This is what it’s all about

Lake Eola

Eerie Lake Eola Haunts Orlando Skyline

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Eerie Lake Eola is a creation of contrasting feelings based on a real lake in Orlando, Florida. It is a city of lakes, but right in the middle is a small one called Lake Eola. It’s a place of dreams come true. Not far from Disney World, Universal, Sea World, and a plethora of entertainment venues, Lake Eola is renowned as an urban focal point. Many great events are held there to the delight of the locals and vacationers alike. It’s a very special place, especially since it is in the middle of a major city.

Where is Eerie Lake Eola?

One visitor wrote,

Lake Eola Park is an oasis located in the heart of Downtown Orlando. Amazing variety of birds, great place to dog and people watch. Restaurants and bars located within view of the Park. Great place to hang out.

Lake Eola

16″ by 20″ acrylic on canvas
on panel board in a black wooden frame
#16-003

$1,250   $950

Why is Lake Eola My Subject?

But in my conception the lake is viewed at night, and from a darker  insight. It may come from my first visit to Twin Lakes, Wisconsin. As a ten-year old kid I was excited to go on a big trip to a lake, but my fun was ruined because I was abandoned in a boat for hours. It wasn’t a traumatic experience, however, it was a disappointment. I even had a fishing pole, although fishing by oneself is lonely.

That may have altered my idea of lakes, but there are also the skyscrapers. In my painting these structures emote an urban lostness and sense of despair. The huge darkened monoliths with illuminated windows convey humanity in the background. A lake is a place of life, yet here it is bordered by a sort of life that offers no hope. Eerie. The scene conveys a gray and clouded sky joined with streaks above and below resulting in a strange mood. Humanity may not be lively in this picture, but there is life.

ABOUT the artist, Ed Lowe . . .
Email: ed@edplanet.com
Text: 407.267.6977
KellGrace Salon / 110 S. Park Ave / Winter Park, FL 32789

The Red Vineyard is the Only Painting Van Gogh Sold

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Why Did I Paint The Red Vineyard?

The Red Vineyard was a fun project. When I do an “after” piece using a master’s inspiration, I never consider copying the work. But usually I utilize the basic layout and make changes to make it mine, usually drastic alterations. In this case I got flipped around by starting with the big beautiful orb of the sun. I like the way mine turned out, then I realized it was on the wrong side! OOPS. Then it increased the challenge as I had to mentally flip everything else. Oh well, I’ve always been a sort of backwards guy anyhow. Also I made the colors different and the people smaller.

Understanding The Red Vineyard

The allurement of hard work is a mystery. There are some people who avoid it at all costs, especially physical work like the fields. Van Gogh is known for his feature paintings of peasants around a table having a meal. They are the potato eaters and they are content, and probably didn’t realize how poor they were. They had food, work to do every day, and each other. After a hard day in the fields, they would gather together for food and relaxation. The aches and pains of the day would wear off and they would sleep well.

The Appeal

On the next day they were ready to get back in the fields. The Red Vineyard was calling to them; it’s harvest time! They loved the earthy smells in the morning, the dew on the plants, and the crisp and cool beginning of another productive day. Nobody told them they were poor.

36″ x 48″ acrylic on canvas
on a MightyWood stretcher
# 17-039

$2,400   $2,400
On display at KellGrace Salon

The workers in the field must hurry before the sun sets.

According to some accounts, this was the only painting Vincent van Gogh ever sold. Van Gogh did the original in 1888. It is on display at the Pushkin Museum in Moscow.

Red Vineyard

ABOUT the artist, Ed Lowe . . .
Email: ed@edplanet.com
Text: 407.267.6977
KellGrace Salon / 110 S. Park Ave / Winter Park, FL 32789

Starry Cypresses Team Up From Van Gogh Inspiration

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While meditating on nature and Van Gogh’s propensity to portray it, I thought his solitary Cypress tree in “Starry Night” needed a companion. The result was “Starry Cypresses,” and the after painting looks quite different.

36″ x 45″ acrylic on canvas
on a MightyWood stretcher
# 17-005

$2,800   $2,200

A Companion is Added, and I Call it Starry Cypresses

This is obviously an “after” painting. I love doing Van Gogh pieces. The swirling sky alone makes it an adventure to paint. Mountains and hills are my life-long passion; I will always tend to create them. With Starry Cypresses, I took the liberty to add sweeping mountain slopes, an extra cypress, and more intense swirls in the sky. And instead of a night scene, I changed it to more of a dusk or dawn scene. In my mind the sun has just set behind the mountains and the villagers are settling in for the night. Dusk is a precious time; it is the last chance of a given day to go out and embrace the beauty of nature just before the darkness swallows it up.

The feel and depth generated gives the painting an interesting feel. Standing in front of it draws you in and places you in one of the humble cottages nestled in the hills. This is unfortunate for me, because I live in a flat terrain. There are forests with pine and oak, and there are swamps, but in my area there are no hills.

Van Gogh’s Original is a Great Masterpiece

Here is the original by Vincent van Gogh called  “Starry Night.” It is one of his most famous paintings from 1889. The view of the scene has been identified as being from his bedroom window, looking east.

Through the iron-barred window,” he wrote to his brother, Theo, around 23 May 1889, “I can see an enclosed square of wheat . . . above which, in the morning, I watch the sun rise in all its glory.

So I did it again, Van Gogh was facing east, my painting faces west.

