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It is invisible and can only be apprehended by an instrument such as a glider. The thermal itself is a current of hot air rising and eventually condensing into cloud. The air is a very definite world of activity as complex and demanding as the sea. Lanyon’s experience of flying gave him a strong feeling for the elements.
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Like birds’ flight, gliding relies on upward warm currents of air called thermals. St Ives School artist Peter Lanyon painted bold gestural paintings in response to the powerful forces of nature and the landscape. The trees are moving in response to the gusts of wind. Although blue, the vigorously painted sky, with its scuffed and scratched paint, looks blustery. But what the picture really seems to be about is the elements. His painted sketch, Stoke by Nayland c.1810-11, painted outside on location, shows a woman walking towards a village. Constable often painted out of doors or plein air, very literally facing the elements! He also made lots of cloud studies, carefully recording the place and time of day the studies were made. But what people don’t always know is that he was fascinated by the weather. Grab your hat and coat …īritish artist John Constable painted some of the best-known landscape paintings in the world. Not surprisingly, the weather and its effects have interested artists for centuries. Have you ever heard people talking about ‘facing the elements’ or ‘open to the elements’? Often when we think of the elements, we think of the weather – usually bad weather.