When Morning Comes, oil on canvas, 26″ x 42″.
When Morning Comes is a medium size oil painting on canvas. In many ways it is a painting about time. An early morning sky of reds and oranges dominates the scene, below dark blues and greens. It is an imaginary recreation of a late winter dawn here in Maryland, where it is normally cold with a few unusually warm days. We are looking across College Creek into the US Naval Academy at two early morning runners.
In the houses, the lights are on and we see people doing morning things. In one window – drinking coffee, in another – Yoga. The reflections in the dark water contrast with the black bare tree branches against the red dawn sky. The best fishing time is early morning, hence the back lit fisherman in the lower left. It is an eerie time of day and year. The morning light so red, the water so deadly cold. In February we wonder if Spring will ever come.
When I was an art student I worked part-time as a guard in the Cleveland Museum of Art. Here I have been inspired by one of its best paintings – “Twilight in the Wilderness” by Fredrick Church. At the same time I was in love with the paintings of Van Gogh and the reflections in the water may remind us of his Stary Night – Rhone River.