Rachel Skinner - Museum Visit

             

I visited Calvin College’s Art Gallery and was very impressed with the art that was displayed. My favorite piece was the “Season” exhibit, in which artist, Mathias Alten, created. Mathias Alten spent most of his life in Grand Rapids and often painted outside gathering his inspiration from his surroundings. ­Mathias enjoyed painting rural scenes using a variety of light and settings of different seasons. He painted 36 landscapes all describing the different seasons.

            The specific piece that I enjoyed the most was titled, “Autumn Pond”.  This consisted of a sky that was painted as if the sun was about to be setting; large, thick trees that were just turning red and orange but mostly remand green. A pond that was filled with reflections of the surrounding trees. The pong seemed clear and was placed that the bottom of the pictures. The trees are mainly to the left of the photo but are also scattered throughout, around the pond.  The colors are both warm and cold. The sky is fairly warm but there is cold colors mixed in. We are able to see a few clouds, light blue with a tint of orange and pink. The composition of this photo was simple and the lighting in this photo contained contrast. We see the shadows under the trees and the sun shining in on the trees both giving it a light and dark look. There were leading lines that lead your eye into the pond and up in the sky. The sky creates negative space, without that the photo would have been too busy.

            I think this photo shows an accurate description of what fall looks liked. I appreciate the colors that were used; red, green, orange, all colors that are associated with Fall. I appreciate the simplicity of this photo as well. He didn’t try and skew the photo to be something other than what it actually is. I received a sense of peace and comfort from looking at this photo. My grandparents live on a lake and in the fall the scene looks a lot like this photo. I felt calm and pleasant feeling walking through the exhibit looking at all of the seasons that he painted.

The photo that I took was of fall trees. I appreciate the creation of different seasons and love the season of fall and all the colors that come with it. I took a picture during the fall time. I wanted to keep the depth of the trees similar to the painting. You see a reflection of the clock tower and trees, just like the reflection of the trees in the painting. I was inspired to capture the simplicity of fall. I did that by capturing the colors of the trees. The colors of the trees, the blue sky, simplicity of the tree line all describe a Michigan fall, just as Mathias did. Although my photo contains more light, I hope people feel a sense of peace and calmness when they look at my photo.