Sunrise on The Beach

The piece that I have chosen to critique is an acrylic painting done on a canvas titled “Sunrise on the Beach” by Virginia R. Eggert, a local artist. Many of Mrs. Eggerts’s pieces have the ability to pull me in, but this one in particular hits near and dear to home for me. This piece just absolutely captivates me. Virginia has been drawing and painting since she was just a child. She studied and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Visual Art from the University of Montana in Missoula where after she took a teaching position and continued to paint in Eskimo and Aleut villages in Alaska. It was in Alaska that she took a watercolor workshop from the internationally known artist, teacher, and author Zoltan Szabo. Virginia went on to earn a Master’s Degree and Ph.D. at the University of Arizona in Tucson. She has works in private, public and corporate collections worldwide. Virginia has also won juried awards in visual art and in video production. Virginia now resides in Port Isabel and many of her “local” pieces can be found at the Art Gallery in the lighthouse square. “Sunrise on the Beach” with out a doubt shows an outdoor setting with images in relation to a beautiful sunrise walk on the beach. The imagery used is from a personal perspective of an actual sunrise on the beautiful South Padre Island. A person, water, sand, a seagull, waves, clouds, and the vivid colors of the sunrise are all imagery that brings this painting to life and making the painting realistic. Being a surfer and enjoying sunrise surfing on South Padre Island, this painting brings a calming, peaceful, and happy feeling to me. I also think that the images are vague enough that just about anybody that has been to the beach can be taken back to their own memories of that time the experienced. These feelings lead me to believe that this seascape is an impressionistic piece. Both elements and principles of art are used in almost all of Virginia’s pieces that I’ve seen and are apparent in “Sunrise on the Beach.” The texture and harmony of the waves show that they are flowing in a rhythm that is proportionately allowing the eye to see the variety of sizes of the waves and implying the “flowing” movement inward towards the beach. The painting takes form by showing a man looking out and a bird flying across the water. Because of the man on the beach looking out there is an implied line going from the foreground to the sunrise in the background. As you can see the primary colors (yellow, blue, red) help to bring lightness to the painting, uniting the contrast of colors and really balancing the piece. As the waves come in we look out at the sunrise with such a piece of mind. In conclusion, I really find this piece of art, along with many of Mrs. Eggert’s paintings to be very relaxing and pleasant to look at. My connection with this piece is so strong because I feel like when I do my sunrise surf sessions there is no other place as peaceful as that and when I look at this painting it brings my mind and body to that relaxing and enjoyable feeling. When it’s a tough day at the office or at school I like to pull up this picture and it feels as if I can hear the waves and taste the salt just as if I were there.