Sweet Spot Rocker

"Sweet Spot Rocker", 30x20" oil on gallery wrap canvas

I painted this piece from a photo I took last summer in Naples, ME on the front porch of the Lakeview Inn where we were staying for a wedding. This was such a delightful place with the most  beckoning porch. I could have sat out there and rocked for days on end. Now that's relaxing at its finest. 

The reference photo for this painting wasn't the greatest as the chair was perched in heavy shade, so I had to take some creative license to make the chair, my focal point, look alive with color.

I can't figure out what category to place this painting in? There is a landscape backdrop, but the focal point is the chair? Would that be considered a still life? But, what if it was gently rocking from the wind? Would that make it a not-so-still life? I suppose if someone were sitting in the rocker would it also be considered figurative? To make this more confusing, this was a covered porch, so does that make it an interior painting? Any thoughts? Hmm? 

This piece is being donated to my church's Annual Gala for their Live Auction, so it isn't for sale, but wanted to share. 

Thank you for pausing to contemplate on the front porch.
—nancy

To see more of my art click Online Gallery • Email  • Website  •  Graphic Design Studio • Fine Art America

Just a Chair on a Porch

"Just a Chair on a Porch"
14x11" Oil on 1.5" gallery wrap canvas

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"The art of art, the glory of expression and the sunshine of the light of letters, is simplicity." —Walt Whitman

Stripped down to the barest necessities for guaranteed joy and contentment, give me a front porch with a chair to sit in silence and greet a neighborly morning knocking at my door. 

Coffee cupped in hand...sliver of melting moon fading...first chirps of the winged, chanting praise...cool stir of wind caressing cheeks...last stand of shrinking shadow...sunburst on the horizon, duck the first warm hurls of orange and gold rays. Morning has broken!

Photographers: Moira Fitzgerald & Yann Meersseman

The reference shown for my painting was another amazing image found on Vintage Colors blog. I was totally swept into the quiet stillness captured by the simplicity of the morning scene. However, as you can see, I went to town taking huge liberties with pumped up colors and values pulled from my imagination to match the intensity of the light and serenity that infused me. 

In this latest piece, I decided to challenge myself by taking a different approach. I usually try to match the same colors and values to what I see, but this time my goal was to try punching up the warmth and coolness of the light and hues for added mood and mystery. I have been working on this one for some time and hit many dead ends along the way. I had to wipe my canvas off many times and start over until I began seeing on my canvas what I was feeling about the image, rather than what I was simply seeing. 

For me painting is a war, a battle of push and pull, trial and error to the very end. I now stand with white flag in hand...a truce declared. I am at peace...and just wish I could plop into that inviting chair. 

Thanks for the visit,
—nancy

To see more of my art click here, or one one of these additional links: Online Gallery • Email  • Website  •  Graphic Design Studio • Saatchi Gallery • Fine Art America