Evolving Style

      

The Backyard II, pastel on watercolor paper by Adriana Meiss

  Once in a while I feel compelled to take a photo reference I have used before and paint a newer version just to see how I would handle it this time. The painting aboves is my latest example. The reference came from a Wet Canvas challenge from 6 years ago, and below is my first version for comparison.

The Backyard, pastel on paper by Adriana Meiss

   It makes me feel I have come a long way, but the funny thing is that I remember feeling so proud at the time because never before I had used purples and blues on the trees.

   It's so easy to look back and feel embarrassed of some of the things I produced years ago, but I have to accept that those paintings represent a different stage of me as an artist and without them I wouldn't be were I am.

Marsh on a Cloudy Day, 5x7" - Sold

Marsh On A Cloudy Day, pastel on board by Adriana Meiss

 The colorful branches of the willows in winter and the pale yellow grasses surrounding a mall parking lot were the inspiration for this painting. I imagined there must have been some open water before the mall was build...  I'm not sure the water reads as such; maybe a few ripples is all it needs. In any case, I tried to make sure its color did not compete with that of the sky.

Sunset in Mauve, 8x6" - Sold

Sunset in Mauve, pastel on paper by Adriana Meiss

     At the end of April the guild I'm in (OAG) will have it's annual spring sale. In my effort to avoid framing like crazy at the last minute, I have been working steadily for the last month, mostly producing small paintings. Some are already framed after having passed the test of seating on a shelf for weeks without any little thing screaming to have it fixed.
    The reference photo for this painting was an irrigation channel from a nearby town, but by changing the vegetation I turned it into a scene that could have been from the Adirondacks.

A Quiet Finale, 13x18"

A Quiet Finale, pastel on paper by Adriana Meiss

This is a reworked piece and this is how it came about:
    Early this year I was asked by Gallery 54 to bring more paintings to replace two that had sold that month (yeah!). I really did not have anything ready in the sizes they wanted so I started working in  several pieces with the hope of having them ready by the end of the month. As often happens, when you are in a hurry, things don't work the way you want them or take longer than you think, so instead of ruining work by trying to finish it fast, I looked at old so-so unframed paintings I had put away.

    I found this one from 6 years ago, which at the time I liked, but never framed because I had taken the idea from an ad in a magazine--maybe you've seen it, anyway I consider it a good exercise but that was it.

Exercise done in 2006

I figured that with some work I could really make it "my" painting.
First, I questioned the composition with the repetitive forms (three groups of trees and three marsh banks in the middle ground), and the lack of a focal area. I also felt the need to get rid of so much blue so I opted for sunset colors. As I reworked and did sketches, ideas from places I have seen came to mind (in particular the area of Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge), and that way I was able to finish it feeling that it was my creation.