The Northern Lights in Moraga
While conjuring up a theme for my first “featured artist” show at the Moraga Gallery, I considered three things: first, visitors to the gallery often ask for paintings of local scenes; second, I wanted to add a creative twist to the local scene motif; and third, the theme had to include the artwork of the fused glass artist, Vivien Hart, who would be highlighted with me in the January-March 2009 show. On her website, glasshart.com, she compares the vision of the northern lights to the way light shines through her glass art. Voila, the common theme was born. To portray the magic of the northern lights in a painting, I switched from my normal acrylic paint to watercolor, and discovered the magical essence of wet into wet watercolor painting. For the show, I painted six 5″x5″ watercolors focusing on the most popular image in Moraga: the Chapel at St. Mary’s College. I also painted three larger pieces showcasing our local mountain, Mt. Diablo, with the northern lights.
