Some subjects stay with us. That’s why I keep returning to the yellow canoe.
Years ago, while visiting my daughter in Missouri, I happened upon a quiet scene along a creek bank, a lone yellow canoe resting at the water’s edge. There was no one around, no noise, no explanation. I quickly snapped one quick photograph, not realizing at the time that I was capturing a subject I would revisit again and again.
What struck me wasn’t simply the canoe itself, but the story it suggested.
Over the years, I’ve returned to this humble yellow canoe several times. Each painting has been different, not because the subject changed, but because I changed. Over a decade ago, one interpretation of the yellow canoe explored the warmth of nostalgia and late summer light.
And over thirteen years later, the following version embodies mystery, atmosphere, and quiet reflection.
In some ways, I think of this canoe as my own personal version of Monet’s haystacks.
Monet returned repeatedly to the same subject, not because he was painting haystacks, but because he was painting light, mood, and the passage of time. Monet was the master of Impressionism and he taught us all so much!
I really enjoyed seeing some of Monet’s haystacks while in Paris and Giverny last May. Although, I personally don’t find an actual stack of hay all that inspiring to look at, but I sure had fun visiting Giverny and walking in Monet’s footsteps yet again!
For me, ‘my’ solitary yellow canoe provides a familiar place from which to explore memory, atmosphere, and emotion. It challenges me to say something different with something that is familiar and nostalgic.
As artists, we often discover that we’re not really painting a subject at all. We’re painting a feeling.
And somehow, I suspect this little yellow canoe still has some more stories to tell.
