"Deux voiles blanches"

Stephen I've just been looking at your postings I missed while away and like them all very much. I always enjoy seeing a new one when I look through this website, and as usual I love your colours, the big skies and the boats in this one. I did think, though, that my eyes were playing up on me because the foreground isn't clearly defined. Looking at it again, I'm guessing you meant it to be that way and perhaps it's an opportunity for me to see differently. Is that what you intended or is there something else?

I'd guess Stephen wants us to home in on those white sails - a very interesting composition,because the most prominent one is on the extreme right; left unbalanced by the sail to the left, it would have looked as though it were falling out of the picture. But the inclusion of that single, sharp but still more distant sail draws us back to the slash of white - yet the two don't compete with, but balance each other. I think this works very well, and can't help wondering if it was cleverly worked out, or a happy accident (to the extent there is such a thing: I have a theory that when things just come together and work, it's not an accident at all, but the result of accumulated experience on the part of the artist: whether he or she knows it or not. And I would bet that Stephen knows perfectly well.)

Hi Jane, This is something I have done for a contempary gallery,so it is meant to be less precise and more fluid and impressionistic. Thanks for you kind comments about my work. It is interesting that only you and Robert commented on this. I guess that people like my work to be a little less adventurous?? The next 2 paintings I am posting are a little of both , so we shall see. :o)

Robert, as ever thank you. And yes the sails are painted for exactly that reason.This was painted very quickly and loosely on purpose, but like everything not to everyones taste. Experimental art I suppose one could call it. It gives me pleasure to look at the work piece by piece by enlarging on the screen maybe to 4x normal size and viewing how the brush strokes have come together, so some accidental some not I guess.

I especially like this loose style, as well as your sparkling palette. More please!

Thank you Jo