;)
William Van Doren, Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.
Painting the sunset presents special challenges to an artist who doesn’t particularly believe in painting ‘what he sees’ – inasmuch as these paintings originate totally in what I’ve just seen! There are many choices, whether to go with what was pretty, what was odd, and at what stage – and then there’s the choice to go with what was there but unseen. This painting stays close to the visual script.
I hope eventually this series, including the writings, may be seen as a progression of explorations of what can be seen and understood at a particular moment. I sometimes think that the slightly uncomfortable paintings, the ones that seemed awkward at the time, like, to some extent, tonight’s and last night’s sunsets, may someday be seen as among the more interesting images in the series.