My first semester in grad school was spent in Corciano, Italy.
The light in September is absolutely INCREDIBLE. I lost my mind and all the intended ideas I had, and just surrendered to it. I had been looking for this for a long time.
I always painted at sunset or sunrise, watching the colors erupt from the earth as the sun hit the redorangepink level.
Low sun inthe snow mountains makes a beatiful effect of "alpenglow". In Corciano, there was a similar effect on objects, but not with winter sun. It was with late summer sun that wrapped around everything it touched.
There were a few olive trees that were different from the others. I could not tell if they were dying, or if they were picked too early, or something else all together. In the rising sun they formed a rudimentary cross. The red wall holds back the earth, atop of which rests a monastary. The gray-purple steel lamp post on the left framed the cypress tree, as if it were half of a composition in an altar piece. (notice the gothic arch shape to the lap post) Olive branch, cross, monastary, gothic arch shaped altar piece. It just had to be painted here, in the former Roman Empire. (could the yellow in the back be Elysian fields?)
We had a windy night, a little while before I saw the monastary cross.
Late in the semester, mid Fall, the light had changed. But, it would still shine brilliantly off the water that lay in the fields. It lay in rows, between plowed mounds, and relected the rose sunset, while the ambient light cooly circled everything else.
