Visual Analysis Of Autumn Light By Linda Kathlary

On February 11, 2015 I went to an art presentation at “Artists’ Showplace” on Coit Rd. The presentation featured many splendid works of art made by some of Dallas’s finest, but the one which will be discussed in this paper is a painting called “Autumn Light” by Linda Clary. Her painting had no shortage of detail, and was vibrant with shades of green and yellow. Clary’s painting was able to evoke a pleasant response from the audience through her use of light shimmering down a single tree, contrasting colors, patterns, and textures as the beam of light crosses the forest. Clary’s painting manages to grasp your attention after only a single glance through the use of vibrant colors revolving around the bright yellow light source. The tree, which
It all begins with the light source radiating throughout the forest, as it casts its light upon the tree, the rest of the painting absorbs that light and forms two distinct sides, the darker blue top half, and the lighter green bottom half. This could obviously mean good versus evil, possibly relating to the Garden of Eden. The plants that consist of these sides are the same, but yet completely different because of how the color contrasts compared to the middle tree. The tree that flows upwards through the light remains the same regardless of what side it is on, which could mean that it is a neutral force in the forest. The smooth appearing, yet rigid texture could relate to how misleading some things might be, as well as how important certain areas of the painting are. The contrasting patterns between the brushes and the stick like trees could symbolize resistance in this dispute between good and evil, along with the chaos that comes with discord. Overall, this painting has so many pieces and once they are put together, there is suddenly a clash of colors, patterns, textures and even light which most likely means some sort of battle or dispute is taking
The three main things that grasped my attention were the light source radiating downwards, the huge dark tree growing upwards, and the contrasting colors between the top and bottom of the painting. The first thing you notice when you look at the painting as a whole is the shimmering light. This light source is located right above the center, immediately radiating outwards and projecting most of its light on the dark neutral tree. The rest of the light is absorbed by the light green brush that consists of the forest near the bottom of the painting. This has to be the single most important piece in the entire painting, simply due to the amount of emphasis that the light has. Through the use of this light source comes the massive tree that gradually flows upwards towards the top right of the painting. This is the tree which absorbs a large majority of the light given to the painting, yet also manages to retain its dark figure while the rest of the painting is completely changed by the light. This leads us to the next element, the contrasting colors between the upper and darker side and the lower and lighter side. These contrasting colors are all created by the light source and the middle trees positioning as well as enhanced by the contrasting textures of the plants that gravitate upwards. These elements all come