Happy Winter Solstice!
As we gently pass through the shortest day of the year and come into contact with all the night lights in our society, especially with all the holiday lights, I’m reminded of these oil paintings I recently got the opportunity to photograph. The combination of dark and light paints in these Oil paintings make it look as if I’m actually viewing the scene. These pieces are created by Yamhill County, Oregon artist Jan Shield. While photographing these pieces with Mr. Shield, he mentioned that “These works were painted by toeing the canvases on top of my car, going out into the farm fields around Forest Grove, OR and working with the light of the sky, auto beam light, and the increasing glow of the electric advance of light from Portland, OR into the environment.” It’s an expression into a century of electrified power and night time glow.
I wrote a short biography on Jan Shield in my previous post of his where I shared these wonderful Raku plates he created. So I won’t write a lot about him here, be sure to visit that post for more information. On a recent visit to the Dancing Trees Sanctuary, where Shield still lives and creates art on a daily basis, I was able to also photograph some more wood sculptures that he created as well. I will feature those images in an upcoming post. In the mean time, Shield is still represented by the Fairweather House and Garden in Seaside, OR, and the Rental Sales Gallery at the Portland Art Musuem.
I hope you enjoy your Winter Holidays and that you are with family and/or friends.
Peace
~V
Emerald Studio Photography 