More Small Landscapes 2023-2024

צילום כן ציור בשטח עם נוף הררי ברקע צילום מרפסת הסטודיו של רות קסטנבאום בן-דב
Drawing and painting the landscape in small formats has accompanied my creative work for years – for example, here and here (see the 20/24 landscapes appearing towards the end of the latter post). I work on my studio balcony, standing by a window, and sometimes outside, on the ground.

Here are small landscapes from 2023-2024. Some were created during wartime. Observing, painting and drawing the landscape provided me with precious moments of beauty, presence, connection to place, and perhaps even some small consolation.

צלע הר עם עצים, שביל בהיר חוצה באלכסון מצד שמאל למעלה לעבר תחתית מצד ימיןHillside with trees with light green highlights; a brightly colored path, posts and wire form a diagonal from the upper left to the lower right of the painting.

2023, oil on wood, 15.5×24 cm/6×9.5 in

Nightime view, darkness punctuated by bright spots representing distant lights, and swaths of orange light delineating a diagonal path

2023, Oil on wood, 16×24 cm/6×9.5 in

Foggy scene in grey tints, with a silhouette of a tree in foreground and diagonal slope behind.

2023, oil on laminate, 14×16 cm/ 5.5×6 in

Nightscape in Prussian blue, with bright spots and scratches representing faraway lights.

oil on wood, 9×21.5 cm/3.5×8.5 in

כתם כהה בתחתית מייצג הרים, ומעליהם כתמים חופשיים בכתום וסגול/אפור בהיר על רקע תכלת מייצגים שמים בשקיעה.Dark area below represents a mountain range, with free brushstrokes in blues and oranges creating impression of sunset.

2024, oil on wood, 9×21.5 cm/3.5×8.5 in

Nightscape in dark greys and blues, with scratches and dots representing faraway lights.

2024, oil on wood, 9×21.5 cm/3.5×8.5 in

Brown area at bottom, and above it pink and green brushstrokes create image of hillside in shadow and behind it slope with bushes in the light.

2024, oil on canvas on wood, 20×24 cm/8×9.5 in

כתמים חומים וירוקים יוצרים נוף עם שיחים, שחוצה אותו שביל בהיר המתפצל באמצע הציור.Brown and green patches of color create a landscape of land and bushes, with a light-colored path crossing the composition.

2024, oil on wood, 9×21.5 cm/3.5×8.5 in

Mountainous landscape in tones of translucent and light green, orange and purple, with a flat valley at center.

2024, oil on wood, 18×37 cm/7×14.5 in

Mountainous landscape in tones of translucent green, orange and purple, with a hint of structures in the distant in whites.

2024, oil on wood, 18×37 cm/7×14.5 in

Peach-colored hillside with bright green brushstrokes representing bushes, casting purple-grey shadows.

2024, oil on wood, 13.5×20.5 cm/5.5×8 in

Dark hillside in shadow at left, with light-colored houses, bright sienna and green hills at center and right.

2024, oil on wood, 13.5×32.5 cm/5.5×13 in

Diagonal from lower left to upper right corners separates this landscape into two, with hillside in shadow at left, and bright-colored terrain at right.

2024, oil on wood, 13.5×35.5 cm/5.5×14 in

Almost abstract, rhythmic brushstrokes in orange and green create images of hillside with greenery.

2024, oil on laminate, 10×16 cm/4×6 in

The previous works were created in a spot outside (not far from my house), in the late afternoon hours during April through August 2024. At the end of each painting session, at dusk, I would draw a quick charcoal sketch, resulting in a sort of drawing diary.

Drawing Diary, April-August 2024, charcoal on paper, 15×21.5 cm/6×8.5 in

A landscape painted in 2021 from the window of my son’s bedroom became the starting point for a mini-series Sixteen Views of the Same Hillside, a concentrated gaze at the same view at different times of day and different seasons of the year. Here is the first landscape, followed by the remaining works in the series (created in 2023) in pairs, ending in the same first painting.