Monday, September 17, 2007

The Passageway (underpainting)


I've been tinkering with this oil under painting of a room interior that I'm calling "The Passageway". This piece is for a project for an upcoming show at The Woodsum Gallery in Warner, New Hampshire called, "Elegant interiors and exteriors". The gallery asked about 20 artist to do interior and/or exterior paintings of some of the historic houses in Warner, NH. The finished works will be on display at the Woodsum gallery on September 28 through November 08.

A few weeks ago I was introduced to and welcomed into the home of Anne McNamara, the fairly new owner of a historic house on Waterloo street in Warner. I took a ton of reference photos and settled on this composition for that dramatic light and the simple design of the architecture. It has a story telling quality to it..I swear I can almost see the ghosts of the generations of people who passed through this corridor, coming and going, scuffing up that floor. Those same four panels of light coming through the windows have been spotlighting that floor every morning for centuries.

I've been re-inspired by an Andrew Wyeth book I recently bought so to me, it was no surprise that this particular image stopped my eye. I love the mood of it.

3 comments:

paintandink said...

This had an instantly strong effect on me; I could almost feel the boards shifting under my feet and hear the door creaking open.

I'll look forward to seeing the finished painting.

Todd Bonita said...

Thanks radiogirl, I'm really enjoying painting it..it's one of those images that sucks me in. I wish I could keep it on the easel for a while and keep working and layering it. I need to finish it for this show on Friday so I'll be posting the finish in a day or so.
All my best to you,
Todd

A Reason to Paint said...

Todd I LOVE this, it's mysterious, moody and yes tells a story. What a fabulous show to be part of; I wish I could come and see this one.