Looking at paintings in museums has never been high on my "I can't wait to do that!" list. I visited the Louvre, the first time, in 1967. I was nineteen year old. I remember looking at the Mona Lisa and thinking "What the heck is all the fuss about?!" I expressed my amazement only as a self defense tactic. Who would dare say what I really thought? Certainly not moi. The part of the Louvre I went wild for were the Egyptian Antiquities, beyond beguiling.
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| Hockaday Museum of Art - Kalispell, Montana |
Now that I have decided I want to try and paint, I am suddenly eager to go look at paintings. I am very anxious to study how artists have achieved their effects through their brush strokes, how they dealt with light and shadows.
The Hockaday is a modest museum but quite nice. The museum houses a variety of painting techniques and genres. The subject matter is primarily, the natural world. One entire section is devoted to the Crown of the Continent aka Glacier Park. There was one painting of a Indian buck that really grabbed my attention. It was called simply "Young Boy" and was painted by Charlie Russell. I have no words to describe how beautiful it is. To me more beautiful than the Mona Lisa. This one small painting was worth the visit.
I learned that black and white painting is generally termed monochrome. Whist I adore color I also love black and white photography. It has a special essence all it's own. Several people have told me my black & white photography is reminiscent of Ansel Adams. That's a pretty heady compliment. Anyway, I can certainly see myself trying my hand at the absence of color with a brush.
©Kinsey Barnard
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