Ruth B. Dugdale
Homestead
Homestead
oil
16" x 20"
16" x 20"
March 18-April 6
Ruth B. Dugdale: "Transitions"
Dodoge House GalleryRuth B. Dugdale: "Transitions"
Why Paint Blue Barns?
These structures dot the landscape of our backcountry roads. They stand in the hazy blue distance of the hillsides and meadows, deserted by families who once worked and lived on the land and answered the call of the new technology in a more urban setting. They appear to be monuments of a bygone era, and will soon disappear, victims of the climate to which they are exposed. There is no evidence of their former utilitarianism in the paintings.
I seem to remember playing in the interior shadows of one of these structures as a very small child, and getting splinters in my hands and knees from the soft pine floorboards heaved up by the iron shoes of the animals it sheltered.
Maybe the cobalt has some connotation, too. It is merely one shape among others held by a series of transitions between color, line, and space that moves eye around the surface in an orderly way. From observation or memory, the artist must listen to each small whisper of inspiration. A painting is born in the mind’s eye and then must be transposed to a firm surface of choice. This she must do to the best of her ability, which may take a lifetime to generate.
All paintings may not be so-called “great art” meant to hang in museums for centuries. The results of being creative can be a disaster or a delight. Regardless, it is an expression of the artist’s personality. And, in the end, it’s not what you paint, but how you paint it!