Ambiguous Strangers

Ambiguous Strangers is the mysterious name I gave to my latest mysterious and surreal painting.

Ambiguous Strangers       18" x 24" / 46cm x 61cm

As usual, I prefer not to try and explain what's going on here. I like it when viewers read into it their own experiences and viewpoints.

I'm simply painting the ideas and images that pop into my head -- dreamscapes; lands that seem like they could exist, but don't -- except in an artist's mind.

Enjoy, and contemplate!

(This piece and others will appear on a yet-to-be-launched website called www.SurrealMark.com. I hope to have it up later this year).

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www.MarkJunge.com

A Surreal Side of Mark Junge

I didn't realize it has been almost a month since I last wrote about what I've been up to lately. What's wrong with me??? 😁

OK, since I wrote about the redwood painting I finished last month, I've decided to spend some time working on surreal pieces that I've been wanting to do. (I also worked on a logo design for someone, but that's another story).

Art Show                                 11" x 14" / 28cm x 36cm

This image, Art Show, is something I saw in a dream many years ago. I still remember it because as soon as I woke up, I sketched it in a little sketchbook I kept beside the bed. I therefore remembered it all these years. And finally, I got around to painting it.

Simply by looking at this, you're getting a peak into my subconscious. I have no idea what it "means," if anything. It was something my brain conjured up while sleeping. But it was supposed to be an art show I visited, with paintings hanging on a long maroon-colored curtain, people looking at the works, and a young woman who is gripping "hands" with the curtain, fingers interlaced. Again, I have no idea what it all means.

I decided to paint the scene as I remember it, ignoring some of the formal elements such as composition. I doubt I'll be attempting to sell this work, anyway -- it's really just for me.

More surrealism to come!

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www.MarkJunge.com

In Paradisum II

In Paradisum II (Latin for In Paradise #2) is my latest painting.

In Paradisum II       20" x 16" / 51cm x 41cm

In Paradisum II (Detail)

The title comes from a song, In Paradisum, written and recorded by Sarah Brightman. The music is, to me, an aural interpretation of what heaven might sound like, but listening to it puts images in my head that hopefully go with the music. To hear the song, click HERE.

I can't say that this is my Tour de Force of redwood forest paintings, but I'm working toward it. Hence, the Roman numeral I for the first piece I did, and this is the second. I expect there will be at least one more that will be my best redwood painting ever!

The first time The Wiffee and I were in the redwoods was in June, 1982. We visited Redwood National Park; in particular, Lady Bird Johnson Grove in early morning. I planned on taking lots of pictures but was disappointed when the sky was clear and sunny. It's difficult shooting photos in an old-growth forest because sunny patches next to shadowy patches exceed the range of film. So the sunny spots wash out, and the shadows turn completely black.

But we continued hiking in, went around a hill, and all of a sudden, like an answer to prayer, we walked into a section of forest that was enshrouded in a light fog, with sunbeams breaking through the trees and the very air luminescent. With the tall coastal redwoods and ferns, with rhododendrons and Douglas irises in bloom, it looked like we were in heaven! I had never, before or since, felt like I was standing in the cathedral of God's own making.

Lady Bird Johnson Grove is on a ridge at about 1,000 feet / 305m, so instead of peering into a deep, dark forest of overlapping redwoods, the sky is visible beyond the trees. Thus the sky appears blue, lightly foggy or densely foggy (as it was the second time we were in LBJ Grove in 1984).

I decided not to paint any critters this time. No hidden bunnies or birds, just a group of irises that may not be noticed by the viewer right away. (In Paradisum III will have critters, I predict!)

I've wondered which I would enjoy living in more -- the desert or the redwoods. Still, I don't know if I would ever again feel the way I felt that day in June, 1982, when I rounded a corner and entered the glowing mists of heaven.


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www.MarkJunge.com

Ida River

My latest painting was a commission for someone I know who lives in Washington state. The location is somewhere along the Ida River in Leavenworth, WA. I've never been to this location, but the person sent me a pretty nice photo to work from.

Ida River     18" x 24"

Ida River - Detail

I added a couple of items that did not appear in the photograph -- two bald eagles! One is flying low over the river, looking for fish to capture and eat. A second eagle is lifting off from a distant tree, embarking on its own food-finding mission.

I hope the new owner will enjoy the painting for the rest of his life.


www.SouthwestSpaces.com
www.MarkJunge.com