Carmel Highlands 1982

Eyvind Earle painted this landscape with a striking combination of flat planes and intricate details, probably with gouache or tempera. I imagine him layering those blues and yellows, trying to find that balance between representation and abstraction. I sympathize with the artist standing there, trying to distil the vastness of a landscape down to its essence. What was he thinking as he decided where to put each line? The bare trees in the foreground are drawn with such care, like delicate calligraphy against the expansive sky. Look how the golden field glows in the middle ground. That intense yellow is so evocative. It recalls Arthur Dove's commitment to exploring the emotional impact of color. Painters are always in conversation like that, building on each other's discoveries, searching for new ways to capture what it feels like to be alive.