The Orchard in Les Baronnies, ©John O’Grady
19.6″ x 19.6″ x 1.25″, oil on deep edge wooden panel, ready to hang.
NFS (Not for Sale)
Ancient little villages are scattered here and there in ‘Les Baronnies’. Its valleys shelter fruit orchards, olive groves and lavender fields.
One evening, the sun was dropping and I was driving through the area when, in an orchard, I noticed someone appearing and disappearing between the fruit trees growing on an incline.
I carried on but the image of that fugitive figure moving in and out of sight stayed with me. An enigma. A mystery…
A few days ago when I started this painting, her image vividly came back.
The person I saw was dressed in dark colours but the painting seemed to call out for white to work with the flat saturated colours surrounding it.
When I made her rough outline, I wanted something that would echo the curves of the slender tree trunk.
I tried placing her in several areas of the painting but it took me a while to decide where would be best. And then, slightly secreted by the trees felt right.
The rich flat colours and the tall vertical tree trunks dwarf the distant lone figure.
The effect is pleasingly disorientating, don’t you think?
This is absolutely magical!
And your description, the whole story..just so beautiful.
Thank you very much Gloria. Glad to hear the painting and the description caught your imagination, as much as the inspiration for the painting caught mine.
Hello John, adorable fresh spring green contrasts so well with the blue and I love the glorious pink tinge in the sky. It is vibrant and energising but also intriguing. Apart from these wonderful ‘flat’ colours I also love the sculptural, elegant shape of the trees which seem to bend and sway. The lone female figure adds an air of mystery and you and Gloria express that so very well – magical indeed.
Hello Chris,
Thank you for your comment on the colour arrangement of blue green and pink. I was happy how they worked together on a flat surface. I am glad you picked up on the curve of the trees, I elongated them in a sort of El Greco way to make them more statuesque