Study for Aqua Spring 1997

Neil Welliver made this painting, "Study for Aqua Spring", with what looks like oil paint on canvas. Look at those marks! Each dab of paint feels deliberate, like Welliver is building up the image, brick by brick. It's all about the process, a kind of slow construction of a scene. The colors are cool, mostly whites and blues, with some darker greens and browns peeking through the snow. I love how the texture of the paint mimics the texture of the snow and ice. You can almost feel the cold air. Notice that large boulder near the top, covered in snow. The way Welliver painted it, with all those little strokes, gives it weight and presence. It feels solid and real. It reminds me a little of Fairfield Porter, another painter who loved to capture the everyday beauty of the natural world. Art is an ongoing conversation across time, an exchange of ideas. And it’s always open to interpretation.