Summer Afternoon Carriage Drive

Art Detail Information:

• Artist Name: Gail D. Guirreri Maslyk
• Height (inches): 28
• Width (inches): 44
• Depth (inches): 2
• Framed: Yes
• Purchase Price (dollars): $3,200.00

Summer Afternoon Carriage Drive at Belle Grey Farm in Upperville Virginia is an oil painting on canvas by Gail Guirreri-Maslyk. Dimesnions of canvas wrapped board is 28"x44".

This composition is from a perfect summer afternoon at a driving event hosted by Belle Grey in Upperville, VA. There was a range of pleasure driving events with horses and ponies. I captured this moment from quite a distance with big lens. I loved the casualness of the driver waiting, horse gently pawing to move off but not needing the reins picked up. I could not have requested a better pose or more dramatic lighting. Moments such as this are meant to be captured. Susie Buchanan was always turned out to the nines according to colleagues.

Painting this canvas during 2020 quarantine helped me start to pull out of a 2 month mood of deep concern. It is hardly over but I feel we will adjust to our new environment, building new business to make up for what has been lost. Art is playing a large part in keeping everyone's mood positive. I am blessed with a farm life, plenty of art materials and good health!

This palette is much different than my normal colors. Phthalo blue and quinacridone magenta were incorporated into naphol scarlet, Winsor and Newton orange, bismuth yellow with titanium zinc oxide. I struggled some with the drawing at first and left it for a month. As I consulted a friend working on sculpture armature to rebuild from scratch, I went back in to my drawing and rebuilt it as well. It was a great day of destructive construction! Working on similar obstacles in tandem over the phone helped to lift the feeling of isolation. My thought that day that is still with me, 'Sculpt with paint, draw in clay'. Using the subconscious mind this way pushes our art.