CONNIE CONNALLY
"Summer Series" 2008
Painting plein-air; literally painting in the open air of nature is an intimate and spiritual experience. Like my own heartbeat, I discover that nature, too, has a pulse and a rhythm. My landscape abstractions convey this intimate experience; beyond mere likeness. There is a connection between the language of abstraction and the perception of landscape. My paintings are filled with a fusion of spontaneity, startling color and gestural mark making; giving life to the painted image while revealing my mystical experience with the landscape.
My travels inspire me; painting landscapes in such diverse places as
Cinque Terra, Italy and Venice where the coastal waters are depicted
in the colors of my palette. Brilliant lavender orbs of Agapanthus
blooms stand tall in my Santa Barbara garden and become a dance across
my canvas. Equally, the marsh grasses that spire above the lilies
along a New Hampshire coastline become a canvas filled with radiant
color. Sometimes the colors and shapes redefine nature, but always
seek to reveal its' spiritual qualities.
