Hurricane Season 2011

Bo Bartlett painted "Hurricane Season," and look at that flat plane of clear sky, that looks so easy to do, but then, how do you get it *just* right? I can imagine Bartlett outside, squinting, trying to capture the girls in that hot light. It’s the kind of light that bleaches everything out, and it makes me think about how he would have mixed colors on his palette to get those pale tones, or layered glaze over glaze to give it that glow. It almost looks like they have been painted in a dream. The paint looks pretty smooth to me – not much texture, so I guess he probably spent time rubbing it down, or maybe he used really soft brushes. The way the shadow falls across the rock creates a sense of depth, like you could reach out and touch it. Even though it's super realistic, it still has this melancholic, slightly surreal vibe. It reminds me of how we're all constantly looking at each other's work and stealing ideas, and then transforming them into something new.