daily painting titled Summer Fields

Summer Fields

19cm x 16cm (7½"x6¼"), oil on gessoed card Painting status: SOLD
Daily painting for Wednesday 17 June, 2009
Posted in Landscape paintings
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10 Comments

Here in " Blighty " it`s not quite yet,full blown summer as such. Perhaps, late spring as we hope, so often for some more consistant summer like weather. There`s somrthing optimistic in these paintings which, of course I like.
Everyday At this time of day A yellow stripe of light And a purple stripe of shadow Come together. They believe They are inseperable now, Complementary. "Yellow" was always hoping to enjoy A peaceful life With "Purple", Forever. But we know It's a fleeting passion... But thanks to Julian's painting It is now an infinite Love.
Julian's done a Rothko! thank you , such beauty.... and alain too for the right words as always... the two of you make my day brighter.
Speaking of Rothko, you are bringing into focus there is no absolute borderline between Realism and Abstraction. That's what I like so much in Julian's poetic work. That's why I'm so garrulous (I love this english word!) too.
The purple is lavender (or lavandin to be precise: a much richer purple than the true lavender which will be in full bloom in a couple of weeks). The patchwork of wheat/oat/barley fields and lavender seperated by little green tracks is one of the highlights of late June/July in Provence.
External visions -- internal meditations. They go together, as does memory, in Proust. I will never forget the lavender fields near a tiny town called Puymeras (where there is always the argument of pronouncing, or not, the final "s.")It's near Vaison-la-Romaine, another favorite of mine. I usually don't like Pastis, but sitting in an outdoor cafe, in full summer, with mottled shadows all around, I could sip the drink, ice-cold, all day. On market days it's simply wonderful. I wish I could buy packets of lavender wrapped in plastic sacks here, and use it in closets, etc. Julian, you're a memory instigator, as words are in Proust. And, as Alain says, you bring other painters of wheat to mind. The "Rothko-esque" element here is truly beautiful.
I forgot to mention the juxtaposition of the colors lavender to the blue of the mountains in the background behind the green trees -- which pick up the first light green grass as it is juxtaposed to the darker green trees. Mastery made mystery.
What I like in this painting is the orchestration of the colour in repetition. It creates a complex composition that bears a deliberate imprint of the artist. There is yellow-green in the sky, dark green in the trees with a tiny stroke of yellow behind a tree on the left and a little brown to suggest branches. Another green and some yellow-green creates the grass in the right foreground of the image. There is pale blue in the sky, blue behind the trees However, in one place the blue behind the trees seems to pop out in a brushstroke. There is a very pale touch of lavender in the sky. All these colours conspire to make the lavender and gold pop out. Finally, Julian you have signed the painting in a very clear manner with yellow or yellow green. Your artistic confidence shines through in this image. Congratulations!!!!!!
Wow! Memorable comments, jol and Barbara M!
any chance of a print of Summer Fields? It's gorgeous!