My wife bought this for me for our twenty-second wedding anniversary. It’s a beautiful book, and Justin Paton is a great art writer (I’ve read his How to Look at a Painting). More importantly, I increasingly value McCahon’s work—not all of it, but much of it. It resonates deeply with me as a Christian, and I’m drawn to his aesthetic and his earthy colour palette. I love his landscapes (the less-abstracted ones) and his word-based paintings. I’ll be enjoying this for some time to come.
I’m not usually a fan of paintings of Jesus, but I love this one. At first, I thought Jesus was surfing (I can actually imagine him doing that!), but then I realised he was standing on the water, with his hand reaching into it. I love the composition, the colour, the light—and that Jesus’ face is obscured, because we don’t actually know what he looked like.
I’ve been drawing and painting for nearly nine months now, and I feel like I’m ready to take the next step and do some night classes. So, I’ve booked into the Browne School of Art ‘Beginning to Draw and Paint‘ class that starts in February. So excited—and nervous.
A while back, I went to a local library to get out some art books, and this one caught my eye. When I got home and opened it, I was blown away. Probably not the kind of art I want to create, but I love it. And it was beautifully presented in the hardcover book.
Here’s a short video on José to give you an idea of what he does. I love how he sometimes jumps off his ladder to make a mark. 🙂
