Eel Pond Sky by Jeff Hoerle
Jeff Hoerle
Jeff Hoerle’s work captures our sensation of being in the landscape, of experiencing its movement and energy, through the physical use of paint. The works represent real places and moments in time, but the marks and tactile paint surface continually reveal that these are invented interpretations. His paintings are convincingly realistic in form, color, and space; they are simultaneously highly textured, dramatically physical surfaces. Hoerle has painted on location on Martha’s Vineyard for more than twenty-five years. The artist says: “I love the process of observation and the paint itself, and I work to capture this in the paintings. For me, being authentic as a painter means emphasizing the physical—our physical presence in the landscape, the physical material of the paint, and the physical object of the painting itself. A painting is the artifact that results from this process. When I begin a painting, I can’t know where it is going or how it will look as I can’t know how the landscape will change or how I will respond to the space in front of me over days and weeks. That sense of discovery is exciting. I work to retain that excitement and energy. The scene before me is never static, and while I can enjoy the articulation of detail, I constantly scrape away descriptively detailed areas in my paintings to make the mark itself the subject. The luminous space and air of the literal landscape are as necessary for my most minimalist or abstract paintings as for those that express such recognizable scenes as Sheriff’s Meadow or the Menemsha hills.” Palette knives and large four- and six-inch brushes are the artist’s major painting tools. Hoerle uses these to focus on building a painting through paint rather than painting a picture of objects. Paintings such as “Island Shore” and “Island Shore—Rocks” began as similar interpretations of the island’s North Shore, but changed gradually over a series of onsite painting sessions. Hoerle says, “At different times of day, I would be struck by the endless shapes and crevices of the rocks, and then, when I turned around into the serene expanse of a cove, the reflections of light would overwhelm the details of these same rocks. As I develop the painting, there is a sense of uncertainty about where it will go, and I work to be attentive, to listen to what the painting tells me and respond to that. While the end paintings look very different, the intention of getting to the essence of the subject is the same.” Jeff Hoerle and his family live in Florida.
Eel Pond Sky
Jeff Hoerle
Oil on Canvas
20" x 30"     Framed: 22" x 32"
2023
$3,800
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