"nympheas"

Okay John, this is my first attempt at this blog thing. Since there are no real rules I thought I would try something different. I went to the study guide number two, and chose the painting that most appealed to me. The painting is entitled "Nympheas", and the artist is Claude Monet. I know nothing of this painting or of its history. Instead of looking it up I thought I would just take a few minutes, study it, try to understand it, maybe even try to enjoy it, and then try to put my feelings into this blog for others to comment on as they see fit. My grandma was an oil painter before she passed. Her paintings were always of the simple landscape type, small houses, trees, streams, and beautiful mountains. I believe her paintings have kind of influenced my thinking on paintings. I have found simple nature among my favorites. When I first looked at this, my immediate attention was drawn to the reflections in the water. My grandmother was known for this technique, and it has always stuck with me. Although the painting itself is of these beautiful water lillies, I can't help but think he wants us to see more. Perhaps he wants us to look deeper past the lillies into the reflections, or maybe he wants us to just picture the calmness of the time and maybe just image the flowers gently floating in the pool of clear water. My thought is this painting was created for those who enjoy beautiful colors, peaceful surroundings, and great art. I open to anyone else who may want to responde to this.