"Lorsque parut l'aube aux doigts de rose..."
 

Hello,
I wish I could have more time participating to the Forum, but...
( I also wish I could have more time to paint, and more time with my children and... well, let's do what we can when we can .)

Here is " Lorsque parut l'aube aux doigts de rose..."
36" x 48", oil.

Lovely, excellent work, Marina. You are really sweeping ahead with your ideas and their execution! Tremendous. Thanks for taking the time to post it.

Marina,

What a delicious painting! I really love the composition. The arrangement of the three little figures is perfect, I think. A contemporary painting - obviously, but one that (for me, at least) hearkens back to Bouguereau's sublime compositions - particularly the poses. What a great vision you have!

David

Thanks, Thomasin and David !
I wanted to try a bigger composition with 3 figures and well... it was challenging ! Once I found the arrangement of the figures, the rest followed without too much problems.
I'm glad you like it !

"When the dawn seemed to the fingers (petals?) of the rose???????"
Help, please translate, Marina! I don't know French and I'm curious to know the title.

I love this composition. You've painted the three little figures with your usual combination of intensity, wisdom and cherubic innocence. The idea of using a baby or small child as a vehicle for imparting ideas and archetypes is brilliant. I also like the way you have conveyed a feeling (for me) of time confusion. Is that Greek lettering on the torn-off posters? That and the graffiti on the cement seem to imply a time in the distant future. There is a bleakness to the world as if a great civilization has been wiped out, but there is a new possibility of beginning.

Even if you have only a limited time to work, it seems that you are producing a string of masterpieces.

Marina,

This is really beautiful. I love the composition and the figures. Excellent.

Ah what a treat to see this new post! Beautiful as always and I especially like the nifty trompe d'oleil with your signature on it.

Stunning! I would love to know how you planned this painting and what reference materials and methods you used. Very interesting and appealing work.

Lovely! Bouguereau also came to mind, like David said. I think it's the children and their clothing and pose, the choice of colors. And the beautifully painted skin tones.

Please share what the title means - it's obviously a symbolic piece.

Thank you Alex, Richard, Enzie , Laurel and Julie !

Well, I think I have to explain a bit...
The title comes from Homer. When I was a child I read several times The Odyssey, and I remember how much I loved that every day was begining by " When the child of the morning, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared... " I think it was repeated 162 times, and like all children I liked repetitions ( it's very reassuring, I think...) To make it shorter, I kept only " When rosy-fingered dawn appeared..." which is long enough for a title although my favourite was ( sorry I didn't find a translation so it's my words ) " When rosy-fingered dawn went out of her cradle of mist...)

Well, this is for the title. This painting is once again one where differents parts of me join.
It was quite a long process, and it appeared to me evident only at the end.

So, during my chilhood, ( beside beeing influenced by italian renaissance ) I was influenced by greek mythology ( which is certainely reponsible for my taste for allegories ) and I quite early discovered also modern greek culture. I never learned ancient greek, although I speak quite well modern greek. This is certainly the reason of the feeling of time confusion that Alex mentions.

I began this piece at the begining of the summer, I didn't really knew what direction it would take, but I had already the idea of the wall, and 3 figures. I organized severall photo sessions, and these 3 figures come from 2 different sessions, but same place, same hour ( so almost same light ). The child who raises her arm and the one on our right is the same child. I also used a combination of 3 photos for the 2 on the left.

Before I left for holidays, I had an harmonious composition of 3 figures on a wall. That was not enough. I knew I wanted something contemporary, and I was thinking to some torn-off posters... I was looking in the streets if I could find some nice exemples, but couldn't find some neither in Montreal, nor in France. Then I had an opportunity to spend 2 weeks in Greece ( first time since 10 years !) and in Athens ( which is quite a dirty city) I found lot of beautiful exemples so the idea of greek lettering was totally obvious.
The landscape of the background is from the village I know since my childhood. I couldn't make some plain-air painting this year because I tried to come back with not drown daughters, but I painted this landscape many times before ( since I was 8 years old, I think !)
So all these elements finished to find their place in this sort of puzzle. It's a combination of planning, chance,intuitions and recollections.

Marina,

Your work is so conceptually unique, my jaw never fails to drop when you post a new piece.

Truly inspiring!

Ditto! My jaw is dropped again.
 

Dear Marina, I love this! I predict a few more awards coming your way. It's a commanding composition and conceptualization, demanding a thought and reaction to the engaged distracted innocence. You have so much to build on here for subsequent works; and I can't wait to discover what comes next off your inspired easel to drop everyones collective jaw again!
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Garth

Tom and Garth :
thanks so much for your kind comments !

Here is an exemple of the walls I found in Athens . As you see, I didn't really used this as a ref, just a free inspiration of it... But what a treat for a trompe-l'oeil painter !

Wow! Although at first I thought you painted this. :oops: That's wonderful!

Garth

Oho! I was translating "appeared" as "seemed." In the far reaches of the back of my mind, I was thinking of "rose" "finger" "dawn" but assumed it could not be a reference to the Odyssey because of the sentence structure! Maybe it's time to learn some French!

Thank you for explaining. It's so interesting to hear your process. And thanks also for posting that photo of the wall in Athens. What a great idea altogether, and brilliantly executed.

Beautiful piece, Marina! We have missed your work here for a while. Concept, composition and execution--you went through all three stages beautifully. And the little girl on the right is very familiar....
You are going to win everything again with this one!

Another stunning and lovely work. I think you have no idea of how important your work is for our generation.

Marina:
Have you watched the movie "The Barbarian Invasion"?

Marina - WOW! Another tremendously wonderful painting. You can add me to the queue of jaw-dropped admirers.

You really are inspiring.

Garth :
You know I could have painted this :) ... Well, I decided to build my own library of photos of everything I like : like walls with low angled-light, or architectural details with patina...
So when I have no idea for a background for exemple,or when I'm looking for an interesting texture, I can have a look in my pictures to find some inspiration...

Alex :
First, I wanted to write the title in greek letters, but I realised that it would certainly be a source of problems !

Carlos :
Thanks for your kind comment.
Do you see her hair growing painting after painting ?

Claudemir :
I'm very flattered, even if I think you're exaggerating !

SB :
yes, this movie was quite a success, here and also in France...

Cindy :
Thank you so much !

Marina, sorry it took a while for me to comment on this, I think I was stunned for a day or two ;-)
I think that apart from the technical excellency, what is appearant is your involvement with this scene. It has children, they are sweet and romantic, but there is something deep and serious about the image which would not let anyone dismiss it as sentimental.
Congratulations, this is another really beautiful work
Ilaria

Marina, I like it too.
Poetry is the flowering of language and often brings inspiration to painters.
Homer talked about "The vineblue sea around Crete", a title I used for a watercolor of the tempestuous sea at the south of Crete.

Marina you have certainly pulled another great composition together. I really do find your work inspiring compositionally so it was interesting to read how you planned this painting. Well Done!

Thank you Ilaria !

Allan : we should think about an exhibition " Homer's legacy " ...

Ngaire : I'm glad you you found interresting my explanations about composition. Composition is a big challenge, and even if you planed everything, when the developing the painting you're always confronted with unexpected problems....
Thank you!

Once again you knock my socks off! I'm running out of superlatives to describe your work, Marina. This one is my favorite so far.

Sharon and Michele : thanks for your kind comments !

I didn't know Maxfield Parrish, his work worth a look ! I also sometimes bild some cardboard structures to see the light and the shadows .

Love it
 

I think this painting is beautiful and a reminder to me of the seeing the world through the eyes of a child - if we could remember seeing something again for the very first time.