Wednesday, January 13, 2010

"Confederate Fields", by Lyn O'Neal


This work was painted during the Gettysburg Festival Plein Air Paint Out. The beauty and serenity of the fields and the distant hills is displaced by thoughts of what occurred long ago on that battlefield land. I chose to capture the layers of distance and omit the rows of canons and confederate monuments. But in my mind, I will always see the whole scene.

7 comments:

Mary Beth Brath said...

Anyone that has painted on the battlefields will recognize your landscape. You know Lyn, I wish that everyone could experience painting a picture on the auto tour in Gettysburg. It is a life changing experience.

Claire Beadon Carnell said...

Your painting is so full of golden light - absolutely beautiful!

L. O'Neal said...

Mary Beth, I agree that the auto tour is a life-changing experience. The landscape is majestically beautiful, and yet there are reminders everywhere of tragic loss.

L. O'Neal said...

Claire, I did feel a glow of warm golds that day - I guess the mood translated into the painting.

Amy Lindenberger said...

Beautifully done, Lyn. So full of sunlight! And speaking from the point of view of someone who focuses primarily Civil War subjects: I like the idea that you've omitted the cannons and monuments for a change of pace. That is, after all, what the people of Gettysburg would have seen, the vast majority of their lives. Gives the scene an element of timelessness and conveys a sense of the peacefulness of the battlefield land as it exists today.

Debra Kreiger said...

The warm sunshine just makes this painting glow. Beautiful job.

L. O'Neal said...

Thank you Amy and Debra. There is such a majesty to those grounds beyond the historical significance -- just the beauty of creation in the vastness of the landscape.