Nedah Clouds 2015

Felice House made this portrait, ‘Nedah Clouds,’ with oil paint, a medium that’s been around for centuries, used for everything from realistic depictions to total abstraction. I imagine House starting with thin washes of pink, lavender, and blue, pulling them across the canvas in strokes that suggest both the softness of clouds and the weight of atmosphere. The painting is built up slowly, layer upon layer, until this almost dreamlike figure emerges. The woman’s expression is serene, but there’s also a hint of melancholy, or maybe just deep thought? The way House uses color reminds me of early Fairfield Porter, who took the tradition of Impressionism and turned it into something so casual and intimate. I’m thinking about how artists are in this ongoing conversation, passing ideas back and forth across time, inspiring each other to see the world in new ways. It's never really about answers, is it? It's about keeping the conversation going.