The magic of clouds…

You must not blame me if I do talk to clouds. H.D.Thoreau

A few years ago, on a July visit in Perpignan near the Pyrenees,  the beautiful Canigou mountain suddenly appeared in the deep blue sky , wearing a scarf-like cloud around its neck..I was awe-struck at the magic of this vision and luckily I had my camera with me so I could capture the moment. Canigou was visible for a very short time only and it faded away as quickly as it appeared.

Canigou - 100cmx80cm

Painting the ‘vision’ was magical and  putting up again on my studio wall ,  I realised how much I am attached to this painting and wonder if is the reason why it hadn’t sold yet. Writing about it now, I am letting it go.

I love looking at the sky , at cloud formations when walking around in the countryside .  Clouds are like magicians, they can take the shapes of animals,  trees,  even faces and when the sun sets, they put on their beautiful multi-coloured coats.

annickmckenziephotos.

As an artist, mostly a painter , Nature is my muse and  because anything in the landscape can suddenly take my breath away,  a splash of colour, the strength of a tree, the wonderful light , the purple and blue shadows or the magical clouds playing in the sky,  my camera is the perfect tool to capture these moments. Of course, the ‘coup de coeur’ stays imprinted in my life, and when in the studio,  the photo will ‘relight’ the feeling … is a wonderful tool.

I enjoy  painting  or sketching ‘en plein air’,  but I need  the warmth of a summer’ day when I can really savour the wonderful feeling of oneness with my environment and express it on paper or canvas.

When I was a child , my favourite ‘look’ was seeing the  sky covered with tiny white clouds, looking like flocks of sheep huddled together.

annickmckenziephotos

Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher, but to add color to my sunset sky.  Rabindranath Tagore

Putting a smile on people’s faces or lifting their hearts ,  this is the reason why I paint !