This is a messy start to a great turn out...Spring Line is based on the classic North East experience of delightfully bright and light clothing coming out way before the warm weather does... The party dress and the wedding dress create a strange love triangle with the wintry night. Both are out of place in the dreary season. The woman who stops to look creates another layer of tension between the meaning of the two dresses. There's more, but you should never say too much about a painting.
The palette was so dark for this painting... I could only paint in the diffuse light of the daytime. This really cramped my style as I much prefer late night-early morning painting. The studio lights would just glare off the damn thing.
The schedule change was worth it. Walking up to this painting is like walking into a dark room. Your eyes have to adjust. It is a loaded image with a lot of nuances. The red dress is an easy hook.. but then you have to decide: is the bright red enough eye candy..or do I take time to look at all that mucky gray too? Do I glance or do I really look at this?