Hidden Order

Here's a key statement by Bernard Dunstan from his book Painting Methods of the Impressionists:

"However much a painter thinks he is recording with total objectivity, he cannot help bringing out certain aspects as he works from nature; he will emphasize a connection between different parts, or 'lose' one tonal area against another, or stress a contour that forms an important direction.  Even the fact that some parts may give him trouble and have to be repainted adds to this process of emphasis. 'Rhymes,' connections, rhythms are discovered in the scene as he goes on working, for to any subject there is bound to be more of what we may term 'natural design' than we think at first.  This gradual discovery of order which was hidden from the casual eye is surely one of the greatest satisfactions of working from nature."

The accompanying painting is a 9x12 oil on panel done at Haley Farm at the end of Hopper Road in Williamstown, MA last week.  The weeds have overtaken the place obscuring the 'natural design'.