When Claude Monet painted his series of haystacks he wasn’t looking at the hay, he was looking at the light.
What more mundane subject could he have chosen? A haystack. No one leaning against it as in a Van Gogh or a Millet. Just a haystack. He did 25 of them. All are luscious and each different because of the different time of day and season he chose to paint them in.
Monet saw the light.
He saw how changes in light changes reality, at least our sense of it. He learned to paint fast. In plein air painting “reality” keeps changing. Shadows shift from one side to the other. Different colors come out or recede depending on cloud cover or the sun’s angle. He would finish a painting in an hour and a half, or come back the following day to the same spot at the same time.
Light is essential for painting.
More, light is essential for living.
It’s not for nothing our eyes are called “organs of light.” Without their counterpart in nature, they’d be nothing but little dust catchers, annoying soft spots in hard heads.
Eyes and light dance together. Without light there’s only night. With it, everything is ours.
In all creation, light was first, and the way opened for the rest.
Because of light, every morning is a new birth; and for its waning, every evening a little death.
The ancient writer never considered whether light was particle or wave (nor are we very sure) but he did know this:
“Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun.”*
He who sees it is enlightened.
And enrichened.
It’s another gift that’s free.
_________
*Ecclesiastes 11:7
Currently painting in coastal Oregon where the light shows its wonder in infinite shades of gray.
Next: Anne-aversary. Coming Wednesday.
Our Lives Together
Its About Life
8:37 am
Isn’t the light on the Oregon coast neat of a morning when the fog is creeping away in fragments and the sun is bouncing off its surface and struggling through?
I think Monet’s Haystacks are a a wonderful commentary on light. Thank the good Lord for eyes which to see His wonders.
9:49 am
Light is necessary and mandatory. Even when everything is foggy, light transforms our way into a luminous fog. Without it we cannot see, nor create. It has the most value for me as an artist.
12:18 pm
We do forget about “light’s” criical component to all art, and even moreso to life! Thanks for this excellent lesson, Hyatt! It’s possible that many of us weren’t even aware of of how special light is until Thomas Kinkade used it in such effective ways. How effectively Jesus taught us on this same concept.
6:38 pm
Dear Hyatt, what a beautiful article – thank you! Light is sweet & beautiful! It’s all about the way that you see it. In my house my mom always said that most of the best things in the world are free and she is right! She also asked us to look at the nature and observe all the different tonalities of green while driving to my grandma’s house. Perfect memorable moments… and free.
8:00 pm
Light! Interesting! I put a spot light reading lamp right onto a tea cup I was drawing and I was amazed at how wonderful the drawing came out! Light for painting and light from Christ! Light is also a form of warmth. It is healing too. Loved this Hyatt! Thank you! You help us to be so much more in the moment each day with this commentary! Love it and you! :) Lisa
8:24 pm
You made me grin with your unique description of eyes as “little dust catchers, annoying soft spots in hard heads.” I mean…how DOES your mind go there? I would never in a million years have described eyes like that. But when you stop and think that scenario through to the end, it really is quite accurate. Oh, that we could all just let our minds be free and take the time to imagine in detail.
10:01 pm
The mention of Anne-aversary immediately took my mind back to years ago in Ukarumpa [Papua New Guinea] and one humungous hamburger! Funny how words trigger immediate memories. Hope the shades of gray are triggering creative gifts. Enjoying your words and the visual stimulation, as well.
11:09 am
I saw the middle painting of Monet’s haystack (pink-blueish light) at the Getty recently. I felt like I needed to put on sunglasses to look at it. Thank you Hyatt for your posts…enjoyable, encouraging. Hope you and Anne are enjoying your get-away.
1:32 pm
Beautiful-
6:28 pm
I agree with Emma Clark. That line about the eyes is so creative and insightful.
12:21 pm
Have you ever noticed that we can switch on light and dispel darkness but we can never switch on darkness and dispel light?
10:52 am
Beautifully written Hyatt!!! The need to focus on the importance of light in painting is critical for me as a novice artist. It is something I do not do automatically. Thank goodness you are there to remind and remind me. :)
Counting the Saturdays until you guys get back and we reconvene in the studio! Of course I haven’t had a minute to paint on my own as usual. Those crazy kids of mine :)
Take care.