I received an email a short while ago from Jude Bennitto asking that I review one of her paintings.
Overall, when I visited her website I liked what I saw, but I also found that Jude’s art is hard to pin down into one style or medium. So after looking through an eclectic mix of acrylic, watercolor, and collage, I picked two that I think are quite good.
This piece, titled Valley View, drew me in immediately with its sense of distance and almost windswept feel.
There’s also a very natural yet balanced placement of reds and oranges within the foliage, which gives great visual interest and nicely complements the surrounding greens and pale blues.
I do think this piece would be better with a greater range of texture throughout, perhaps with a smoother sky or more solid shapes in the foreground, but it still works very well as it is.
Jude told me that she uses tissue paper, messa paper, and whatever else is at hand to build up layers of collage and color. As you can see, this gives a translucent effect to the tree leaves, allowing the illusion of sunlight to shine through.
In her acrylic paintings she tends to use organic patterns and abstract shapes as well.
Wildflower Sunset, pictured above, has a beautiful elegance and warmth. With just the barest suggestion of a real landscape, Jude created a floating, feminine image that swells upward with joy.
Her use of color in this piece is excellent too, transitioning gently from pink, to red, to gold. And with the inclusion of a few strokes of darker paint and a scattering of white, there’s a full range of value, but without being too dark or too light.
Without a doubt, Jude is in her element when working with abstract, organic forms, and my only suggestion would be to emphasize that in more of her work.
Special thanks to Jude for emailing me; if you’d like to see more of her artwork just visit www.judebennitto.com.
