Necessity

“In the tranquil landscape, and especially in the distant line of the horizon, man beholds somewhat as beautiful as his own nature.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson, from Nature, 1836 

On a midsummer evening in the distance I see my painting from the rooftop, where the sky meets the land. Here, one experiences the necessity of simple contrast. I am reminded of things divided, but really it is one thing without division, no duality. Because there is no division there is unity. Where the buildings meet the sky, hard edges touch soft brushwork. I didn’t set out to paint it this way. It is after the fact that I see the painting in the world. In this way there is no cause for the paintings, just that they are necessary to me, as the sky is to the land.