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Affinity for Nature?

Almost Spring, 16X20," Oil on Panel

Spring might not look like this, but it sure does feel like this with those lacy trees and the switch from one season to another.

Do you have a particular affinity for nature? What moves you? How/why did you come to paint the fantastic nests (speaking as a beneficiary)? 

   Sidney Oliver

Sid, I wish I could say yes, but the shortest answer possible is no. At least, not initially.

Swiss Colors, Watercolor on Illustration Board

Most painters seem to be drawn to paint certain subjects and this can change as circumstances change. Early on in my painting career, my natural proclivity was to paint buildings, and, in particular, European buildings. They were old and had developed a lovely patina that captivated me. 

Rappahannock Sky Series 8, 8X10," Oil on Panel

All Dressed Up and No Place to Go, 6X8," Oil on Panel

It wasn't until I moved in the middle of a hayfield in rural Rappahannock County in Virginia that I was forced to really see and feel the natural world. My studio and house are situated on a knoll and this gives me the opportunity to see beautiful sunrises and sunsets, so my first foray into seriously painting nature came in the way of bales of hay or morning and evening skies. These paintings were very small as I was living and painting in my one-room studio at the time.

Nest of Lichen, 24X36," Oil on Panel

Someone presented me with a nest covered in lichen and the colors set me off into producing the above painting.

I've covered the nests in Nests? How Did it all Begin? My location had everything to do with painting nests. I say it in the nest post, but it is worth repeating that I choose to not know too much about birds and nests because I am approaching this from an aesthetic angle and not from the standpoint of an ornithologist. At first, I thought I needed to strictly adhere to specific birds and their specific nests. I felt confined and limited in doing this. I was not into documenting what I saw. A camera can do that.

Painters interpret. 

Now, the only way there possibly could be a bit of a yes in the answer to your question would be that I've always loved the natural elements. I'm not a naturalist in that I have no idea what mountain range I'm seeing or what bird that is. I'm attracted to Turner's later work because he deals with the elements. The only golf tournament I like to watch is the British Open because it's often fraught with a bombardment of rain, wind, fog, and other natural hazards. I love to watch football if it's snowing or raining. Playing and watching sports in covered stadiums or in any indoor capacity seems quite fraudulent to me.

Whether the story is or is not a fabrication, I understand why Turner "had himself lashed to the ship’s mast for four hours in the midst of the storm."

The brilliant J. M. W. Turner needed to fully internalize that experience in order to be able to produce a work that would let the viewer vicariously experience being at sea in a storm. For a painter, words are useless. The painter is trying to create a feeling by using images.

The above and below photographs are normal scenes I am lucky enough to see from my house and my studio.

Who could fail to be affected by such sights?

Therefore, now that I am living in the midst of the elements, I seem to be drawn to painting large paintings of fog, water, fire, and any other natural surprise available. This is a portion from an artist's statement I was asked to provide for a show and it might explain my fascination with fog.

While driving in the fog for two hours one morning, I noticed the exquisite quality of the light playing on the emerging silhouettes.  I focused on developing a sense of how I could translate what I was seeing onto the canvas while wanting to make that fog seem engulfing as well as weightless, seemingly opaque, but not solid.  Thus began my fascination with painting the ethereal aspects of nature.

Tranquil Fog, 30X40, Oil on Panel

I remember a real estate appraiser telling me that she hated fog because she could always get a photograph of a house in all types of weather, but the fog tended to blur or wipe out the features. For a painter, that's divine. It's a natural creation of mystery.

I'm not into learning about the natural world, but I am interested in feeling the natural world. For me, I fear that taking the more academic approach would dilute what I'm trying to portray on the canvas. I'm creating an illusion and not regurgitating facts. Cameras and words can do that.

Take advantage of your surroundings whatever they may be. If you are a painter, try to enable others to see and feel your surroundings as you see and feel them.

Enjoy the process!

  Ruthie Windsor-Mann

This post is part of a series of Q & As between Ruthie Windsor-Mann and Sidney Oliver. 

We invite the reader to join in with other questions in the comments section. This needs to be interactive in order to work.

All photographs are by Ruthie Windsor-Mann unless otherwise credited.

Copyright 2019 Ruthie Windsor-Mann All Rights Reserved