Looking Up ©John O’Grady
23.5″ x 15.75″ x 1.3″ acrylic on Arches watercolour paper, mounted on deep edge panel and ready to hang.
$977 with free shipping.
Moonrise over the Orchard ©John O’Grady
12″ x 12″ x 1.75″ acrylic on deep edge canvas, ready to hang.
$397 with free shipping.
On completion of these two pieces, what piqued my interest in showing them together was how seemingly different the two are but also how they illustrate commonly recurring themes in my work.
‘Looking Up’ has the light and drama of an Irish sky while ‘Moonrise over the Orchard’ is a smaller, more intimate piece that very much echoes Provence.
‘Looking Up’
The big sky of the first piece falls within the romantic tradition where awe and expansiveness are laid out before us. Whenever I make this type of painting, it’s always with a nod to John Constable and Caspar David Friedrich.
I wanted to give the feeling of us being led into the painting via the path on the right and then on across the hedgerows dotted in the fading distance like a score on a stave. It leads us to the muted rose glow of the sea and then, we look up and up through the diagonal curtains of light filling the sky.
The fields’ rich vibrant green and regular formations offer a stark contrast to the cool unfolding drama above that can neither be regimented nor controlled.
‘Moonrise over the Orchard’
From the boisterous sweep of sky and vista of open land, we move to a hushed orchard in Les Baronnies.
Often when I look at paintings, it is a pleasure to notice the long tradition that travels with them.
Here, I recalled the quiet interior pieces of Édouard Vuillard that depict wonderful interweaving patterns.
A delight to the eye.
In my painting, the clouds’ velvety arabesques are touched by the curves of the blossoms saluting the moon.
It’s as if we are invited to a special ceremony in the secluded spot where a secret is slowly revealing itself while, among the overgrown grasses, we look on, mesmerised.
Which one of these two paintings appeals more to you and why? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
This is a double delight today! It made me wonder about the creative process required for eachpainting and whether you need to have a different mindset for each? You have mentioned before that you work from memory so I wonder if certain memories are the trigger in each case – Ireland and Provence. They are very different in their atmosphere, composition and colour. ‘Big Sky and Secluded Valley’ is open, celebratory and energising as it takes me on a visual journey whilst ‘Moonrise over the Orchard’ has the opposite effect of feeling enclosed, private, still, almost secretive. I like them both very much but I am intrigued by the enticing path, delighted by the glorious greens and pinks of the fields and hedgerows and energised by that big awe inspiring sky; it makes me want to breathe. They are both beautifully and skilfully executed – many congratulations John.
Hello Chris,
Yes two for the price of one posting today. It’s an interesting point you raise about ‘different mindets’ It some that I hadn’t really thought about while making the paintings but certainly did afterwards. I think what happens Chris is that the paint colour and markmakings dictate which direction things go and then being open and responsive to that. Thank you for your thoughtful comment on the paintings,I thought you might take a walk down the path through the fields
John, two very different pictures ….and I think so very interesting, the first really is covering the dramatic skies we are experiencing now what with warm weather, thundery skies and rain…..the light around the clouds could be seen as the sun or something else…the second has la Luna ……an eerie feel to this one for me. Well done John……x
Hello Julia,
Thank you very much for your comment, I certainly feel the same way about the thundery skies, we have been having storms for the the last three weeks. The piece with ‘La Luna’ does have an eerie feel to it alright, perhaps a little bit otherworldly.