River Sunrise

"River Sunrise" A 16 x 20 acrylic painting by Mark Phillips

Too few of us take time to appreciate the beauty of this island of ours. I too am guilty of being caught up in the hustle and bustle of making a living and providing for my family but this year I am making a conscious effort to stop and smell the roses. 

When last did you get up early enough to enjoy a sunrise?  Like Mehmet said:-

“Sunrise looks spectacular in the nature; sunrise looks spectacular in the photos; sunrise looks spectacular in our dreams; sunrise looks spectacular in the paintings, because it really is spectacular!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan

People come from all over the world to enjoy our island and I am making sure that I, who was fortunate enough to be born here, experience everything we have to offer. How often do you here Bajans say that they have not had a sea bath in years, or that they never saw Harrison's Cave or Welshman Hall Gully?

For a few years, I made the effort to view the sunrise on New Year's day from in the hills overlooking East Coast Road. Unfortunately, that did not last. Life got in the way. As a child, I have watched many a sunset from my bedroom window. We lived at Ragged Point Lighthouse, St. Philip and I used to boast that we saw the sun first and that we felt the wind first, as we lived on one of the most Easterly points of the island. Alas, I now live in St. James in the West of the island, and while there is no shortage of sunsets, sunrises are no way as spectacular as I am accustomed to. 

This painting is of a sunrise viewed from River Bay in St. Lucy. It was inspired by a stock photo I came across on the internet. Unfortunately, it did not credit the photographer, but I thank you, whoever you are. The colours reminded me of just how beautiful a Barbadian sunrise is.  

"Sunrise offered a very beautiful spectacle; the water was quite unruffled, but the motion communicated by the tides was so great that, although there was not a breath of air stirring, the sea heaved slowly with a grand and majestic motion." George Grey

This painting was done "Alla Prima".  It took me about 4 hours. Alla prima is an Italian term meaning "at first attempt." It indicates a method of painting in which a picture is completed by painting on the entire surface of the canvas all at once rather than by traditional method which required a methodical building of the image, piecemeal fashion with successive layers of paint. Today, alla prima painting is generally referred to as direct painting. In French, it is called "premier coup".

This technique was criticised by the artistic world of the time and the curriculum of the Italian Accademia di San Luca, (founded in Florence in Italy in 1577) was, at least as far as technique is concerned, designed to combat the "abhorrent" practices followed by Caravaggio (1571–1610) and the Bamboccianti of painting low-life subjects done in the direct alla prima mode.

Samuel van Hoogstraten (1627–1678) a Dutch painter and art writer, lamented that those artists who turned to "ras schilderen",("rapid painting") did so for profit and fame as much as for the love of art. Evidently, economic and artistic preoccupations were inextricably linked. It was inconceivable that you could love art and love money at the same time.

I am looking for neither fame or fortune. This technique is one I resort to whenever the subject lends itself to be so expressed. I have to take a more traditional approach with portraits but, in my humble opinion, this painting has lost very little by this approach.

As always, thank you for reading. I appreciate the comments and the kind words of encouragement. Until next time when I will share some more of my work and a little about what makes me tick, please leave a comment.  And, I will really appreciate if you share this post with your friends. To make sure that you don't miss any future posts, Please enter your email address in the subscribe by email box on the right.

Mark Phillips

Artist
Email:- mark@phillipsbajanart.com
Website:-www.phillipsbajanart.com
Online Store:- PhillipsArtStore