Original artwork description:

“Early Harvest" Impressionist Napa Valley California Wine Country Vineyard Landscape in Rust, Green by Mill Valley Artist Mary Anne McKernie

Original (New) - Acrylic on canvas

This artwork was begun as I drove through the Napa Valley and spotted some grapevines to which I was drawn. I had to stop and take a photograph.

I like the contrast of the orderliness of the rows and stakes that are part of vine cultivation with the wild irregularities of the vines themselves--the way the leaves grow in all directions and shooters poke out from above the vast sea of green.

My art is inspired by both natural and built environments, primarily of the Bay Area where I have resided for 45 years, but also by trips taken to countries in Europe and the Caribbean. My studio is in Mill Valley, California.

My use of color can be traced to years of interior design and color consulting. Observing that many wall paints looked dull and lifeless regardless of hue, I learned that those that seemed rich and complex—as if they glowed from within—were mixed using the full spectrum and without black. To replicate these pleasing and harmonious colors, I use a limited palette comprised of only the three primaries, two secondaries and white, and I mix my own chromatic blacks.

The scenes in my artwork are often desolate, devoid of people, distilled to the essential elements needed to convey a peacefulness that may exist for only a fleeting moment. And in that starkness is a certain drama.

Materials used:

Acrylic paint, canvas

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