Author: Leonard Koscianski

Stormy Days.  Oil on canvas, 42″ x 26″.

In this medium size oil painting the storm approaches and the cyclists head home. Is this threatening weather, or a false alarm? The cloud fingers reach out to surround the cyclists. The riders go one way, the birds another; both fleeing the coming rain and wind. The beauty of the cloud forms and their suggested motion belies their dark potential.

Isolation.  Oil on canvas, 42″ x 26″.

Isolation, is a medium size painting in oil on canvas that expresses the isolation that can be experienced in a suburban neighborhood. The warm colors of the lighted interior contrast with the cool, dark, outdoors. A man, arms crossed, looks out. He is separated from others, whose presence is implied by the surrounding homes. His shadow suggests the anxiety of his self-imposed confinement. He is on one side of a glass barrier, while his shadow reaches out and away. Is he in a prison of his own making? The light and shadows unite the interior and exterior spaces.

The Man Cave.  Oil on canvas, 42″ x 26″.

The Man Cave, oil on canvas, 42″ x 26″, 2021. This is a medium size night scene, which was inspired by my brother’s suburban home and neighborhood. It is not an exact representation, it is an imaginative recreation; an attempt to capture the spirit of a place, rather than just it’s appearance. It is dreamlike, and surreal. A soft blue light pervades the dark scene. Light penetrates the darkness, and emanates from many sources; it pours from a garage, a window, a doorway. The people, though not interacting, belong to the place. They are a family, and this is their home, their world. All five of them. Five? Where are the other two? In the bedroom?

The Food of Love.  Oil on canvas, 42″ x 26″.

The Food of Love, 42″ x 26″, oil on canvas, is a medium size oil painting that silhouettes a dark foreground against a blue middle ground. The melancholy mood in front, contrasts with the buoyant mood beyond. The title comes from the first line of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night”, a favorite comedy. The play didn’t inspire the painting, however, reading it at the time, it became part of my creative mental mix. There is a sprinkling of details that refer to the play. I count eight, but there could be more. We artists really don’t “know” what we’re doing. Our “intentions” don’t matter. In dancing, do we count the steps? When we’re learning we do, but at some point we let go, and simply flow with the music.

Stormy Weather.  Oil on canvas, 42″ x 26″.

Stormy Weather, 2021, oil on canvas, 42″ x 26″. A medium size oil painting which depicts an approaching storm that seems to blanket a suburban neighborhood. There is a lone runner, and a flock of birds. Fleeing the storm? The shadows of the wild clouds seem to reach out like fingers for the tiny runner, and the solid family homes. The clouds are billowy and round, the houses are geometric. Storms for all their fury, bring needed water. Our homes can protect us, but they can imprison us, as well. Storms are dramatic and spectacular. Houses are mundane, and domestic. Both can give life, and threaten us, at the same time.

Her Morning Run. Leonard Koscianski, 24.5″x15″, tempera on panel, 2020.

Her Morning Run is the tempera version of a painting I created several years ago.  In this surreal recreation, the objects have been simplified to the point of becoming symbols. It represents how things feel as much as how they look. The space is curved. We are looking down on the foreground and straight out at the distance. The colors are simplified. The houses are warm with reds and golds, the landscape is cool. A crescent moon is just above the horizon; a large freighter glides along in the distant water. This is an imaginative recreation of an early morning run in Annapolis, Maryland.  It represents the transition from night into day.  During the dawn hour, the streets are almost deserted, it’s quiet, and a runner may feel like they have the town to themselves. Is danger lurking? It’s the hour for runners and dog walkers.  Soon, the city will awaken, and the streets will get busy.

Black Eyed Susan.  Tempera on panel, 6″ x 8″.

Black Eyed Susan is a very small painting in egg tempera on a wood panel. Egg tempera is an ancient technique using the yolk of an egg as a binder for pigment. Popular during the early Renaissance, it is a simple and enduring medium. A Monarch butterfly, light shining through its orange wings, approaches a Black Eyed Susan. A fluttering movement is suggested by the curves of the long green leaves behind it. I saw this happen in my own backyard.

Vespers.  Oil on canvas, 42″ x 26″.

Vespers is a medium size painting in oil on canvas. It features a Monk Parakeet, a non-native bird, which has heavily populated Florida. The painting is primarily in greens and blues, punctuated by oranges. The clock on the wall says that its after nine o’clock. The people who live in the house are involved in evening activities, hence the title, Vespers, the term for evening prayers from the Catholic Book of Hours. The parrot appears to be flying from the suburban life underneath. Is he escaping? Or is he the embodiment of the evening prayers that have been offered by the household below?

A Suburban Triptych

Anticipation.  Oil on canvas, 42″ x 26″.

Anticipation is a medium size painting, in oils on canvas.  The composition is warm and angular on the left, contrasted with cool colors and curves on the right. The left side of the painting is up close, where the right side is distant.  The style is surreal and somewhat primitive.  This is not a realistic depiction, rather a dreamlike recollection and invention of mornings in Maryland.  The title suggests that all the major elements are in anticipation.  The young man in the window, the barking dog, the runner, the fishermen on the bank, even the airline passengers in the sky are anticipating…something.