 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
- S/N Canvas transfer, Edition 495, 24" x 30" Unframed Reference number 910
- Artist Embellished, A/P Canvas transfer, Edition
95, 24" x 30" Unframed Reference number 1,060
Did it ever strike you that when you return to a familiar place, it never
looks just the same as it did before? Here, some flowers are more fully opened
than they were, others may have been sold. The shadows are shorter, or deeper.
The dance of light on color is changed -- more lively or more subtle than it was
-- because the sun has moved in the sky. I came upon the beautiful
"Nantucket Flower Market" on a trip with my children to Nantucket
Island in late summer, 1991. Every successful painting is the result of a set of
happy circumstances; which I believe is another way of saying it is a gift from
God. My children returned to the mainland early, giving me a gift of freedom --
to wander the island's narrow lanes and savor its quaint New England saltbox and
Victorian homes.
My ramblings took me time and again to this secluded flower garden, tucked away
in a nook between two charming cottages. It seemed almost lonely until -- in
late afternoon -- the sun awakened it to life. The warm colors of the flowers
against the cool shadows delighted me. I sketched with gusto, looking forward to
the time when I could return to my studio and carve the blossoms out of pigment
with my palette knife, as the sun had sculpted them with its warm highlights and
dark shadows.
-- Howard Behrens