More memories of Réunion Island

It has been long enough that I can look back at these paintings done in the early 2010's and appreciate the work more. Some of my favorites from Réunion Island have already been blogged about such as Intense Island, Peach Arch Sea View, and View from the Mountain. This painting was done down at sea level along a walking path that surrounds a large cemetery filled with monumental structures. I was more interested in capturing the landscape here, which included rough water, bright light, and rolling green hills. The composition is particularly good in the painting, that lamp post anchors an interesting array of lines and triangles. Without knowing it at the time, the composition is very Japanese-like due to the use of triangles in the foreground and background.

Cemetery Orange Path, Réunion, watercolour 7.5 x 11" cold press, 2011 (No. 1257)

This painting was done on the opposite side of the island, looking down a steep cliff lush with greenery. The sun was going down rapidly and I had to paint fast so as to capture the colours and light. At the time I used blue in many of the shadow mixtures, which you can detect in the tree forms. In retrospect green and brown shadows do not actually reflect much blue light, but the painting was meant to be impressionistic. The colours in the water were fascinating, variations of turquoise, pink and powder blue. Using a 7.5 x 11" piece of paper may seem random, but it is the size you get when cutting a 22 x 30" standard sheet into 12 pieces. It also makes it hard to frame since it wont take a standard mat, but these paintings are just sitting in a box anyways so it doesn't matter. Get it? About the mat. It doesn't MATter?

Mountain Meets Sea, Réunion, watercolour 7.5 x 11" cold press, 2011 (No. 1259)