Thursday, December 28, 2006

My Version


Elkin's Barns, 2006, Oil on Panel, 8x10


Must paint all day today! But I am putting up a piece that will be included in the upcoming show. I did eight, 8x10's and all but one turned out. I still have a few days to go though, and I think I can get one more finished to make it an even eight again.

These are two of three barns located on our neighbor's property. I have painted them several times, with varying degrees of success. They seem to turn out best when I apply my own version of color rather than painting what they really are, which is a beautiful, worn down classic barn red.

12 comments:

Steven LaRose said...

Ok.
I'm going to bight the bullet and possibly reveal something weird about myself. Some of these barns have been acting like Rorchach ink blots for me and I can't help but see them as people. Now, I know that that in itself is not weird, in fact it is almost impossible for us humans. Its just that I keep seeing rap artists posing for their records. I keep seeing promotional photographs for musicians with an attitude. Go ahead and laugh.

Are you going to post all eight?

Steven LaRose said...

ooops
It's impossible for us humans NOT to see human atributes in things is what I meant to say.

Tracy Helgeson said...

I don't think you are weird, at least not for this particular reason:-)

I hear that comment fairly often and I think it is a very interesting observation, since applying human attributes to barns is not exactly my intent. But perhaps that's why it happens. Not sure that I see any rap artists or anything, but I do know what you mean. And actually the houses I have been working on seem to have much more of this happening, at least according to Doug.

I will eventually be putting all of the 8x10's up. Only four of them are barns, the rest are landscapes.

Tracy Helgeson said...

Thanks, Steven, by the way. I always like to hear your observations.

Unknown said...

Just found your blog. Really appreciate your technique and bold use of color and color blocking. I'm a huge fan of color and now I'm a fan of yours!

Anonymous said...

Tracy,
Looking at your painting, my eyes move from the fabulous violet mist in the foreground, the lovely blue next to the house to the blue on the roof, to the soft greens and finally to the blue sky. To my eye, the barns are obstacles in a magic landscape. Totally different from what steven sees.

Anonymous said...

Tracy, I left the last comment. I meant to give my name.

Tracy Helgeson said...

Hi Jayne, Thanks for the comment and I am flattered by it as I admire your sense of color too! I will enjoy seeing more of your work.

Thanks Birgit. I think one of the best things about art, is that it can be interpreted in so many different ways, depending on what the viewer brings to it.

You've used the word obstacle to refer to the barns. But if they weren't there your eye would not travel in the same way through the landscape. So maybe they should be considered a means to an end rather than an obstacle?

Anonymous said...

Tracy, I was giving you my honest emotional response.

Our perceptions are strongly affected by what we saw as children. As a child, I walked my dog on top of dikes overlooking a bay of the North Sea. I was conditioned to look unimpeded into the distance.

Once, hiking with friend in Colorado, he told me how cozy it would be to have a cottage nestled in a sort of canyon (I am not sure about the English expression). I shuddered at the thought of being confined by mountain walls.

It does not mean that I don’t love your picture. Inspired by the violet mist in front, I am confused as to where it leads me and this confusion is important to me.

Anonymous said...

Tracy, you are an artist and so far, I have only dabbled in the arts. I am also not sure what the blogging is all about. The other day, I put my wall hanging on A&P, besides being asked what it meant, I remember three useful comments:

(1) It is a quirky in a good sort of way.
(2) Why is the sun shown in two colors? At first, I did not know. Later, I thought about an Isaac Asimov short story in which he talks about the stars changing color as they dim. This thought made me feel a little spooky. Perhaps, the two-colored sun means that my life is half over?
(3) Rex asked me to describe the scene where I made the wall hanging. This meant to me that I had become a person for him, not just cyber ghost.

Probably, the most important message was that it is quirky!

Tracy Helgeson said...

Birgit, I like that you have given me your reaction to this painting. I was just pointing out that what may seem like an obstacle, might also be viewed as an important part of the landscape. And certainly what you bring to it is important.

Quirky is really good. I don't hear that much in my work, but I think it is a valuable compliment!

Anonymous said...

Tracy, you right, I am leaping off the violet and guided by the blue, bounce off from the first roof… and then relax into the softer orange and green colors.

Thanks for echoing quirky . It is beginning to resonate with something in me.

Happy New Year!