"ENERGY"

OK, so the paintings. Well, the last two I posted I am not so fond of .They were, well, failed attempts. But I am starting to develop a bit of a technique I like and am getting into. I also have an idea for a series that is based around a mood of earthiness, of nostalgia, layers, depth and warmth. The images or symbols represent sustainable concepts and their relationship with the earth, sky and civilization. I have painted some small “sketches” so far and am excited to keep working with these ideas as my paintings get bigger and bigger.

I was also looking at paintings from early to mid 19th century by the ‘Barbizon school”. Particularly Millet, as he uses figures in his work, and I love the richness of the color, the figures and the use of colour and light. So atmospheric and beautiful!
Anyways, I was thinking of his work and mine (if I can be so bold) as sort of parentheses on the twentieth century and industrialization. How the natural world at that time was revered, loved and tied to a specific moralistic sentiment. The last hundred or so years have changed, humanity’s relationship with nature. We look back and revere certain practices and sentiments of the past, but we also have technology, experience, acquired knowledge and even possibly wisdom about how to work in harmony with the natural world as partners.

It seems there are two universes in sustainable design as it is practiced. There is the hippie-dippy-intentional-community universe and then there is the major-design-firms-who-design-corporate-headquarters universe. (Simplistic and over-generalization? Well, yes.) Both have their appeal. The first is all earthy and community centered, while the shiny corporate stuff can be so sexy. You know what I mean…like recycled glass used as office floors and reclaimed wood laminates…yum. Well, I like to exist somewhere between. I think there’s a danger in the scale of the corporate sustainability, and there is a hokey unprofessionalism quality to some of the hippie-dippy attitudes. (man, thats may sound snobby..I dont mean it too, but perhaps I need to check myself...) I’m really searching for the beauty, the warmth, and the true joy of living in harmony with nature, without loosing professionalism and technological advances to assist.

So. That’s a bit of what these paintings are about. This one is called “ENERGY.”