Mountains from the Home of the Artist 

Frederic Edwin Church made "Mountains from the Home of the Artist" using oil paints on canvas. At first glance, this painting depicts a serene landscape, but if you look closely, you can see how the artist's mastery of oil paints, combined with his chosen techniques, influences the artwork's appearance. Layer upon layer of paint creates a textured surface that mimics the roughness of the landscape itself, and the way that Church blends colors gives a soft, dreamlike quality to the scene. Painting with oils is a slow process. Each layer has to dry before the next is applied. The slow, deliberate process is quite a contrast to the rapid industrialization happening at the time, and Church's choice of subject matter - untouched natural landscapes - reflects a yearning for a simpler, pre-industrial world. So, when you look at this painting, think about not just what it shows, but how it was made, and how that making connects to the wider world.