Mountain Landscape 

Editor: So, this is "Mountain Landscape" by Tom Lovell. It looks like it was done with oil paint, possibly outdoors, *en plein air* as they say. It evokes such a peaceful feeling, maybe a touch melancholy? What jumps out at you when you look at this work? Curator: Peaceful and melancholic both sing true to me, that still, reflective water echoing the immense, silent mountain. What strikes me first is the light - how the artist uses these almost muted tones to capture the ethereal quality of mountain air. And that peak…it almost feels like a watchful presence, doesn’t it? Like some ancient guardian observing the world below. Does the slightly blurry rendering pull you into its almost dreamlike setting, perhaps a memory? Editor: Absolutely. I'm wondering, does the Impressionist style influence how we interpret the landscape itself? Curator: I believe it does profoundly. It shifts our focus from precise detail to the feeling of a place. Instead of trying to paint the perfect mountain, Lovell tries to capture the sensation of *being* in the landscape, enveloped by its atmosphere. That is its triumph! Notice the short, broken brushstrokes, dabs of color that merge to form trees, water, mountain. It's almost as if the mountain is slowly dissolving, doesn’t it feel? And it invites *you* to piece it together. Are we left wondering, with the loose paint handling, if this is less a portrait of nature, and more of a rendering of his memory? What does the painting hold for you in your memory, in its quietude? Editor: It’s interesting how it encourages introspection. It makes you think about your relationship with nature, and how fleeting it all is. Thanks! Curator: And it reminds me of how art whispers its secrets, waiting for us to listen…Thanks to you, too.