Thiebaud in Loveland : Jill Berry Blog

Today my family and I took a trip upstate to Loveland to see Thiebaud: 70 Years of Painting. Thiebaud is someone who’s work sends me up, straight up. Glorious, jittery, jeweled visions and color. Abstract and realism in one panel. I also love how he talks, which goes straight to my heart.

“Art is not delivered like the morning paper; it has to be stolen from Mount Olympus.”

“Painting is life for me. It is a kind of miracle.”

Here is landscape, as he sees it.
Thiebaud1

He spent time on his grandfather’s farm in Central California, where as a child he drove tractors and harvested grain. The land seeped in, and stayed there, just as it has for me. I have long been fascinated by the lines of land from the air, the circles and rivers and homesteads lined out across the world, how they change in character between countries in Europe, how Kansas looks so much better from up top. Thiebaud, in my mind, just nails it. If someone could be accused of illustrating my dreams, it is this man.

Thiebaud2 What you can’t see here, or in any book, are the jewel-like lines that delineate many of his spaces. They are sparkling, and luminous. If it is possible to find his paintings anywhere near you, go to them. Lean in close, but not so close as to set off the heat alarm, and find the jewels. That is one way to know that this man loves what he does, and my heart just races to be around that kind of fierceness. That is what I want for all of us.

Comments

2 Responses to “Thiebaud in Loveland”

Jennifer White on August 17th, 2009 1:02 am

I can see you in these paintings….they’re beautiful, Jill!
Diana Trout on August 21st, 2009 1:05 pm

Ohhh. Thanks for the Thiebaud. I love his abstraction/colors. Your name is the in basket for the LP Doll drawing – you’re pretty hotstuff yourself, sister Jill.

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