Post-Impressionism

This was a project from my Painting I class at Mississippi State. All the projects for the course were painted in oils. I painted this one in the spring of 1984. We were instructed to use dots of pure color and place complementary colors adjacent to each other. We were using the Seurat Post-Impressionistic approach.

I had enjoyed playing with Impressionism in high school art classes. When this project came along I was thrilled.

I used an old photo of my grandfather and his cousin picnicking on the levee for my composition. I had to imagine color for this shot. At the time I did not have color levee photos to aid me.

The painting project that immediately followed this one consisted of collaged imagery. We were asked to be more personal in subject matter and to choose how we would render the piece. I mention the project because I had painterly water like Monet. You can see the painting "Cat Slide Water" on my blog, mind places.

oil on canvas, 28" x 36"

A Painting for My School

My high school headmaster requested a do a painting to hang at school. That is how this painting came to be. It hung in the school library. The painting was returned to me sometime before Katrina. Fortunately I had it at my house, which did not flood.


acrylic on canvas pad, 16" x 20"

Water's Edge

Next I painted this landscape. I wrestled with bringing trees forward and backward in space. My high school art teacher advised me on placing reflections of the sky in
the water.

When I finally finished this piece, I gave it to my mother. She had it framed and hung it among a collection of Impressionist styled paintings in her living room. Several of the paintings she had in her house had an impact of use of color and brushstrokes.


acrylic on canvas pad, 12" x 16"

Dabs of Paint

Between my junior and senior year, I traveled with five other students and my French teacher to France. The last five days of our five-week trip were spent in Paris. Naturally I enjoyed seeing the Impressionist paintings at the Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume. The museum is now dedicated to photography. Also while in Paris I also saw some Vasarely paintings. His works are in the abstract geometric direction – usually with circles.


Previously I had painted more in the Monet tradition, but now I was headed in the Seurat direction. By now my brushstrokes were more like dot dabs of paint. Although I loved Vasareley’s work, his influence on my work didn’t come until much later.


Here is an acrylic painting I did during this period. I continued to play with warm and cool colors. The great thing about acrylic was that I could cover up the areas I didn't like.

acrylic on canvas pad, 12" x 16"

Farmhouse in a Valley

Not long after my first Impressionist painting, I had a request from someone in my school's front office to paint another Impressionist painting. This time I worked from a color photograph. Again, with the help of my high school art teacher, I explored dabbing bright colors in egg tempera. My second effort was even more exciting for me.

egg tempera on paper

Shaped by Impressionism and Post-Impressionism

It was spring of my high school sophomore year and I completed my first impressionist painting in egg tempera. The piece hung in the front hall of the school. Next thing I know the drama teacher told me she had to have it. I let her. Around that time she became an administrator. Soon the piece was framed and was proudly displayed in her office.

My source material was a black and white photograph of a big oak tree and shadows cast on the grass underneath and a nearby stream. So, I had to invent colors for my image. My high school art teacher advised me along the way.

This is the only photograph I have of my painting. It was taken with a Polaroid camera.
I had to clean up the image a little to give a cleaner photograph.

egg tempera on paper

Post-Impressionism

This was a project from my Painting I class at Mississippi State. All the projects for the course were painted in oils. I painted this one in the spring of 1984. We were instructed to use dots of pure color and place complementary colors adjacent to each other. We were using the Seurat Post-Impressionistic approach.

I had enjoyed playing with Impressionism in high school art classes. When this project came along I was thrilled.

I used an old photo of my grandfather and his cousin picnicking on the levee for my composition. I had to imagine color for this shot. At the time I did not have color levee photos to aid me.

The painting project that immediately followed this one consisted of collaged imagery. We were asked to be more personal in subject matter and to choose how we would render the piece. I mention the project because I had painterly water like Monet. Recently I posted the painting "Cat Slide Water" on my blog, mind places.


oil on canvas, 27.25" x 35.75"

Shaped by Impressionism and Post-Impressionism

It was spring of my high school sophomore year and I completed my first impressionist painting in egg tempera. The piece hung in the front hall of the school. Next thing I know the drama teacher told me she had to have it. I let her. Around that time she had become an administrator. Soon the piece was framed and was proudly displayed in her office.

My source material was a black and white photograph of big oak tree and shadows cast on the grass underneath. So, I had to invent colors for the image. Shortly after that I had a request from someone in the front office to paint another impressionist painting. In the next two years I painted several more impressionist landscapes. Between my junior and senior year, I traveled with five other students and my French teacher to France. The last five days of our five-week trip were spent in Paris. Naturally I enjoyed seeing the impressionist paintings at the Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume. The museum is now dedicated to photography. Also while in Paris I also saw some Vasarely paintings. His works are in the abstract geometric direction – usually with cirlcles.

Here are three pieces that I painted during this period. Although these images were from my head, they show the influence of impressionism and later post-impressionism on my work. Previously I had painted more in the Monet tradition, but now I was headed in the Seurat direction. By now my brushstrokes were more like dot dabs of paint. Although I loved Vasareley’s work, his influence on my work didn’t come until much later.


acrylic on canvas pad, 12" x 16"


acrylic on canvas pad, 12" x 16"


acrylic on canvas pad, 16" x 20"