Thursday, January 27, 2011

"In the shadow of the Vaucluse", 16x12, oil on masonite


"In the shadow of the Vaucluse", 16x12, oil on masonite

I was just discussing with a friend recently how fortunate Europeans are. They can just hop in their cars or get on the train and within a few hours they are in an area with a totally different culture, cuisine and language from where the the trip originated. That's the beauty of Europe and I really long to go back there one of these days.

My goal in painting this scene was to sharply constrast the light and shadow passages. In Provence, the light is incredibly beautiful- rather orangey in nature with amazingly deep blue skies, and so I contrasted orange against blue and raw umber in this painting to show the shadow patterns that exist within this ancient alleyway in Provence which lies in the shadow of the Vaucluse mountains and the castle of the Marquis de Sade.

2 comments:

Typh said...

Dear Maryanne, looking for work with knife on the network, I found you. I must say that I was glad of your work. Wonderful colors. Congratulations by a jazz pianist. Certainly I come often to see new paint. Thank you. Typh from Italy (poor Italy :/).
Sorry for bad "engrish" :)

Deborah Lawrenson said...

I've only just found your gorgeous blog, and scrolled down the Santa Barbara paintings and posts thinking, 'This is very like Provence' (where we are are some of the time)...and then I found this - lovely! I feature Provencal artists now and then on my writer's blog - but would love to make an exception and do a collaboration with you.