TM8907 GLory Days 36×44 oil on panel
I think of autumn as a brocade of rich colors and textures. Glory Days explores the mental meanderings encountered while working with the effects of richly textured fabric and deeply patterned and textured painting.
The sumptuous green/golds and coral colors are achieved through multiple transparent glazes over a heavily patterned base created with paint (burnt umber and raw sienna) using monoprint techniques. As I built the layers of arboreal reflection with tiny strokes, I was reminded of stitches. Allowing the monoprint spatters and bursts to show through only enhanced the feeling of a substantial woven material, with apparent slubs and the feel of textured thread contributing a tactile sense to the painting. I was also reminded of the gardens and forests in Jean-Antoine Watteau’s paintings, which reminded me again of elegant fabrics, like brocades, that would have been worn at court. Odd how a view of across a watery surface could turn into a meditation on late sixteenth and early seventeenth century French court life and the romantic paintings it inspired. Detail below. Enjoy.
TM8907 GLory Days – detail with reflected trees and floating leaves
Teri Malo Studio 
Do you paint these en plein air? If not how do you capture the liveliness of the picture? What do you do about mosquitoes?
I am an avid plein air photographer, and a devoted studio painter. I do use the photos as inspiration for the paintings, often using details from a dozen photos and then inventing as needed. The key, for me, is a deep knowledge of the subject/place, and returning to walk the place as often as possible (to refresh my memory and so I can include details from what I see in the paintings). The rest is pretend. Oh, and for the mosquitoes — hat (sprayed with repellent), long pants, long sleeves, socks, sneakers, and keep moving!
Superb. Your pictures are inspirational. I particularly like the more impressionistic ones. They give the feeling of having been painted on site, a tiny view into reality.
Thank you. The question is always whose reality….and if I’m lucky, it’s a shared reality.
Happy new year Teri here’s to reality however we see it.
Lovely paintings!!
Thank you! I enjoyed looking at your site as well.