John O Grady Art - Peak-Time II
Peak-Time II, ©John O’Grady 2015
Oil on deep edged canvas, 20″ x 20″ x 1.75″
It does not require framing and is ready to hang.

SOLD
Some things I feel precious about but changing or destroying a painting is not one of them.

Nearly a year ago I painted ‘City of Tiny Lights II’ and published it on this blog.

The painting didn’t fly and in hindsight, I understand why: not enough contrast, poor composition and I also remember the difficulty I had in trying to capture the time when it’s still light but the city lights have just come on. Here it is:

City of Tiny Lights II. www.JohnOGradypaintings.com.

I have been looking at this painting and last week, something clicked. ‘The Blue Hour II’ helped me to find an anchor and a symmetry that was missing from the original.

What I wrote a year ago still applies to the new piece:

‘As shown in the series “Take me to the Island”, I am drawn to solitary viewpoints on the edge of something, looking out across the sea to an island or looking at the city from a place of silence, wondering what lives people lead there…

A city has a different feel to an Island but when looking at a city at night, the glow of the lights suggests the magical, the mysterious and the beguiling. It’s poetry. Emotions, experiences, life and death are all played out in all their richness in a city.’

The addition of the moon at mid point gives a balance and stillness to the piece whilst in the lower part, the frenetic movement of the cars at rush hour with the acid colour of the car lights and city lights send a pink glow skyward.

The result is richer in colour, depth, contrast and atmosphere than the original painting. I changed the title as well. It seems to follow the theme of the previous ‘Peak-Time’ #260 painting.

I’d love to hear what you think.