Frances Hynes: Nocturnes & Memories
Nocturnes and Memories
"I have long been fascinated with the night sky and how the night hours affect the way we see: forms becoming simplified and silhouetted. I view the night as a quiet, restorative, meditative time. Another interest is memory, looking back in time, and working on a single painting over a span of time.
Most of these paintings were completed since 2019, some looking out my windows at the phases of the moon, at a brief snow squall, and at sailing ships. Viewers may also see a balcony view of mountains and a village and my memories of the night sea.
Artist’s have always learned from the great artists who have preceded them. In my painting, Plowing, Rolling Acres, the silhouette of a man plowing a field with a horse comes from a painting by Van Gogh, which I added to my plein air painting begun in Jefferson, Maine. In my painting Starry Night and Village, viewers may recall a reference to Van Gogh’s much loved painting Starry Night. These paintings I hope project reassuring images of a certain way of life.
Door to the Sea is a more abstract mind scape, perhaps about our imaginary cosmic travel and a door to some unknown place.
My paintings project many facets and I invite the viewer to reflect upon my work and form their own reveries and narrative."
Frances Hynes
October 20, 2021
