Rainbows in the Water 2019

Carrie Graber made this pool scene in paint, sometime after 1975, and I’m just loving how she used color here. It’s like a hazy dream, isn't it? The sun is doing this thing where it’s almost too bright to look at, but then you can’t look away. Graber isn’t afraid of the gooey stuff of paint. You can tell she really got in there, pushing and pulling the pigment around to make the water shimmer with these unreal greens and golds. And that reflection! It’s like she’s showing us two worlds at once, the real and the mirrored, and they’re both equally enticing. The gesture of the hand, just barely touching the water, feels so delicate, a little moment of connection. This painting reminds me of David Hockney's pool paintings, but Graber brings her own spin, something more intimate and maybe even a little mysterious. It’s about the dance between light and water and the stories they tell. Isn’t it funny how a painting can make you feel like you’re right there, on the edge of something beautiful?