Valerie Collymore, Mediterranean Magic, oil on canvas, 2022
Mediterranean Magic is a visual poem that shares beloved sights and captivating colors that have bewitched the artist since her first experience, at the age of 9, with the glorious French Riviera.
This lyrical and joyful palette knife painting draws upon the Chagall-like process of having objects of importance floating as if in space, throughout the painting:
During childhood and teen years, the artist often scampered along the seaside rocks, taking pleasure in the physical agility and quick decision-making required to quickly jump from one uneven rock to the next without falling. During many summer evenings, homework was finished while sitting on seaside rocks, enveloped in and soothed by the soundtrack made by the waves against rocks.
The colorful small boats braving the waves were always a welcoming sight and a bit of an obsession. To this day, on return trips to the region, I visit as many small ports as I can, relieved to see that a ( dwindling ) handful of the “old school wooden boats” are still in their berths.
The red cliffs and walking paths of L’Esterel, along the drive to St. Tropez from Nice, provide a startling color contrast against the deep blue sea of that region.
The swaying branches of the deep green parasol pines against the azure blue ever-advancing waves is a dance of which I will never tire.
The graphic shapes extend the experience of the colors of the region: the purple shape reminds us of the lavender fields that are frequently depicted in Valerie’s work. The golden square represents the brilliant and healing sunlight. And finally, the blue bar encompasses all manner of blues seen on the aptly named Cote d’Azur, from the incomparable blue of the Mediterranean Sea, deep turquoise of hidden coves amidst the cliffs, azure blue skies, soft smoky blues of distant Alps and beaches in Nice with gray-blue rocks.
