Wednesday, January 05, 2011

Artist of the Week: Quiet Places


blizzard Nate
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar
This week's artist is Nate.

I got this picture of Nate while he was outside during the big storm. My mother has a gate that leads to a path down to the park behind her property. Past years we have gone sledding on the amazing hill at the park, but this year it didn't happen. For most of our stay there was precious little snow on the ground (a mere dusting in New England eyes) and there was a black plastic fence at the bottom of the hill surrounding the field that we would normally fly across.

It was an intense disappointment for the younger, non-injured set, a boon however for Jake and his fractured foot.


quiet places
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar
As for Nate's art, it calls back to far more warmer and bucolic times.

He presented this little vignette, titled "Quiet Places" to me a few days ago. If you look carefully you can see an assortment of small creatures hidden in the picture.

I love the careful details in the picture and that Nate avoided overworking. That is one of the hardest things to learn in art, when to stop. It is all too easy to get sucked in and mired in each and every detail. The composition becomes muddied and eventually it all overwhelms the picture. It is a careful balancing act and Nate seems to have a good idea on how to pull it off.

2 comments:

Janis Gore said...

How did he approach the grass? He had to start somewhere.

I really like this piece, too.

Sarah said...

I'm not sure, he's kind of hard to pin down and hate to make him think too hard and inhibit him.