Melancholy

CALM BEFORE THE STORM

NATURE CHALEUREUSE

This is a "nature morte" with a cozy feeling of and old, comfy, wood panelled study, the kind you find in your proverbial grandparents home, if your grandfather were schooled/a book worm. This was mostly an essay into painting lit candles, and doing so with a black background.

IT WILL GET BETTER

I had been playing with painting faces from unusual angles, from below looking up, or from above looking down, using candlelight (or, I guess any weak source of light), because it highlights the features of the face/head. I actually tried a couple of selfies taken from below, with a candle, or a partially covered floor lamp, and the results were unconvincing. Not only do I not look good from below (possibly from other angles too :-]), but there was too much light, so I didn't get the effect I wanted. So I imagined it. I wanted to show translucent finger tips (try it: put your fingers next to a lamp). Initially I saw the scene as a bunch of homeless people around a barrel in a dark park, with a night skyline behind. Finally, chose a single person, and didn't make the man "homeless looking". Just a regular person down on their luck.

THE SCORE

I was walking on Cote Saint-Luc street in Montréal near the CN overpass (eastern edge of Montréal West), and saw these birds on a high voltage overhead electric line. With the distance/height, the looked like musical notes, hence the inspiration for this painting. Of course, if you are a music buff, and of certain age (i.e. not a millenial), this would evoke the Fugees's "The Score" LP, which came out in 1996. BTW, one of their singers has run for Haiti presidential elections, I think (something Jean), and he may even have become president, but that is another story.

ELECTRICAL ART

Around the same spot where the picture that inspired the painting above was taken, were electrical pylons. I had an obstructed view, and so when I did some research on the internet, found these pictures of electrical pylons in the wilderness. Long haul transmission lines tend to cross some of the most pristine landscapes, hence the inspiration for this one. Ever the engineer, the painting combines the accuracy of industrial drawing with an impressionistic landscape.

To learn more about my artistic journey, please inquire below.