I've been thinking about this painter, Oliver Akers Douglas for a few days now, and tonight, as I was putting on my lipstick, about to go to a friend's house for dinner, I wondered whether I was doing enough to nurture my children's artistic talents. One imagines that as a boy, this painter was presented with watercolors, notebooks and easels and taken to the middle of a large hayfield in the heart of England and told to amuse himself while his father fished in the nearby river. His work is slow and meditative. Equally, he could have been ignored by his parents completely. Should I take Minky to more museums? We are so fortunate here in Los Angeles to be surrounded by muscular cultural destinations and yet do we take advantage of it? I think about Cindy Sherman and wonder how many times she took portraits of herself as a teen and was ridiculed until someone realized that her apparent narcissism was in fact a gift, and rather an important one? Look at the light in this painting? I can practically see the Dunstable downs, the chalky hills in the background. Teach your children well. Is it witholding beauty that makes one appreciate it more? Or should we swim in it?
Beautiful painting, beautiful light. A photographer friend of mine calls them theater lights. One day last summer we watched lights like these, shift and move, fade and glow over the rolling hills of NY near the border of Ct. This painting captures that mood perfectly. Definitely take Minky to more art exhibits, the more the better.
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