Honoring Edifaces

Do you ever walk into an art exhibit and find yourself drawn to the same stuff? Well,  it happens to me all the time. I adore gardens and flowers. Thus, just short of having to put blinders on, I have to make a conscious decision not to rush first toward the floral paintings. I try to hone in on paintings with other subjects or how each artist handles perspective, the overall composition, shading or their choice of colors used from their palette.

A few weeks ago I went to Liriodendron Mansion to see a plein air exhibit. In the parking lot I encountered artist Hal Long. He showed me his wonderful painting of a local scene – the Armory which sits like a bulwark on Main Street in historic Bel Air.

His painting of an ediface set the focus for my visit. In the gallery space I was happy to see there’s been a run on artists painting the wonderful historic churches of Harford County.

Paintings of old church ruins, stately steeples, ornate and commanding church entrances, corbels and iron architectural detailing were often captured by master painters from the past. My eye tends to be attracted to those subjects in paintings as well.

How about you? What are you most drawn to when you purchase original wall art for your home? Do you prefer oils, acrylics, watercolors, block prints or digital photography or mixed-media?

What kind subjects in paintings makes your heart ZING?