A Sense of Place

One of the things that I love about learning to paint and draw is slowing down to truly see and captures things or places that are important or interesting to me.  I also enjoy seeing those same types of things through other artist's eyes.

The few people who read this blog certainly know that I am a big fan of Kat Corrigan, both as someone who is teaching me, but also because I so enjoy her art.  I have a several small pieces of her art.  Two of them are landscape pieces.  One is a scene in Duluth.  The other is a snowy, Minneapolis road way.  In both instances, I can look at them and can both revel in my memory of those places and also want to return to or experience them again.  I'm also a big fan of her paintings of animals and flowers.

I recently discovered another local artist, Brendon Farley and am really enjoying his work.  When I look at his paintings of South Minneapolis, I see my world and the place where I make my home.  I love the energy of these pieces and it reminds me of the beauty of the things that I see in my normal day to day world. He even makes an alley in South Minneapolis look like a special place.  You can see his work on Etsy or on his Facebook page.

Even before I started painting, I loved art with a strong sense of place, probably because I have a thing for certain types of architecture.  Many years ago, I went to the Edward Hopper exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago.  I had never see his paintings of urban architecture before and really loved them.

Another example was when I first moved to Minneapolis.  My medical clinic had a Rod Massey painting of homes in South Minneapolis.  I loved that painting.  It captured the energy of the type of neighborhood that I lived in.