'Moored in the Mist'
by Ellen Rice
'Moored in the Mist'
by Ellen Rice
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"Moored in the Mist" is part of The Great American Paint In Collection representing the state of Delaware.
The Paint In is a national endeavor to document the pandemic through the works of "America's greatest artists" created during their COVID-19 experiences and accompanied by their stories. The Paint In works are to be published in a tabletop art history book. Following is part of this painting's story. |
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When the pandemic became public knowledge, I, like many people, was having difficulty fathoming the new, distorted reality.
I didn’t know what to do, so putting one foot in front of the other I did what I do best, paint and write. Strangely, for the first few months I felt calm and have remained fairly so. It was a time to focus. “Moored in the Mist” is the second painting I created in the early months of the pandemic. It's a commission for a gentleman who brought me a beautiful but very damaged photograph he’d taken 30 years ago of a favorite place hoping I could recreate the scene. His photo spoke to me. It fit my mood. Light shined through a heavy mist that obscured almost everything in the scene yet filled the scene with light. Painting slowly, thin glaze after thin glaze, allowing each to dry between coats, I established the trees and weeds and boat in fine detail, and when those were dry started bringing in the mist. I shut out thoughts of what was happening to around us, to me, my gallery, the world and became one with a small fish pond in the hills of Pennsylvania. I wanted the painting to glow, to draw your eyes to the light. While I sought to be true to the gentleman’s photo and memories, I focused on the sun burning through the mist, lighting the boat’s bow and blossoms on the foreground weeds. It felt symbolic of the time. Keeping our eyes on the light, pointing our bows in the right direction, we will come through this.
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