When the Painting Looks Back

Written By: Donna Rhodes | Issue: August - 2022

If you’re a local artist or an art appreciator, chances are verygood you know Patty Calderone.She’s a painter, an art instructor, a writer, an art showpromoter, a leader in the regional artworld, and a terrific friendto many – artist or non-artist.A devoted collaborator with The Laurel, she’s been featuredinside the magazine and a few times on the cover.This August we are recognizing her contribution to the Artsand magazine during the last two decades. We’re celebratingone of our readership’s favorite Calderone covers, an owl ona mystical mission, sailing silently through the Plateau’s stillnight air.Continuing our monthly art critiques, take a moment to perusethe painting, noting its artistic principles and elements. Studyhow the negative space between the moonlit edge of the owl’swings and moonlight edge peeking out behind the line ofmountains create almost a mirror image of each other. Howdoes that contribute to the harmony of the painting’s elements(sky, mountain and owl)?Why do you think Patty chose that particular color palette?Did the owl have a strong impact on you. If so, why?In one or two sentences tell a very short story aboutthe owl’s presence.As for this viewer and writer, I still catch my breath when I seethis cover image. I think it’s that dead-on look, an intelligence,other than human, piercing through the dark, staring right backat me. I’m reminded of an early Dutch painter, Jan van Eyck andhis 1433 painting,Portrait of a Man in a Red Turban, with itsconfrontational gaze. 600 years ago, it was both disturbing andstunning. No one painted like that until van Eyck opened thatdoor. It’s still unsettling, yet compelling today.Besides the owl’s powerful physical and anthropomorphicpresence, the painting’s focal point is accentuated by thelinework of the wings and the line of mountains. Those linespull our focus into the painting’s center and the owl’s intenselook. The monochromatic palette dramatizes the dark of night,while linear light draws us in.The owl’s eyes, combined with the bird’s ability to navigate thenight in flight tap into the mystical. This owl knows somethingI need to know. I am mesmerized by his stare. I don’t want to behis prey – but maybe I do, if doing so lifts me to another plane.We’ve studied the owl briefly with principles and elementsof design and touched on how that leads us to the transcen-dent. Now let’s experience the artist’s concept. Your turn,Ms. Calderone: “In 2008 I had a dream, a vision, in which a boy’s fatherbrings his son across the border from North Carolina.They climb up Rabun Bald Mountain. There, they eat theirfirst meal since fasting after a long trip lasting four days.Where they camp, the summit view is mesmerizing. Themoon is bright, and the sky, full of stars. The boy’s fatherlies down, says goodnight, and falls fast asleep. The boytakes in the peaceful beauty, watching the shooting starsin the sky. A startling swoosh makes him sit straight up. Alarge white Owl appears before him, gazing into his eyes.The two remain transfixed, caught up in a Vision Quest(an attempt to achieve a vision of a guardian spirit, usuallyundertaken by boys at puberty). The Owl slowly retreats.A vision of a ghost bear’s face emerges above the head ofthe Owl. A star splits in two. On each side of the bear, twopieces of the star reveal the bear’s silhouette in the sky aseach piece draws the line slowly to the edge of the earth.”It was this vision that inspiredVision of Things to Come,which appeared on a Laurel cover in 2009.To learn more about this painting, its original incarnation,Patty Calderone’s studio, classes, upcoming events, andmuch more, visit calderonegallery.com, or inquire [email protected].

by Donna Rhodes