Starry Cypresses is based on Starry Night

ABOUT the artist, Ed Lowe . . .
Email: ed@edplanet.com
Text: 407.267.6977
KellGrace Salon / 110 S. Park Ave / Winter Park, FL 32789

starless cypresses

Starless Cypresses Where Darkness Reigns Supreme

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I’m not sure if this one is “after” Van Gogh or not. There certainly is inspiration in the sky, but I went a different direction with Starless Cypresses . . . no stars . . . many cypresses . . . and a village swallowed by an eerie mountain slope. Darkness tends to highlight the natural environment in a special way. Of course, I don’t mean total darkness because then nothing would be highlighted. But even on a moonless cloudy night there is minor light from stars or bouncing off the cloud cover, especially if civilization is nearby.

Vincent’s Original Sketch
Starless Cypresses – A Cosmic Disturbance

My swirling clouds in the sky have their own special blueness, therefore illuminating the scene. It’s alien, mystical, and ethereal, but I don’t think it can be called unnatural because nature has a great number of weird effects. Maybe the clouds came through fronting a storm, or perhaps they are the storm, or even a tornado. It could be a cosmic event because it transcends normal atmospheric activity.

Dark, Starless Cypresses Embrace the Frail Mountain Village

So let’s consider those poor souls in the tiny cottages clustered together in the mountain valley. Why would people live there, it doesn’t seem safe. They could live in a town or city. Are those safe? Where is the greatest threat? Is it nature, or is it humans?

A Wall

The starless cypresses form a wall of security and safety for the people. They stand tall in the dark mountains as if to defy them. They are unaffected by the harsh conditions, they are not afraid of heights, and the darkness only makes them bolder. Peering through their windows, the people see sentinels and guardians. They sleep peacefully.

34″ x 42″ acrylic on canvas
mounted in a frame with a white mat,
no glass, the texture is exposed
# 17-011

$1250   $950

ABOUT the artist, Ed Lowe . . .
Email: ed@edplanet.com
Text: 407.267.6977
KellGrace Salon / 110 S. Park Ave / Winter Park, FL 32789

Lonely Tree

The Lonely Tree Awaits Fellowship in the Mountains

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The Lonely Tree is A Noble Subject

Surviving the harshest elements on earth, the mountains stand firm, because the lonely tree stands with them. Mountains are one of the most magnificent parts of creation, hence, they were made to be painted. As far back as my memory goes, I’ve loved drawing and painting them, and I think I can paint the Lonely Tree with my eyes closed. Getting the shape of the hills right has almost become a muscle-memory reflex for me. The same for shading and texturing the individual slopes.

Mountains and hills are often harsh natural environments, while cities and towns are controlled. There is hard rock, steep slopes, and above all, snow in these scenes.  The snow, of course, conjures coldness, whereas the tree signifies life and strength. Similarly, this contrast infuses the painting with inspiration.

16″ x 20″ acrylic & gesso on canvas
on a MightyWood Stretcher
# 16-038
On display at KellGrace Salon, 110 S. Park Ave, Winter Park, Florida 32789

$600   $500 

My companions are of stone and not wood, yet they are my friends

Also, the scene conveys a sense of fellowship or companionship while the solitary tree awaits others. It’s possible, and likely in nature, that seeds have fallen nearby that hence will yield more trees. But who can say the tree doesn’t find companionship and fellowship with the hills? I’d like to think they do, and my painting shows it!

However, solitude is a relative condition. Those who isolate themselves from only those of identical attributes will inevitably be alone. And if there was a way for them to be with only clones of themselves – they would be at war forever!

ABOUT the artist, Ed Lowe . . .
Email: ed@edplanet.com
Text: 407.267.6977
KellGrace Salon / 110 S. Park Ave / Winter Park, FL 32789

Windmills

Windmills were Inspirational to Van Gogh

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Vincent loved to paint the world around him. Wherever he lived or traveled, he painted what he saw. Local people thought of him as a strange man, and had no idea he was a great artist. Viewing windmills on his travels were an inspiration that he wanted to capture.

Set of two paintings (diptych), each is 24″ by 18″ acrylic
oakwood panel and frame
#17-029 / #17-030
On display at Volusia County residence

$1,800

A few years ago I drove through central Illinois and Indiana and observed the massive, skyscraper-ish windmills churning away in the fields. They stretch on into the distance like gigantic dominoes. They seem silent but I’ve heard people say the whooshing is annoying and it disrupts wildlife and livestock; as well as killing many birds that fly into them. I like the idea of clean energy, but I’m glad I don’t live on a farm or ranch near one.

The windmills Vincent painted were equivalent to a 2 or 3 story building. Todays modern behemoths are closer to a 10 or 12 story skyscraper. If we brought people from Van Gogh’s day into the future to see these structures, they would be smitten in fear.

Today the windmill rests atop a Paris cafe.

CATCHING AIR FOR POWER,
ENERGY FOR INDUSTRY,
NATURE FOR MAN.
“The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course.” (Eccl. 1)

 

Le Moulin de la Galette is the title of several paintings made by Vincent van Gogh in 1886 of a windmill, the Moulin de la Galette, which was near Van Gogh and his brother Theo’s apartment in Montmartre. The owners of the windmill maximized the view on the butte overlooking Paris, creating a terrace for viewing and a dance hall for entertainment.

ABOUT the artist, Ed Lowe . . .
Email: ed@edplanet.com
Text: 407.267.6977
KellGrace Salon / 110 S. Park Ave / Winter Park, FL 32789