Breton church 1906

Emily Carr’s "Breton Church," is a painting that feels as though it has been built up, stroke by stroke. The colors are laid on thick, almost chunky, with a palette knife I think. Look at the way the roof of the church is rendered. There’s a yellow and pink and green layered on top of each other to give the impression of light. You can almost feel Carr’s hand moving across the canvas, pushing and pulling the paint into shape. The figures in the foreground, they’re almost doll-like, small, and a little bit stiff. Yet, there’s something charming about their simplicity. I wonder if she was looking at Van Gogh. She really goes for it with the brushstrokes. It is like she is showing us what paint can do, and how the world is made up of strokes of color. It gives you the feeling that painting is about seeing. And seeing is about making.