Monday, September 5, 2011

"Poets and Cattle" statement


These paintings were titled in honor of the Brownings, Robert and Elizabeth Barrett. Both are acrylic on canvas, 9 by 12 inches.
Here is the artist statement for this show, which is opening, as I've probably mentioned, with a reception September 24, 6 to 8:30 pm, and ends October 15.


"Those cattle smaller than a Bee, That herd upon the eye..."

So begins the poem by Emily Dickinson that inspired this series of paintings. Cattle are symbols of the pastoral American mythology we all carry in our collective subconscious, regardless of whether or not we have first hand experience with them.

In painting terms, the forms of cattle provide an opportunity to explore mass and shape, as well as color, texture and composition, their rectangular geometry creating contrast to the organic landscape serving as the base.

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