Collection
Quiet Company
A girl with her dog and a small red bird offer two gentle points of attention.
The Girl and Her Dog When They Were Young
M. Donna GoodQuiet Company pairs two paintings with a small living presence at their heart: The Girl and Her Dog When They Were Young and Winter Moon Over Red Bird in Aspen Forest. In one, two companions fill the view, and in the other, a tiny red bird rests in a wide winter forest.
The Girl and Her Dog When They Were Young holds its subjects close. A girl in a long white dress and a wide straw hat faces the viewer, and her slender dog stands at her side. The girl’s hand rests near the dog, and the two seem to share a quiet moment of waiting. The soft background of green, gold, blue and violet keeps every bit of attention on the pair.
Winter Moon Over Red Bird in Aspen Forest gives the eye a much larger space. Three tall white trunks rise through the full height of the sheet, smaller aspens stand in a row against dark pines, and the moon hangs pale gold at the upper left. The red bird perches on a branch at the center, the brightest color in the painting. Aspens are known by their smooth white bark marked with dark scars, and Donna paints those marks in violet and gray.
The pairing shows how the size of a figure changes the feeling of a painting. When the figures are large, the painting feels like a visit with them. When the figure is small, the space around it becomes part of its story, and the bird feels tucked into the hush of the forest.
Both paintings place their living subjects with great care. The girl’s calm expression is drawn with a few careful strokes beneath the brim of her hat. The bird needs only a few strokes of red and a dark eye to feel alive.
Find the place where your eye first settles in each painting, then look elsewhere for a moment. Explore the background, the trunks, the snow and the soft wash behind the girl. Then return to the girl, the dog or the bird. The second look often feels different because you have seen the setting that holds the subject.
Enlarge Painting brings the girl’s face and the red bird up close. The girl and her dog also hang in People & Moments, and the red bird hangs in The Winter Room and Winter Moonlight.
The Paintings
The Girl and Her Dog When They Were Young
M. Donna GoodWatercolorA girl in a long white dress and apron faces the viewer, her wide straw hat tied with a dark blue ribbon that falls to her shoulder. Her slender dog stands close at her side, painted in warm browns, its ear lifted as though it has just heard something. Much of the dress is the white of the paper, shaped with cool blue shadows along its folds. The soft background of green, gold, blue and violet drifts down around the pair, as though the scene is remembered more than seen. The blue of the ribbon returns at her waist and in the shadows of her skirt.
Winter Moon Over Red Bird in Aspen Forest
M. Donna GoodWatercolorThree tall aspen trunks rise through the full height of the painting, their white bark built from layers of cream, gold, violet and gray. A pale gold moon hangs at the upper left in a sky of blue, rose and lavender. In the middle distance, smaller aspens stand in a row against dark green pines. The red bird perches on a branch at the center, the brightest color in the painting. Snow drifts across the whole scene as tiny flecks of white, and a few warm leaves still cling to the far branches in touches of rust and orange.