Martha Baum's Paintings

I don't know much about art. A few years back I was out of work, and I would go to the library almost every day (oh, that was good in so many ways!). My first stop was the art section where I would grab the same copy of van Gogh; I would turn to the same pages every day: The Road Menders, Starry Night, and anything else of his with trees. There was just something about those colors and the way the lines moved my eyes over them - I couldn't get enough.

These days I don't look at much art, but I've stumbled upon Martha Baum's paintings. For some reason I thought of those days with van Gogh when I saw her work, which is not much like his. Yet, something in the colors, again, makes me go back. There's also something about lots of the subject matter. Many of her paintings are of boats, and it's these simple works that I like so much.

This one reminds me of Wind in the Willows. I can see Rat and Mole climbing in and out of a boat like this. The crisp white, the green shore, and still water make me want to climb in too.

This one is similar, yet the rippling water adds quite a bit. Can't you hear the soft lapping sounds against the wood of the boat? And again the colors draw me in; maybe it's that the painting is clearly that, a painting, yet so lifelike that makes it so compelling.

The tone here is a bit different; maybe the sun has just begun setting.

This one adds an engine, I think that's what it is, and I'm not sure I like it quite as much, but I include it here because Baum uses the water space so well. Even though the reflection of the boat fills some of the water space, there's still more water than boat. What a great way to make you feel just as solitary as the boat.

A different example than those above. Something about the sails made me post it though.


You can visit Martha Baum's page for yourself here, or you can click on the painting of her's on the right side of my blog's home page, here. Visit Artspan Contemporary Art page here to search other artists.