Water and the Night

Perspectives from The Artist's Road

Night Painting on the Pond Oil © JM Hulsey

Painting outdoors in the night reawakens childhood memories of nighttime adventures with my brothers and sisters. With no adults around, it was our special world of imagination and play. We made up games which relied on the concealments of the darkness. These days, I am still exploring the concealments of night in my nocturne paintings. Working outdoors at night opens up all the senses to the new sounds, smells and mysterious shapes and shadows which supplant the familiar daytime world.

Whenever there is moonlight, I take my studio boat out to paint on the still waters of the large pond next door. This is a very special experience—in many ways, even a spiritual one. Nature provides the grandest cathedral of them all in which to contemplate the world and create. And, it is quiet. Reflections double the landscape and sky, creating a wonderful confusion between the land and water. The marine life adds even more exciteme…