Inspiration Close at Hand

Perspectives from The Artist's Road

Claude Monet in His Gardens at Giverny

As many plein air events resume and artists are able to spread their wings to paint new landscapes, we have circumstances that are are still keeping us working close to home. But staying in one place throughout the seasons can be the best way to tune one’s eyes into seeing the nuances of shadow and light as they change in the landscape throughout each day as well as throughout the year.

Arguably the greatest artist who narrowed his travels and focused on his immediate surroundings for years was Claude Monet, creating many of what are considered his greatest works. Gustave Geffroy wrote about his friend, Monet, “The powerful landscapist who so strongly expressed the greatness of the sea, cliffs, rocks, ancient trees, rivers and cities, took pleasure in a sweet and charming simplicity, in this delightful corner of a garden, this tiny pond where blossoms some mysterious petal.”

It has been put forth that Monet’s in…