Instantly I was taken in by the style of this piece. It seems so realistic, as if it were captured by the lens of a camera, rather than the strokes of a paintbrush. Playing with the natural setting, the artist illustrates the beauty of this image so effortlessly. The incorporation of the contrasting colour truly makes the painting sing and I couldn’t help but take notice.
Here’s my take on it: The ‘place’ is dreamy and quiet. Somewhere to gear down. Where you can examine the intricacy around you and allow the mind to wander. The ‘pattern’ is the beauty found in nature. The repetition of the sea coming and going through channels carved in the earth, and a carpet of wind swept grass, circling and random.
This work speaks to me on a number of levels. On a purely aesthetic level, I love the warm earth tones and textures. I also find it fascinating how a simple composition of boxes and lines can create such a feeling of depth, scale and space. On another level, this work speaks to my love of architecture, urban design and the built environment. The fantastical environment envisioned here reminds me of the utopian cities dreamed up by early modernists like le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe. Finally, and maybe most of all, the whymsical touch of this abstract city without roads being populated by thousands of tiny human figures, rendered in bright primary colors, just makes me smile.
I've recently become fascinated by the concept of Wabi-Sabi - which is THE quintessential Japanese aesthetic. It is a beauty of things imperfect, impermanent and incomplete. It is a beauty of things modest and humble. It is a beauty of things unconventional.
As an interface designer, Wabi-Sabi is the antithesis of my pursuit for navigation systems and page designs which are rationally structured, consistent, and user-centered. Antithesis can be a powerful tool in creativity.
For me, the beauty of this painting is in the Wabi-Sabi. The imperfect lines and the randomly bleeding edges of colour. The abstract associations of land, earth and sea.
I also love this painting because it evokes personal memories of summer seasons I spent on the Big Island of Hawaii. The shapes almost represent volcanic islands emerging from the deep blue Pacific Ocean. The colours feel warm and tropical. I can almost smell the sweet Plumeria and taste the salt water.
As autumn quickly approaches here in Nova Scotia, I'll enjoy viewing this painting and remembering summer islands in the sun.
"Why do I love this painting? I could say it’s the composition, or bright complex palette. I could claim it’s the way the brilliant organic objects second the smirking feline into the background reinforcing its whimsy. I could claim the elongation of objects suggests a dream-state allowing me to suspend belief long enough to fall directly into the painting. Well yes, I could say it’s partly those things, but mostly … It’s the giant paw – I love that that giant paw! This painting should have been titled 'The cat that couldn’t sneak'."
"I absolutely love this painting. The vibrant colours compliment each other perfectly. Every time I walk by it I smile and I want to stay and look for as long as I can. The rich yellow forsythias contrasting against the turquoise sky remind me of how colourful and refreshing spring can be." - Leigh McGlone
"I am a huge fan of photography and, in particular black and white works. I love the contrast and simplicity and really who doesn't love a beach?! This image to me, is about sand dunes on first blush but under further consideration, is about time, constant change, evolution and beauty in the every day world. To the photographer, Ernest Cadegan, he uses his camera as a tool to 'keep me in touch with the world around me and to share what I find with interested viewers'. I guess I am such a viewer." - Ruth Mathewson
"To me, this painting represents trampoline at this point in time changing, dynamic, and alive with creativity. And already I want to keep it for more than one month." - Dennis Page
"I looked at this painting and got a really good feeling from it. I think it's a very optimistic piece. At the visual center of the painting is an opened oyster rendered in textured white.
It stands for hope. All around the opened oyster are blue-black clams and rocks providing dramatic contrast to the white. The whole piece looks like a close up of ocean shoreline.
It's almost as if I were walking along the shore and discovered the white treasure. In that way what looks at first glance to be a still life gains movement. It also tells me that no matter how dark life is, there's always light." - Carla Mosher
"I chose this piece because I liked it in an instant before analyzing it. So here's analyzing it.
The tones are menacing and smokey with the totem-like cliffs suggestive of West Coast Aboriginal mythology. The head of the main totem has another head grafted on to it from which sacrificial flames spew out. Welcome to my nightmare. Easter Island-ish figures float in the surf below. Are they guards or discards?
The bright yellow Mack-The-Knife style moon is a nice counterpoint. What I find strangely attractive about this piece is that I can hear it. Really hear it. Fire. Water. Wind. Grinding rock. Spirits howling.
A bright point for me: the little house nestled between the cliffs stands for the strength of the human spirit against adversity - kind of like a single flower growing out of a rock. And check out the little man walking up the cliff - the Keeper of The Flame.
The piece reminds me of Tim Burton, or at least his Set Designer. If it were an artwork for a movie poster, I'd shell out the twelve bucks." - David Stortini
"This piece of art was an easy choice for me. I am a huge fan of the artist's work as I find he has the ability to create scenes that appear alive. I want to be in this painting and touch the stream, smell the foliage, listen to the wildlife. This is a place
I hope to discover while spending time exploring/camping in the Maritime wilderness. To me there is no greater beauty than that is what is left untouched." - Tanya Toner-Cole