sometimes to just settle down and paint something. Nature puts all her effort into converting the massive energies gathered during the summer into this incredible transitional miracle. Everything changes and nondescript summer plants suddenly become star performers as they change colors or produce bright berries, like buckbrush and winterberry do.”