National Gallery of Modern Art 2

Today we went to the National Gallery of Modern Art to see "Modern Scottish Women" (MSW) and "Surreal Encounters". Both exhibitions were interesting in their own way but I particularly liked one of the paintings from the MSW exhibit.

Josephine Haswell Miller (1890-1975) painted "Memories of the Sea" in 1936 using oil on board. There was a description with it which said:
"It is a calm, reflective study clearly expressed in cool tonalities that typify the artists work of the period."
It also said she was "fiercly self-critical and destroyed much of her work" but she "must have been pleased with this piece" as it was exhibited in 1936, 1937 and 1939. In 1938, she was the first woman to be elected an Associate member of the Royal Scottish Academy.

I love the colours in this painting, especially the combination of the blues and pinky-red colours. I also love the detail in the shells and other items throughout the painting, as I think it adds to the overall impact of the piece. I think the details in the map and the markings on the shells are incredible and give the painting more interest.

I really liked this painting and I think it was partly because some of the shells she used were similar to ones that I drew for part of my higher coursework. I enjoy drawing shells and other beach-found objects, e.g. driftwood, etc. and I hope to be able to include them more in my work in the future.