The art of Ryno Swart

Venice dreamt / Venice known

Before going to Venice for the first time, I decided to do this painting.

What I wanted was to capture is my mental picture of Venice, the way I imagined it to be, before this dream image was forever overwritten by reality.

Today I am very happy with that decision. Within the month I shall be back in Venice, this time in winter, with the intention of painting and immersing myself in the character of the city, and that aspect of character that I am particularly interested in is not so much the physical nature of the place, as her emotional and spiritual qualities.

7 weeks is a good opportunity to explore some serious subjects. There is time to compose, to reflect to imagine, and to assemble.

My personal vision is a dark one, filled with mystery, shadows, and dangerous women. Combining these visions with the mystique of Venice is what I hope to work on while I am there.

 Among my first paintings were ones of a group of mysterious women, at first in a dark room, and later roaming on horses and on ships. At one point they were disarming misslies on nuclear bombers. But still I don't know who they are, these strange creatures who haunt my half-sleep. I can only observe them. That they should take me to Venice is natural. Sooner or later our external world conforms to our inner world.

Venice is this place. I shall never know which is the real Venice; the city itself, or the dream which keeps leading me back to her.

The rainbow

A Tuesday in Olargues. I was demonstrating watercolour technique, painting a building in the historic village when we looked up, and there, arching over the structure, was the most perfect rainbow, holding its full force for some three minutes before fading away.

The rainbow is the sign of God's love. it is formed by the alignment of ourselves with the sun directly behind us, and the centre of the rainbow directly before us. A perfect straight line can be drawn through the three points. We humans are among the very few animals who have colour vision, and in our case, it is a gift, a free gift of nature. May our days be filled with colour.

Workshops and classes

Nothing. For the next two months, I am planning to indulge myself in just painting and writing, and getting back in touch with the driving forces behind our art.

Broken telephone

This morning as I was getting ready for my figure painting workshop, the phone rang.

I got to the phone on the seventh ring, then had this conversation:

"Hello...?"

"Good morning. You have a message from 021 786, blah blah... Sarl moentluck lart wees. Moot may lisensay papeere haan cry veer my car. Seen joe larter. Adele."

I replayed my message, 3 times, until the phone switched itself off. Only on the second listen, did I realise that it was an SMS read out by a computer voice, and on the third listen I figured out that it was in Afrikaans and that Adele was going to be late.
Weak with laughter, I was brushing my teeth when the phone rang again.

I rushed upstairs, forgetting to rinse, still chortling.
"Bahlo?" I said.
"Hello?"
"Brahro?" I repeated.
"Ryno, is that you?"
"Yepph..."
"Are you in the bath again?"
"No-o, blahm blushimm by teeth."
"What?"
"I am brushing my teeth," I said, rinsing my mouth, "It is even worse than being in the bath when the phone rings."

Today is the final day of our workshop, and here too, communication can be difficult.

"Make your shadows flat," I tell them on the first day.
And on day two, "Make your shadows flat..."
On day three, "Make your shadows flat..."
"But isn't this flat?"
"No, flat is like... Oh my, how can I explain what 'flat' is? Just make your shadows flat."

Then today, "Can we work on the shadows now?"
"Sure", I say, and then, "...no, no. Leave the shadows alone."

Here is the thing. Canvas is flat, and paint is flat. Any roundness is an illusion - there is no true roundness on the canvas. And to be truly beautiful, a painting must be true; and first of all, true to itself.

The comparative obscurity and atmosphere of the shadow areas work to offset the crisp clarity of the light. It is like the orchestral tone of a great symphony, with the melody line sometimes soaring free, and sometimes submerging below the depths.
 

In this issue

• Venice dreamt / Venice known
• The rainbow
• Workshops and classes
• Broken telephone

Website

http://artistvision.org/

Workshops

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