Japanese Garden, 2000,
watercolor/gouache on paper, 12 x 9 inches.
Were this humble sketch of "Japanese Garden"
given a descriptive subtitle, it might well be "Less is More."
Rebecca Allan, a New York-based landscape artist, whose work encompasses the landscape, the figure, and themes of music, works largely
in watermedia — acrylic, watercolor and goauche. In her small
plein air sketches she displays her mastery of simplification. She
translates what might otherwise be a messy assemblage of foliage and
branches into
the lowest common denominator of shape. The painting becomes as much about the energy of shapes and movement as it does about the subject of a Japanese garden, if not more.
A gestural energy — as
seen in the sweep of the lawn as it moves back or the tree trunks and boughs that jut sharply up and to the right — suggest the underlying forms and add
to the overall abstract tapestry. Thus, even the smallest work exists
in two worlds, the representational and the abtract.
Japanese Garden, 2000,
watercolor/gouache on paper, 12 x 9 inches.