One of my favorite things about our big cross-country road trip was watching the landscape change along that 9000 mile continuous line. Anyone who has traveled around this vast country knows that the geography is very diverse. You know when the plane lands in Albuquerque that you are definitely not in Pennsylvania, but flying doesn't ever give you a picture of the transitions that get you from one distinct landscape to another. I became a little obsessed with that idea and I started snapping a lot of photos from the car window that showed examples of The changing face of the countryside. Here are a few of the photos.
Just so many kinds of beautiful...
Naturally, I guess, I began to envision big, horizontal quilts. Not traditional landscapes as much as abstracted impressions. I'm still not quite sure how I might accomplish this, but I tried the idea out small.
This is a tiny little test piece. (10" x 12") but I think something at least 36" wide is what I am thinking I want. I think it has possibilities. I don't much like the sky, but I can see better ways of dealing with that.
By the way, when I showed the bottom third of the composition in my last post commenters guessed it was farmland in Kansa or Nebraska. It was actually inspired by an amazingly green stretch of New Mexico where the brushy country was cut through with dry stream beds revealing layers of red and pink earth.
So this could be the beginning of a series. I'll share it as I go.
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Oh this is going to be exciting!
ReplyDeleteYes! The start of a wonderful series.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed seeing the photos of your trip as you traveled Terry. Thanks for sharing. Can't wait to see the art that comes out of it.
ReplyDeleteI think the first picture would make a lovely landscape art quilt. I like the way the fence bisects the green landscape.
ReplyDeleteHi Terry:
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you have ever been to the LAX airport but I grew up about 1 mile from
there and as teenagers we would go to the airport for fun and go onto the planes and flirt with the travelers. I am trying to think of which building had tile walls that represented the colors in the landscape as seen from the air across the USA. Even to my 16 year old eyes it was awesome. I used to run down the concourse with an arm against the wall and say wowowowow! OKay it was the middle to late 1960's times were different then.
I like your sky a lot!! This is a cool idea about the shape and linking of landscapes. Will be interested to see how it evolves. I love driving across country and letting it unfold and change slowly.
ReplyDeleteI really like the sky. My eyes looked at that part of your composition for a long time. I was thinking it was very "Terry Grant" and well done in conveying the clouds breaking the vast expanse of sky. I also like the red/ yellow line in the landscape. Can't wait to see more in the series.
ReplyDeleteLooking at your photos make me want to get in the car and wander across the country. Looks like you have plenty of inspiration for a series!
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