Maine’s Rothko Inspiration

Transparent. Reflective. Abstract. Real. All at once.

That’s how I view quick snapshots taken while walking along York Beach, Maine last summer when the water was at least 55 degrees warmer than today. I was playing with my compact camera simply letting it do its thing–opening and closing the shutter and allowing light to come in. It’s these impulsive, unscripted images that allow for some interpretation as well as connections to other seemingly unrelated things. A Mark Rothko painting (famous for his color field approach) for instance, seems to have been inspired by a seascape such as the one I’ve posted here. This kind of simplification can be a show stopper when the rest of the online world is showing/displaying an incredible number of images every second of every day. I’m tired just thinking about it. Thought for today is simple, simplify.

 Blue Divided by Blue, 1966, Mark Rothko, 1903-1970.

State of Maine Blues

Surrounded by Blues

Coastal Maine with its crisp whites, deep blues and accents of reds and oranges continue to find their way into my artwork. One day it occurred to me that if Maine redesigned its state flag it could look something like this. Of course inlanders would not be happy so I’ve kept this idea to myself. One visitor to one of my outdoor show in South Portland, Maine this summer laughed out loud when he saw the title and “got” the image. A fun moment. Not a sale but just as rewarding when someone understands that my work is not representational but seeks to propose a different, uncommon way of viewing common views. I abstract elements of a landscape and reorder, repurpose and reimagine all while filtering this input through my head and heart. Whew. Amazing how humans work.

Boston Strong on Union Street

Scouting out a location in a busy city such as Boston can be an intimidating process. The sheer number of possibilities for making a painting can be overwhelming to evaluate. Choosing just the right location–one with a good view, open space for setting up equipment, safe from traffic, animals, and other oddities is not easy. We found this location on a scouting trip taken with my daughter, Katie Trainor, who lives  in Boston and works at Francesca’s Coffee Café on Tremont Street, right around the corner from Union Street Park. Perfect. Her knowledge of the area and my preferences was invaluable to selecting this spot. Just enough area to setup, a beautiful spring day at the pocket park, and of course, proximity to a bathroom :). Sidewalk location was just right to allow me to set up and allow neighbors to get by–and chat. A win for all. The Copley Society of Art PaintOut was one week after the Boston bombing at the Marathon so the city was still reeling. Good to know this event and sale of my painting helped a little to add to the Boston Strong fundraising effort.

Coexisting–Plein Air and Studio Air

 

We artists have so many options open to us as we design a new piece of art. This one is less real and more abstract or is it more abstract than real. Let me explain. I love working with the landscape–New England, Caribbean and beyond– and that does not always mean working directly in front of it–plein air–as it is commonly known. I enjoy the process of interpreting the things that have inspired me and reworking into artworks that speak the language of the landscape but also let my personal interpretations in as well. Let me know your thoughts on this new piece entered in the Modernist Exhibition at the Copley Society of Art in Boston. Let see if it makes the cut. It was inspired by Amadeo de Souza Cardoso, Portuguese, 1877-1918, “The Leap of the Rabbit.” Pieces entered are required to be inspired by a work or artist own at famous The Armory Show in NYC in 1913.

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Painting About More Than Reflections

How a blurry photo of a clear day inspires

It seems to be endlessly interesting for art viewers to learn the story behind a painting. And to tell you the truth I like to dig in and find out this information too when I am on the gallery hopping route. I like to make the link from inspiration to interpretation and put myself in an artist’s shoes/sandals/barefeet and see what they saw, feel what they felt, and hear the little thing that became so powerful it had to become an artwork. It’s these translations that are as varied as there are artists in the world. So enjoy the view and let me know your thoughts on my visual story above. Find me and click the “Like” button to follow me on Facebook at www.Facebook/anntrainordomingueart or www.anntrainordomingue.com

Finding art in a wetland of New Hampshire

From soggy wet to art

How many options are there with a photo reference such as this? So many I still haven’t exhausted the possibilites and I have done at least 12 paintings of all sizes to try to capture the essence of this scene. So much to work with. So much to leave out. The trick is which is which. And that is the most fun and challenging. Some landscape images thrill me, others do not. I use my sketchbook to work on figuring this out. Lots and lots of pages. Each one getting closer to what my sensibilities say is right. Yours, and any artist’s will be different. Isn’t that great? Visit my website to see more www.anntrainordomingue.com or email me at domingue@comcast.net to receive my newsletter.

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