Lake Ontario

15" x 18"

oil on canvas

Here is Lake Ontario, twenty minutes from my house outside of Rochester. Bracketed by black edges, it reminds me of a Kodak (Rochester's own) slide, now obsolete. The suggestion is a section of a larger whole. It is easy to get lost in Lake Ontario, at least visually. It is large enough to seem like an ocean, although a placid one. Stripes go beyond graphic flatness to simultaneously convey density and luminosity.

The graphic underpinnings of the picture remind me of the Op-Art Movement I learned about in art school. Op-Art focused on optical phenomena inspired by nature. Viewers are made aware of the process of looking, the way the eye functions. Op-Artist Bridget Riley's stripe paintings concern themselves with bands of color, placement, width, and the creation of light. They differ from my work in that my paintings have more organic qualities, changing texture, and a more overt reference to nature (Riley was also influenced by landscape), and sense of weight. Painter Ross Bleckner knew Riley. I like his work very much. He paints fields of compartmentalized organic forms. Newer circle paintings related to bubbles, the natural world, and Christmas ornaments (like some of my paintings, funny). He plays with the focus of forms as if adjusting a lens or microscope.

In reflecting on what makes my painting different from the actual lake as well as these aforementioned painters, is it is a bit anthropomorphous. All painting transmits the thoughts and feelings (or lack thereof) of the painter rather than just the subject. Lake Ontario feels sure of itself and its identity, both bold and fluid.