Hudson River near Alpine 1910

John Marin made this watercolour of the Hudson River near Alpine. Looking at this painting, I can see the artist's hand moving confidently, applying washes of colour to the paper. The brushstrokes are so light and airy, like he was trying to capture the fleeting essence of a landscape rather than its precise details. I bet Marin was out there, standing on the shore, feeling the wind, trying to translate the scene before him into something tangible. The way he layered the blues and purples, it's like he was trying to get at something beyond just the visible world. He was showing us how he felt standing there in that landscape. It's like he’s trying to paint a feeling. The paper becomes a space where the inner and outer landscape meet. And it makes me think about how all artists are in conversation with each other, across time and space, inspiring each other to see the world in new ways. Painting like this welcomes ambiguity, allowing for multiple interpretations. You know, it's not about nailing down one fixed meaning, it's more about opening up possibilities.