Hallway Beach: Remembering My Home

As I walk down this dark gloomy hallway with only the spotlights shining on the different artwork of paintings, I began to notice the nature that was amongst the wall. These pieces of artwork reminded me of the environment that surrounds me in everyday life. However, there was one that caught my eye right away even before I made it halfway down the hall. There was something about this piece, created by Lynn Gilchrist, which really struck me in awe and made me felt like I was home.

This piece, Sandscape: Inheritors Remain, with its media of pastels was painted en plein air, French expression “in open air”, which gave the pastel painting the advantage of natural light (Albin Polasek, 2015). Many of Gilchrist’s paintings, hanging in the gallery, were about the natural world which she has strived to reflect in her art. She stated, “…I’m a saver by nature and I attempt to save many things I see – light, color, textures, and funny juxtapositions” (Peninsula Pulse, 2015). I was fascinated by Gilchrist because she used to daydream as a young child just like I did. This particular piece she painted reminded me of the times I spent daydreaming about the beach and the clear blue ocean water. I have never met Lynn Gilchrist personally, however, I felt like I have known her my whole life just by observing this pastel painting.

With Gilchrist’s art, she has a particular way in creating a masterpiece that seems to be successful for her. She stated, “Sincerity and color come first for me, followed by composition and line” (Peninsula). This piece really spoke that message with how the sensitivity and composition flowed together. Gilchrist influenced me in how I perceived the pastel painting of the beach by the awareness of what I observed, heard, touched, and how I felt. When I observed this piece it was like she took me back home to where I could be by the beach, I could hear the waves crashing in the background as the sea breeze hit my face, and I felt like I could reach out and touch the warm brown sand between my toes. It really was magical to feel like I was home again.

The composition of her pastel painting flowed really well with the way she used the lines, colors, balance, and movement that fly to the viewer’s eyes. I loved the way she had a mixture of pastels that made the texture have a 3-D feel towards it, almost as if Lynn Gilchrist, herself, were telling me to walk right into the painting. She used horizontal lines to form the clear blue sky and the ocean with the waves while forming diagonal, rugged, and wispy lines to form the golden brown beach. In the sand toward the bottom of the picture were footprints made out of circular oval shapes that showed them leading away from the ocean. The way she approached this with the different color scheme, blue, white, brownish, was amazing because she blended the blue from the waves to accentuate the shaded portion of the footprints. The mind blowing effect of this amazing piece was that she used a limited amount of colors, but showed great detail.

Another element she used was movement in which she revealed in the background of the waves crashing onto the shore and also with the footprints leading away from the ocean. There was unity in Gilchrist’s pastel painting because the way she blended her lines, colors, and shapes really brought a symmetrical feel to the rectangular shaped pastel painting.  

But why did this piece catch my eye? There were other ocean pieces hanging on the wall? What was so great about this one than other ones?

The reason Gilchrist’s Sandscape: Inheritors Remain caught my eye was because of the focal point in the painting. The footprints that were towards the bottom left corner stood out to me because they were toward the front of the painting enlarged with detail compared to the waves in the background. These footprints were also the focal point for me as well. I do not know what it is about these footprints but I believe that the true detail of it and how they take no more than a quarter of the painting just really stood out to me. It also made me wonder: Whose footprints were they? Was it a local just strolling through? Or was it a tourist walking from the water to his family who were on vacation?  

 Gilchrist’s pastel painting reminded me of my childhood living in south Florida where the beach was only a bike ride away. I remember those summer days my friends and I would be at the beach all day and night getting into harmless trouble. The painting especially reminded me of this remote area that only certain local kids knew about called Big Blue. The reason it was called this was because the waves would get up to 15ft high and we would bring our surf boards and body boards strapped to our backs to this wooded area. When I observed this painting, of the clear blue sky, the waves crashing onto the beautiful shore, and the golden brown sand clear of human interaction, it reminded me of my secret childhood place where I could find peace in my life.

I believe Gilchrist’s artwork can pose many interpretations to different individuals depending on how they feel about it. I feel that this artwork expressed a summer day when the sun is about to set, while an individual who had the day off walked along the beach. It expresses a paradise of happiness, peacefulness, and calmness in an individual’s life, especially mine when I do not have to stress about school. However, it also brings sadness and the feeling of being homesick because it reminds me of the beach that is a remote area that only locals know, Big Blue. Looking at this painting, it’s almost a reminder for the viewer that there is a place to where one can go to escape from reality and their troubles.

You have to ask yourself, what remote area is your peaceful escape? Are there any images near you that you could observe and be free from reality for about a minute out of your day?