Jane Sutherland lives on the coast of Connecticut, an area rich in subjects for traditional painters. When she paints the commonplace, however, she finds the extraordinary. She says, “However ordinary my subjects may be, I find them rich in creative challenges for engaging the mind and the eyes. I look for the interconnections between the formal and emotional elements among the objects of my attention so that we might see familiar things more clearly or in a new way.”
Little Dancer on Orange, oil on linen, 48 x 40"
Fence on Old Post Road III is a simple, unremarkable structure, painted many times over the years, the layers of paint peeling off. In the foreground are once colorful day lilies, long past their prime.
On her regular walks, Sutherland carefully observes the things around her. “At first what captured my interest,” she explains, “was the way that nature entangled itself in between the pickets of a fence. I began noticing the way day lilies, roses and even weeds could comfortably peek through the pickets; and I began to see small paintings framed by them.
“I decided to make Fence on Old Post Road III life size in order to bring the viewer into my point of view. The closer I looked the more extraordinary and harmonious the combined elements became.
Begonias in Green Vase, oil on panel, 14 x 11"
“I also want to add that because fences are enclosures, I find an interesting tension between who or what may be on the other side. For me, it is the stuff that feeds the imagination during an afternoon walk.”
She first saw Edgar Degas’ Little Dancer at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, when she was a young girl and later sought out other casts of the sculpture in museums around the U.S. and in London. In each, she had a different skirt and hair ribbon.
Painting a sculpture created by a painter, she explored what she felt was the personality of the little dancer placing her in different colorful contexts. Sutherland comments, “The one time Degas exhibited Little Dancer,the critics viciously attacked her calling her ugly, arrogant and unworthy of the artist’s attention. Apparently she did not fit the stereotype of the young dancers in the Paris Opera Ballet. I saw in her face pride, strength and determination as if she wanted to be the most famous dancer in the world. It is ironic that she did became famous thanks to Degas.”
Gate on Old Post Road III, oil on linen, 48 x 69"
She encourages others to share in practice of observation. “I hope my work encourages others to see the allure and charm of the world around them, filled with everyday objects that reveal their beauty with a closer look.”
New paintings by Sutherland will be shown in an exhibition at George Billis Gallery in Fairfield, Connecticut, July 2 through August, 24. —
George Billis Gallery 1700 Post Road • Fairfield, CT 06824 • (203) 557-9130 • www.georgebillis.com
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