'Giverny – Monet’s Pond Paintings'
2018
Studio with Two Giverny Paintings + ‘Connectivity-The Whale Piece’
A life-long dream of mine was to travel to Monet’s home in Giverny, France. Upon my return home I painted these oils in my Studio as you can see them in the photo above.
’Giverny Pond – Monet’s Path’
This large vertical oil on canvas is 5 ft. tall x 4 ft. wide. It was quite cool and cloudy when I was actually at the pond, but with a brilliant light shining all around, hence all the colors were heightened in a most beautiful and dramatic way. I took over a hundred photos to capture both overall views and the wonderful details in the colorful blooms that I saw.
Detail shot of ‘Giverny Pond - Monet's Path’
While working on this painting, as an after-thought, I took the liberty of adding Monet’s figure (lightly painted almost as a ghost figure) gleaned from many photos of him always posing in the same stance, shown in this enlarged photo taken from just to the left of the bridge in the painting.
‘Giverny Pond – Wisteria Bridge’
My second Giverny oil on canvas is 3 ft. tall x 4 ft. wide. This view is from the opposite end of Monet’s pond. There are two bridges, one at each end, with this one being twice as long as the other and covered with Wisteria vines, which were spectacularly in bloom at the time I was there. The close-up photo taken from the large painting shows these in more detail.
Detail shot of ‘Giverny Pond - Wisteria Bridge’
This pond setting is such a gift that Monet left to the rest of the world. No kidding these colors are exactly how it looked in that gorgeous dramatic light. Monet knew how to plant color as well as paint it! –G.P.L.