When a Lovely Flame Dies – Sunset, Saturday, 16 April 2016

William Van Doren, WHEN A LOVELY FLAME DIES. Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on canvas, 20 x 24.

“Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” was my father’s favorite song, although I mainly found this out because he hated the version by The Platters that I was listening to on the radio in 1958. He didn’t appreciate hearing a doo wop version of the 1930s hit. In any case, my use of this phrase from the song was inspired by a pall of smoke that was beginning to gather in an otherwise clear sky Saturday night. I don’t know where the fires are, but tonight, Sunday, the smoke is even more distinct. So the painting began with a “smoke” color made of rose madder, burnt sienna, naples yellow, azo orange and a pigment concoction called brown-pink.