Oil - 11 x 14"
I was going to call the painting "North Salem Open Land Foundation in the Afternoon", but that title just seems too long, and after all, who cares exactly where the location of the painting is. This brings up an important idea, which is, whatever the local of the painting, where ever I happened to be painting, is really of no consequence to the value of the painting. You see, some people have the idea, that if an artist painted a particular place that they may have visited, then they would like to buy the painting. My point, that I try to share with people is, it doesn't really matter where it was painted, what is important is the feeling it gives the viewer. If it reminds you of a place that you've been or happen to love, it doesn't make it less valuable that the artist didn't actually paint that same exact spot. It elicits the feeling, the memory, and that is the important thing, it's done it's job. This painting, for instance, could represent many places in the United States (and perhaps worldwide as well).
Having said that, the painting in question here, titled "Putnam County Afternoon", was painted, yes, at the North Salem Open Land Foundation, which is an open space, accessible to the public, near Brewster, NY. I painted this just this past August (2008). In the painting, one can see that the light was coming from the right in late afternoon, as the sun got lower and closer to the horizon. The view was looking south (with the sun setting in the east) A near tree is darker with more contrast making it a focal point while other trees recede back in space.
