Autumn is a favourite season of mine, perhaps because I don't live in a place with four seasons and don't have to face the prospects of a bleak cold winter ahead with all the bothersome things associated with it. And coming from a country with tropical greens all-year round, the gloriousness of autumn colours never fails to amaze me.
So when I travel, this is usually the season I try to catch - not the hot hot summers where I have had more than 
enough in my home country, not the cold cold winters even though the sight of snow is exciting to me as well - although spring is a close second preference. But the autumn window is notoriously brief and hard to time, sometimes arriving too early sometimes too late.. but when I did have the privilege to witness the grandeur, it's such a blessing, sigh..
Yet this beautiful transient period is such a provocateur of conflicting emotions - stimulation at the visual treat of nature at its surreal best versus trepidation of what is to come after - so we angst over the beauty, the brevity, the fragility of life, the effluxion of time - even the chinese character for autumn ( 秋 ) with a heart ( 心 ) at the bottom means sorrow ( 愁 ).
When I decided to paint autumn landscapes, this becomes a natural theme for my experiment with expressionism - a season of change, a season that prompts many thoughts - a season for contemplation ( 静禅 ), solitude ( 独思 ) & decisions ( 抉择 ), the titles of my 3 pieces in this Autumn Thoughts series.
Title: Contemplation (O24,SA26)
Description: Autumn is a season of change, with nature seemingly determined to depart from spring with a climax of its most glorious colours before retreating to bitter winter. It is also a period that provokes the most conflicting emotions. Contemplation is the 1st work in my Autumn Thoughts series and exhibited at the inaugural alfresco art fair @ clifford square from 30 Oct~1 Nov 09. 2009.
Medium: Oil on Ready-to-Hang Canvas.
Dimensions: 45 x 45cm.
Price: SOLD.
Title: Solitude (O25,SA27)
Description: The second work in my Autumn Thoughts series. Aloneness with one's thoughts is the theme of this piece. 2009.
Medium: Oil on Ready-to-Hang Canvas.
Dimensions: 60 x 45cm.
Title: Decisions (O26,SA28)
Description: Autumn Thoughts series. The inevitable need to find meaning and resolution in our thoughts is the central theme behind this piece. 2009.Medium: Oil on Ready-to-Hang Canvas.
Dimensions: 60 x 45cm.
Price: SOLD.
7 comments:
anna jasmin said...
This painting (Contemplation) attracts, and I am happy it does. It possess a certain awe. Love looking at it!
jeffrey said...
I like the lighter shades in Solitude - kind of resonates with the theme how the colours of life start fading away when autumn beckons, don't you think? =)
beibei said...
like Contemplation and Decisions. Stronger Autumn Colors for me. I love Autumn too..那多事的秋。
jiayi said...
I like Solitude as well. 喜欢比较细腻的画作。
allison said...
Beautiful painting (Contemplation miniwork) (I just got it framed and hung and love it) and a great seller. Thank you!
janet said...
Just wanted to let you know that I received your painting (Solitude miniwork) yesterday.. Safe and sound, I love it!!
melissa forcier said...
Really beautiful!! (Contemplation painting)
My 1st series!!! Well, at least I'm calling it so - zee Cloud Series. I've written about how this piece came about before (see current work post) so I will not repeat.
The reference pic was taken at my 2nd backpacking trip, and one of my best trips, to the Canadian Rockies which seemed like eons ago now. I was trudging around Tunnel Mountain at the Banff National Park in dramatic conditions (i.e. trying desperately not to be blown off) when I came across this fallen tree log and was dumbfounded by the scene, with the golden brush rustling against it up into the horizon where ominous clouds gather above the hint of the Voodoos glacial mountains in the distance. I had a wonderful adventure at the Rockies with stunning scenery aplenty but in terms of intensity, this pic best captures the tintillating wilderness of the elements of mother nature in this beautiful region. And it was with this intensity in mind that I laid the thick knife strokes and bold colours.
I'm proud to announce that this painting will be shown at the 6 perspectEVEs exhibition on 4 ~ 28 August 2009 at The Art Loft @ Volvo.
Title: Cloud Series ~ The Log (O15,SA6)
Description: Capturing the dramatic tension between the elements at the Canadian Rockies. 2008.
Medium: Oil on Ready-to-Hang Canvas.
Dimensions: 50 x 40cm.
1 comment:
jeffrey said...
"The Log" is captivating!
The reference photo for this piece was taken on the famous 100-mile Klondike Highway from Skagway, Alaska to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, paralleling the White Pass Trail of the 1897-98 Klondike Gold Rush. I love this shot because it shows the winding road flanked by tumbling autumn slopes with majestic snow-laden mountains interpersed in clouds looming ahead. Everything folds into a kaleidoscopic centre where the highway appears to dip into a lake, hinting at the drama and spectacle that lays ahead.
I did the watercolour piece at a time when I was experimenting with watercolours, which I learned to be an unforgiving medium when it came to mistakes. However, I was really pleased with the nuanced effects I could achieve for the clouds interplay with the mountains. Later when I moved back to oil and started using painting knife, I decided to try this piece in a different mood. I had been trying to learn colour theory from artbooks which somehow stifled my inspiration, so this piece was a happy comeback explosion of sorts for my colourful palette. In the end, I have 2 works on the same scene but varying in medium and moods - one bold and glorious, the other subdued and pensive - echoing respectively the sweeping events of the grand epic adventure that was the Klondike Gold Rush and the poignant poetic side of the individual human stories.
The oil piece will be displayed at the 6 perspectEVEs exhibition from 17 ~ 28 August 2009 at The Art Loft @ Volvo.
Title: Seasons ~ Autumn Crescendo (O8)
Description: On the Klondike Highway from Alaska to Yukon. 2008.
Medium: Oil on Ready-to-Hang Canvas.
Dimensions: 73 x 60cm.
Price: SOLD.
Watercolour Autumn Highway (W1) 41x32cm: S$80 (USD62).
2 comments:
alice said...This is gorgeous!
judy said...
Your use of color adds excitement to your work! I love your treatment of the mountain scape in Autumn Crescendo and the lovely Winter Wonderland.
