Monday, October 3, 2011

A quiet morning





Its hard to believe that in only the half-hour my daughter has been at school that I've already had a chance to settle down and prepare for another week. Sipping my coffee and quietly revisiting our trip to Italy through my new paintings is a simple pleasure. What I love about making paintings is that the physical act, particularly in the beginning, throws out so much potential. Through this act energy and excitement is stimulated, and all the while the subject in its complete focus of my eyes, hand and mind, I am transported away. What an amazing opportunity to transport myself to a place where I can record visually, build memories, and see things in a new way. The paintings shared here are inspired by our first five days in Italy in the Lake Como region, where I was particularly engaged with the geometric shapes of the landscape and the building or stacking of varied forms of trees, vegetation and architecture. In a few weeks, I will be sharing more works as WE travel to Venice, Verona, and the Dolomites... enjoy an please let me know your responses. Enjoy the trip.

2 comments:

Joy Luciano said...

Wonderful! I would love to travel to Italy and take photographs (I'm no painter). And eat. I'd basically eat my way through.
Great work!

Madeline Yale Preston said...

Helene, these are so lovely! I love how you both flatten the landscape's depth through the use of geometric forms and at the same time elongate it with the use of different shades. These paintings capture the dynamism of the undulating hills and the romance the place holds for me.