Karelia. Boats. Seagulls 1969

Petros Malayan made "Karelia. Boats. Seagulls" with watercolor in 1969. The blues, grays, and browns evoke a cold day on the shore. Look how he laid down the pigment, layer upon layer, and you can almost feel the dampness in the air. The composition is really interesting. There's a stillness to it, but also movement, especially with the seagulls perched on top of the wooden posts. I wonder what he was thinking when he placed them there? Malayan uses the paper's surface as part of the image—the thin washes let the white shine through, creating a luminous effect. Check out the way the reflections shimmer on the water. It’s these kinds of details that can really pull you into a painting. Artists are always in dialogue, borrowing and riffing off each other's ideas and techniques. Malayan’s watercolors remind me of the work of Andrew Wyeth. In both, there's a kind of quiet, contemplative beauty that invites us to slow down and really look at the world around us. Painting lets us see things in new ways.