Forest Landscape, 2020, Acrylic on canvas, 100 x 150 cm (39.3 x 59 in), SOLD
"Whistler opened the eyes of artists...
Painting is... the harmony of beauty."
Hayashi Tadamasa
A few days ago marked six years since applying the final touches to Forest Landscape. My unexpected success at my last exhibition prompted me to re-evaluate why I experienced sadness upon parting with Forest Landscape.
Firstly, I still cannot believe the incredible luck of receiving the two commissions from my client just before the coronavirus pandemic hit, plunging the world into the first lockdown. It still feels as if they were meant to come when they did. I found Forest Landscape much more to my liking than the other commission because it really challenged me as an artist. In a way it felt as if the canvas acted as a teacher pushing me to really develop and learn as an artist.
At the beginning the enormous blank canvas was off putting and acted as a mirror of my fear of making mistakes and so making me hesitate to make the first stroke. The canvas taught "critical" lessons during the process; confrontation with fear, boundaries (forcing me to learn composition), freedom can lead to chaos, but the canvas does not lie to the artist because it reflects the effects of an artist's technique (thereby prompting self-improvement) and to react to what is actually happening on the surface. Finally the canvas taught me the most important critical lesson; a canvas acts as a record of an artist's personal growth.
Forest Landscape has created long lasting memories but has also impacted my journey as an artist. My palette dramatically redeveloped and brightened drawing inspiration from Van Gogh while combining it with a contemporary style - reflecting a more serious minded personality. My redeveloped palette generated my belief that artistic talent and human emotional maturity run parallel to each other.
I am certainly no Van Gogh and I do not see myself becoming a new age version of him. Nevertheless the way Van Gogh profoundly projected empathy into his work to reach out to others and his desire to comfort humanity has been major influences on this painting and other work following that.
The most significant lesson I learned from Forest Landscape is that landscape paintings are not about documenting a geographical record but transforming scenery into a mirror and a reflection of the human soul. Now when I look at Forest Landscape, I realise I projected the following onto the painting; new found maturity, new found confidence, the redeveloped palette and determination to find beauty and harmony despite the strange times during the lockdown. In a way my emotional connection during the process of painting inspired the choice of colour palette. I applied the impasto technique and decided to give the trees and leaves a human soul. The thing was I had to stay at home during the first lockdown but once I made my mark on the canvas it really felt like escaping into a harmonious sanctuary of beauty and hope.
In conclusion the reason why I was saddened to part with Forest Landscape was because it felt like losing a comforting companion during the lockdown. Creating the painting from scratch and using strong vibrant colours blocked out the noises of the lockdown. So it felt like escaping into another world despite the constrains of the lockdown.
Overall parting with Forest Landscape felt like a colourful season coming to an end. All seasons inevitably end but memories and experiences last forever and comfort the human soul.
