Landscape Meditations
Mowry addresses both specific and general themes in landscape paintings, and fills a niche by emphasizing series paintings within that genre. Commitment is key, she says, noting that the endeavor to understand nature, or at least a part of it, is implicit in painting landscapes, which can be a form of meditation. Just as meditation leads to an uncluttered mind, the artist can move beyond rendering the subject and begin to paint ideas about the subject, reaching for the essence, or "core of place." Claude Monet was the first to restrict an exhibit of his work to a single series of 15 works, the Poplars, and to stir interest in thematic series painting, that is, explorations of such subjects as wildflowers, mists and hazes, and roads, paths, and waterfalls as metaphors for life. Thoughtfully written with spare but far-reaching text, and generously illustrated throughout with full-color reproductions of Mowry's and others' work, this contemplative how-to reminds artists that "seeing cannot be forced. It happens when we are ready."Whitney ScottCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved