Sitting, waiting, watching, dreaming
Brittany Murray's show, Sitting, waiting, watching, dreaming, is full of soft color palettes and beautiful compositions of clouds and flowers. It is serene and perfectly captures the feeling of being swept away in a daydream. Murray's expert use of color and sharp lines to highlight different aspects of each composition perfectly complements each scene of clouds and flowers.
In the painting Disconnecting, four dandelions burst forth from a sea of clouds, with several more in the distance. Each flower and leaf is outlined in a deep, dark red that highlights the particular colors Murray used for the flowers, leaves, and clouds. The crisp lines emphasize the similarities between the curves and points of the dandelion leaves and those of the half moons in the clouds. The composition also feels very dreamy and imaginative because it elevates the dandelions, a very low-growing flower, to the level of storm clouds. The use of dandelions, which are tied to thoughts of making wishes and meditating on imagination, adds to this dreamy effect.
The movement of these lines also adds to the composition, enabling the viewer to imagine a dandelion swaying in the breeze as a storm rolls in. Additionally, the golden yellow of each dandelion petal perfectly contrasts with the deep blues of the clouds, highlighting the relationship between the flowers and the clouds. The clouds aren't angry, and the dandelions don't seem negatively affected by them; this creates even more opportunity to pause and dream, more than if the relationship between the dandelions and the clouds were more intense.
Similarly, Murray's piece Mid-Afternoon Breeze depicts clouds that seem to have just emerged from a storm. They are more peaceful than the clouds in Disconnecting and have less movement. The different blues also feel calmer, but Murray still used lines and small dots to create definition and dimension. The painted frame that perfectly matches the blue clouds adds to the overall effect, making this, as well as every other painting in the series, feel ethereal and out of a dream.
Sitting, waiting, watching, dreaming is a very serene show that pairs bright colors in an immersive, inviting way, inviting the viewer to meditate on the happy aspects of our imagination, and also pairs different colors and compositions to emphasize the power of color.