Paintings by Virginia Jenkins in Red Wall Gallery, Lake Ontario Hall

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Landscapes: Color & Light - Paintings by Virginia Jenkins in Red Wall Gallery, Lake Ontario Hall
Source: ("Landscapes: Color & Light - Paintings By Virginia Jenkins - Art Gallery - Grand Valley State University")
Jenkins’ painting is a photographic representation artwork inspired by the North West Coast of the United States. It represents most of the natural landscapes in the coastal regions. The painting shows the beautiful transition from the water, the water’s edge, and land. These features are placed asymmetrically in the painting, with an imbalance of the component elements of design. However, the painting has various unifying aspects which make it iconic. Most important features in the painting such as the plateaus, trees, ice-coated rocks, clouds, sky and the water, are arranged on nearly vertical and horizontal lines which divide the painting into thirds, both horizontally and vertically. Such an arrangement is referred to as the rule of thirds, which creates an attractive visual. For instance, the horizontal bisections divide the painting mainly into land, water and the sky, giving it a more natural appearance. The plateaus are framed in between the sky and the water, and therefore pleasing, comforting, and easy to see. The rule of space, however, creates variety in the painting. The artist creates an illusion of movement by having white clouds and a clear blue sky in the direction of viewers’ eyes. The differently sized plateaus guide the eye from one to the other towards the horizon, which creates are more natural, interesting and pleasing painting.
Being a representation of a natural landscape, the painting comprises of organic shapes and forms. Its components are irregularly shaped and in different proportions. For example, the rocks are in different sizes, each with its unique shape. The organic shapes, further signifies the naturalistic of the painting itself. In nature, there are optical illusion of lines which are created by continuous arrangement of different elements and subjects at varying distances. In Jenkins’ painting, the most conspicuous lines emanate from the borders of areas of different colors, contrast, or pattern of specific components. These lines are formed by cloud edges, shorelines, and land and water horizons. Such subject lines create a calm mood as well as linear perspective. The linear perspective gives the eyes an illusion of depth. The artist used different colors, texture, and contrast for the discrete elements to create ...