IMPRESSIONISTIC LANDSCAPES
Largely impressionistic, Geisel’s landscapes are painted both en
plein air and in her studio. Her paintings often feature spacious local
landscapes and carefully crafted still lifes. She strongly believes the
two ways of painting — inside with photographs and outdoors in the
spontaneous moment — inform each other.
“When you’re outdoors, you get the feeling of what is going on
around you and it is generally easier to get those feelings onto the can-vas.
But, you have about two hours before the light is going to change,
so you don’t have much time to think. You have to have some kind of
structure in place and you can plan for and develop that in the studio.”
Pieces like “Afternoon Anticipation” and “Forgotten Treasure” show-case
Geisel’s facility with handling of color and light as well as the
beauty of local scenery.
“Afternoon Anticipation” is an oil composition depicting a cloud-filled,
blue sky above marshland placed in the bottom quarter of the canvas.
A small stream runs through the center of the tall grass and a bright
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light reflects off the
water’s surface. The
slow-moving water
appears bright white
where light is sharp-est,
and dark, murky
blue-green in the
shadows of the tall
grass. The remainder
of the composition
relies on a dreamy
bright blue sky, which
fades to a darker
shade as the viewer’s
eye moves from the
center to the top edge
of the canvas. The
painting’s showstop-per
is an enormous
and impossibly fluffy
cloud, rendered in an
impressionistic combi-nation
of bright white,
tans, subtle grays, and
pale pinks. The brush-strokes
are loose, and
the effect is a vibrant
skyline that seems
to shine and move
slowly in an imagined
breeze before the
viewer’s eyes.
“Forgotten
Treasure” features
a wholly different
kind of landscape in
which a dilapidated
Southern-style farm-house
is depicted
Afternoon Anticipation, 14 x 11 inches, oil on canvas.