Lucinda's Creative Process

Lucinda's Creative Process

A strong focus in Lucinda Sayre's paintings is the interplay of light and dark with an emphasis on back-lit images. The sense of coming upon a private scene, the emotions evoked and the mysteries to be found in nature fill her canvases. Her large-scale works are composed from a perspective that draws viewers into the painting, giving them the feeling they are walking right alongside the artist.

Lucinda Sayre's day often begins at dawn as she pulls on her boots, grabs her camera and steps into the woods surrounding her home in Vermont. Rather than seeking a particular composition, the artist allows inspiration to find her as she might be drawn off a trail by the sounds of a babbling brook, the slant of sunlight through trees or the reach of a towering cliff. She'll often wander along rural back  roads -- one road leading to another, and then another, as she discovers forgotten barns, a secluded pond, a stand of birches, a beaver dam. Click, click, click - her heart and camera catch all these images that inspire and excite. She takes numerous photographs of places that capture her attention, focusing on different angles and shifts in lighting as time passes.

Back in the studio, Sayre sorts through her photographs, choosing the ones that will be  used as references for future paintings. She selects a few and begins her work by sketching the general composition directly onto the canvas and then builds the painting in layers, working in oils, acrylics and/or mixed media. Using lighting from one image, a tree from another, the artist creates more of a composite rather than a literal depiction. As she works, she chooses colors by instinct, often enhancing the original colors of the photograph to evoke the emotions and sense of wonder she felt during her encounter in the woods. “My paintings are an expression of what I've seen and how I've felt, rather than copies of the photographs,” says the artist.

Although nature’s life is often fleeting, Lucinda’s capture of it endures. When the painting is finished and completely dry, the artist applies two layers of varnish to deepen the colors, protect the painting and provide an archival finish.