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Water

Posted on 8/13/2020 7:12:41 AM - Comment on this
Topics: Q&A Series

Water

Do you think this time of COVID-19, of social distancing and quarantine, could inspire you (consciously or not) to "travel" in your paintings, or to create particularly tranquil images as antidotes? Have you noticed any other consequences for your art?

Sidney Oliver

I often tell this story about the time I had an upcoming exhibition and the only thing that inspired me to work was water-the idea and process of painting water. I've learned to go with the flow when I get on a kick because it often leads to a lovely, satisfying, and productive period of painting. Every book I read, every movie I watched, and most of my thought processes involved some sort of water scene. At the time, I was living at an elevation of 4,000 feet in the mountains of North Carolina and the exhibition was scheduled to be in a landlocked state, but it didn't matter. Mentally I had the compulsion to paint some sort of water. As I recall, the scenes I painted were situated in either England or New England because the preponderance of my photographs of water featured those locations.

Harraseeket Lunch & Lobster, 11X14," Oil on Panel

Above is one of my "water paintings" during my first water-painting kick.

Back then I was in the throes of a flare up with a chronic illness. Now, the world is in turmoil due to a pandemic. Healing is needed for our bodies, for our minds, and for our souls. Again, water comes to mind.

Neither the immersion then nor the immersion now was a planned endeavor.

As a sedative I watch a lot of documentaries at night. I prefer them to be interesting, but not so interesting as to be enthralling. By chance, I came across Cruising the Cut on Amazon Prime and on YouTube. Unfortunately for me, it doesn't fall into the not-enthralling category. I've become addicted to watching David Johns maneuver his narrowboat along the canals in England. No music to block out the sounds he is hearing as he allows the viewer to experience the journeys as he is experiencing them. I even find myself enjoying his maintenance days on his boat. I began watching as purer escapism, but now I find myself consciously observing the play of light on the water, the light filtering through the trees, the differences between the long views and the short views along the canals. While watching, I'm escaping, I'm educating myself, and, above all, I'm mentally working.

My 2001 photograph of a narrowboat on the River Avon.

My recent work has centered on oil paintings using small 6"X8" panels. The paintings are loosely based on photographs I've taken of the water and, often, the water in England. I've never set foot on a narrowboat, but I have worked a lock when my mother and I were asked to help a boater while we were painting by the River Avon near a lock in 2001. I've also been through locks while traveling for a week with a friend and her family when we left Knoxville and boated to Alabama, so I have experienced locks.

Within several days of posting this, it dawned on me that I have a photograph of a lock that was taken in 1965 on our trip down the Tennessee River. Sometimes it really is possible to find old photographs.

After watching the "Cruising the Cut" and the locks on the English canals, this lock appears quite massive.

My friend, on the right, and I had just finished our junior year of high school.

Narrowboat near a weir on the River Avon-2001

The other included photographs were taken while staying on the River (Stratford) Avon for a week in the spring of 2001.

We stayed & painted within a short walking distance from the Robert Aickman/Harvington Lock.

Below are recent paintings loosely taken from photographs of the River Thames.

Early Evening on the River Thames, 6X8," Oil on Panel

Twilight on the River Thames, 6X8," Oil on Panel

Fog on the River Thames, 6X8," Oil on Panel

In 2016, a friend and I stayed for a week on a working farm in Oxford, on the River Thames, and across from Port Meadow. We had ample opportunity to walk on the towpaths in all kinds of light. I hadn't taken advantage of my photographs until Cruising the Cut inspired me.

Swimming Hole, 6X8," Oil on Panel

The good news is that most of us don't have to travel to England or very far to find water to paint.

Without COVID-19, I might not have discovered Cruising the Cut or found the time in which to allow myself to be immersed in viewing such a relaxing, beautiful, and constantly updated series. Continuing the immersion by painting scenes of water might not have occurred if not for this weird situation in which all of us have found ourselves.

Regardless of the situation, I can guarantee that I always find ways to

Enjoy the Process!

Ruthie Windsor-Mann