Blue Ridge Grace – mountain landscape painting

Blue Ridge Mountains painting by artist Kent Paulette. Here, the orange glow of the rising or setting sun peeks over the horizon. The sun either greets the land with vibrancy and warmth, welcoming a new day, or it casts its last rays over the scenery, wishing the land a brief farewell. This painting captures those moments in all their splendor. The orange-yellow glow of the sun pops from the right side of the canvas. The warm light is reflected in the yellow-tinted bright greens of the foreground, representing perhaps a thicket of Spring’s new growth. To the left, the slopes of the mountains in the foreground descend downwards. Beyond them, the mountains grow cooler and more blue. The use of white mixed with blue applied to the lower halves of the distant mountains gives the impression of valley fog or low-hanging mist. None who’ve ventured into the Appalachian wild and have come upon a similar scene are soon to forget its beauty and glory.

K Paulette painted this mountain art in May 2018.  It is an original painting and the title is Blue Ridge Grace.  The medium is acrylic on canvas.  It has thick texture that Paulette applied with a large palette knife.

When artist Kent Paulette paints a nature scene, as with the wonderful landscape above, there are always layers inside the piece that fuel what is happening on the surface. When it comes to nature, Paulette appreciates the inter-connectedness of it all. At the same time, he uses the wonders of this natural world to explore different techniques in the painting process.

This landscape painting, which is an artistic interpretation of the beautiful mountains that surround Paulette’s home, represents both the abstract view of art as well as the realism side. That is the beauty of original art, where there is much more going on than if it were simply a photograph of a mountain taken with a non-artistic viewpoint.

“This piece is called Blue Ridge Grace, referring to the grace similar to what a dancer experiences,” says Paulette.  “You can take one of my paintings outside and see shadows on it from the textures.”

“My art is not like an image on a computer. A painting is a real world thing. It exists.” — K. Paulette

The mountain landscape evokes the imagination, letting the viewer fill in the blanks with their own thoughts and emotions.

“This piece, with the land and clouds above, is like the perfect mix of realism and the abstract,” says Paulette. “With this piece, I was thinking a lot about the emotional quality of the painting.”

In essence, Paulette tries to capture in nature what has not yet been changed by the existence of humans.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately,” says Paulette. “It is not just animals and people that have emotional qualities because natural landscapes do as well, and I love to dig deep into that. I love nature and the wildness of it. I love seeing places get re-wilded. When you have to worry about stepping on a rattlesnake, it keeps you in the moment. In the wild, you can find peace in the fear. If I am hiking and something in nature instills fear in me, I’ll find a way through it and become even more connected to nature.”

Comments about this mountain art posted on social media:
Joni Smith wrote, “I’m not an art critic but I know what I like and this is incredible. I love shades of green so this was the first thing that caught my eye. Then I see the yellow of the sun setting. I love the mountains and it makes me feel I’m standing on the top and looking out at a piece of heaven. This is my favorite so far.”

Sandee Gibbs Harvey wrote, “There is something about them so simple yet complex.”

Michele Whalen wrote, “Absolutely gorgeous!”

Jennifer Nocella Dugan wrote, “Love the clouds!”

Mission Hospital:
Mission Hospital in Asheville commissioned a large hand-embellished giclée of Blue Ridge Grace  for their new 12-story North Tower. It hangs in the Neuro Trauma ICU. They also purchased Paulette’s Winds of Memory Native American painting which is hanging in the ER of Mission Health.

Jan Adams wrote, “These are so beautiful and they are bound to sooth anguish often felt in hospitals. As a retired RN, your work would have brightened my perspective daily.”

Amelia Randall Surgnier wrote, “Those are beautiful! They will happy the hearts of many!”