A Gorgeous Australian Day with my Niece and her Grandmother. They were sitting on a blanket chatting while I drew this.
Colors by themselves are a kind of silly, stupid phenomenon, but when they are placed through space magic happens. Instead of the paper being flat it transforms into three dimensional space, feeling like things are carved out of vibrations. Like a Bach cello sonata with its notes placed all through space.
Our visual perception is a great gift connecting us to reality. I have often thought that artists, and others as well, are in danger of going insane if they abstract themselves into oblivion. It is very easy to do if one forgets that visual art is forever tied to looking at reality.
It was a memorable day, I would look over at my niece and her grandmother peacefully talking, and instead of worried that they would be bored while I painted, I realized that it gave them a great excuse to catch up. I would then back to concentrating on the colors.
Michael Newberry, Idyllwild, 10/8/2020
Michael Newberry 