Piece of the Week: “August Light”

Our most recent Piece of the Week, titled “August Light,” is the fourth piece to be highlighted in David Sites’ collection, “The Nature of Suggestion.” Although artists have been painting landscapes for centuries, David differentiates his work with his unique ability to capture the energy and mood of each season without reducing them to a clumsy assemblage of their base parts.

Even without the title, it would be hard to argue with the implications of “August Light’s” warm color palette of yellows and violet-reds. The grasses below have taken on the dead-yellow hue of a field that has endured too many days without rain, while the grey clouds above taunt and tease. The violet trees are painted with a lack of definition that implies the tumult the storm carries in its heavy clouds.

Despite David’s admission that his paintings contain a number of what artists like to call “happy accidents,” there is an obvious control and intentionality to each of his pieces. He understands well that each time of year carries with it a sentiment that no other can express as genuinely or as fully. This understanding gives each of David’s pieces, including “August Light,” a striking sincerity that is unmistakable.