What's your muse? And why?
landscape paintings - Loriann Signori
Monday, March 29, 2010
our muses
What's your muse? And why?
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What's your muse? And why?
What's your muse? And why?
landscape paintings - Loriann Signori
12 comments:
I think mine is the road. I just put together an email for my list about a new road painting and writing it out, realized how inspired I am by road trips and the road itself. Love how it slices through the landscape!
I do loves me some trees. But, you've been here, so you know why.
Glad you're home and I look forward to your water/sky (and color!) muse.
Dogs rule.
p.s. Welcome back!
Hi Lisa, your road and water paintings are gorgeous! Interesting what you say about the road and what it means to you.
Hi Casey,tree man! Why do you think you resonate with trees? It's good to be back, even though I miss my swamp.
Sam, HI! Yup, I should have guessed that your love of dogs is a driving force in your work. Makes sense.
I like that you call dogs "a driving force". I think they are perhaps that more than actual subjects. An apt definition of a muse, I think.
Hi Loriann, I love your vitamins, I mean your paintings. :) Seriously, your paintings are gorgeous, the way you keep your values fairly close together in most of your work is very peaceful. I'm so glad I found your blog. What a great question you had today, it made me think about what my muse is. For me it has to be figures, specifically skin in light and shadow. Thank you for sharing your awesome work.
Joan
I grew up in a logging family on the Olympic Peninsula - giant, giant trees that blacked out the sky. Triple canopy forests, etc.
Holy cow did I have trees growing up!
Thanks for asking. BTW, my dad's last job was as a janitor at the paper manufacturing plant. He would bring home boxes of paper, and pencil stubs.
AAAAAK! I don't think I have a muse!!
But, your water muse is obvious and is leading you to new and wonderful places.
Hi Loriann,
Welcome back from Florida. My muse- trees whether in a group , along a body of water or perhaps framing a mountain. Sometimes I will go to a long range view but mostly I prefer a more close up intimate setting. My interest in trees as subject matter began back in 1992. While driving along Rt 46 NJ going towards Hackettstown NJ I came across a beautiful stand of trees in full foliage.I can still see the beautiful light hitting the yellow leaves & white trunks. It seemed that New England had come to New Jersey. Coming back to them about one or two weeks later they were cut down. I think that there is now one of those self storage places where they once stood. Standing there and watching, absorbing this truly magnificent scene was an incredible experience. It cried out to be remembered and recorded. Two events served as a catalyst for a series of paintings that I called Hackettstown Trees. The trees themselves , my source of inspiration were cut down in the name of so called "progress" The second source of inspiration for this series was viewing an installation at the Ronald Feldman Gallery, NYC entitled , "The Serpentine Lattice". This was a multi-media installation proposing a new history for the North American Pacific Coast rain forest, {Northern California to Southeast Alaska} curated by Newton Harrison and Helen Mayer Harrison. I can still remember seeing for the first time the destructive practices of clear cutting. I do not exactly why I decided to go to see this gallery but I am glad that I did. After viewing this exhibition I was determined to continue working on the series of paintings that developed from my initial inspiration while driving along RT 46. After viewing this ecological holocaust and along with the loss of my original inspiration I realized that there are trees, singularly and in groups that needed to be remembered and recorded.No matter how permanent a tree or group of trees may look, it only takes a decision to remove it completely and forever. Therefore , the paintings in this series would serve as a metaphor for the magnificence of trees, their importance in our lives and the symbolism they represent.
This was back in the early 1990's . Though I will paint landscapes that do not feature trees as my main subject matter to this day trees remain a central theme of my painting. I would classify that my trees in my paintings are not realistic. I do not set out to depict a scene but with getting to the essence of the landscape the evocation of a presence seen and felt.
Hi Sam..driving force it is then.
Hi Joan! Welcome to my blog! Enjoy your muse I will be around to check out what's happening on your blog after your trip to NYC.
Hi CAsey,
Now it all makes perfect sense. Thanks for sharing a little bit about yourself and your muse.
Hi Katherine, Don't worry if you don't have a muse. She will find you. In the mean time continue to love painting.
Hi NJ,
Thank you for taking the time to share your story. I think I know how you feel. I love the way you put it.."getting to the essence of the landscape the evocation of a presence seen and felt." Where may i see your work?
Hi Loriann, thanks for the mention regarding my skies. Your post certainly made me think about why we paint the same subject time after time. I think the sky is transparent and ever changing and as a child I would always lay on our lawn gazing up at the sky and just loved watching those clouds of many shapes and colours simply float by. Maybe this is why I feel I 'must paint skies' I simply am captivated by them. I also love the simplicity of your swamp and river scenes the subtle colouring is so beautiful. Interesting to hear you were down by the river again on your return home. Do you have happy childhood memories of being by the water? I used to paint the sea more than the sky as the happiest times with my family were by the sea.
Hi Caroline, I certainly understand why you are captivated by the skies where you live. Sounds like you spent a lot of time looking up.
My childhood home is surrounded by lakes, ponds, rivers, and streams. Since our home was somewhat isolated I spent all my time in the woods exploring. Still that is where I feel best. It's amazing how our childhood life influences us so!
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