Dutch Masters captured light on canvas like few other artists ever have. How did painters who lived in Northern Europe, a place starved of sunlight for a good portion of the year, illuminate objects and moments so beautifully? These painters lived where darkness settles like a thick fog. The sun skirts the horizon and is often shrouded in clouds. All would seem lost and wasted. A bleak season best forgotten. But in the cold days of a Northern European winter something happens. The sun breaks through the darkness in a certain way. Moments are illuminated like no where else. Scenes are set. Objects are brought to life by light and framed by shadow. One wholly dependent on the other. The anatomy of a painting. The anatomy of our lives. Seasons both positive and seemingly negative create light and shadows. Practice and experience focus our lens over time. We see with a master’s eye the anatomy of a life. Every scene and season is worthwhile. Every element and experience creates the inner workings of us. Take heart and know what ever scene or season you are in is creating something beautiful. Casting light on the most worthy of all subjects, you. Happy Tuesday from our table to yours.
Ivy and Palm 