Museum Response

 

Ruth Sorenson

Untitled (Cloudscape) 2003

(This picture is NOT the exact one from the Museum

but it almost looks the exact same)

    It didn't take me long to chose the art piece that I would be writing 500 words on.  I wandered downstairs (as if this painting was a magnet, and I was drawn to it) to this beautiful oil painting of these clouds caught my eye and I knew I could look no further.   As I sat there in a chair taking my notes, it was easy to tell that the focal point was one large, fluffy white cloud, lighter than all the others and painted right in the middle of the canvas.  In the background, there were darker clouds that framed this one brighter cloud.  There were no vibrant colors that popped out, just calm, relaxing shades of greens from the grass below, and shades of blue and gray from above.  I let my eyes search the entire painting, not knowing if in the middle was a path or a muddy stream of water. The shading in the clouds make me believe that it might be time for rain. 

   I believe the artist wanted to create an effect with her audience that would be emotional.  When I had first looked at this painting I thought about when I was very little and lived on the Aleutian Islands.  The places we lived looked very much like this scene in this painting.  It took me back to standing there at the playground in Nikolski (nih-COAL-skee), there was nothing surrounding us besides a few buildings.  I remember the grass was mostly yellow, never a lively green.  In the picture you can tell that there's a breeze by looking at how the grass is bent, which reminded me of how windy it always was in Nikolski.  My family would borrow one of the Native's four wheelers and we would ride across to the other side of the island.  It seemed like every thing there was dead.  Dead wood on the beach, dead grass, bland, dead colors.  The only thing that was poignant and alive was the smell of the salt water and the sounds coming from the seagulls.     

Red & Yellow Dot is where Nikolski is located

  

    The feeling that I get from this picture is a feeling that I also get when I'm at the Delta River.  It's so easy to stand there and marvel at the world, listen to it's sounds, and wonder about the one that created it all.  Either basking in the sun or having the wind blow on my face and through my hair, these places make me feel so much more alive than anywhere else.  These places make me feel connected to them.  There's a special bond.  Even just looking at this painting, I've never stood there, I don't even know where it's at or if it was just made up from the artists' imagination...but I still feel a connection to it.