Cataclysmic Art

Perspectives from The Artist's Road

Chichester Canal J.M.W. Turner

Sunrises and sunsets can be the peak natural drama for those of us who are landscape painters in the Great Plains. The wide open skies allow us to watch the vibrant display of colors unfold in what seem to be infinite variations of spectacular hues, often heightened by dust or particles in the atmosphere hundreds of miles away.

One of our favorite painters was the original master of painting light, J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851). His style of painting with oils in washes more similar to to those used in watercolor techniques was unique at his time. The chromatic palette and luminous, ephemeral atmospheric effects he created were considered innovative, and placed his work in the vanguard of British painting at the time. Although Turner’s interest in painting pure light was an attempt to express spirituality in the world, his work also exerted an influence on the next generation of French artists, the Impressionists, who we…