My quiet landscape paintings explore the feeling of being fully present. The Sounds of Silence holds the openness of a green meadow; Reflection of Silence gathers warm light around a winding river. Both began with a wish to give stillness a visible form.
The Sounds of Silence: returning to the present
When I introduced The Sounds of Silence on Instagram, I tried to describe a curious experience. While I paint, time seems to move quickly, yet I also feel more aware of the moment I am living. The concentration of making one brushstroke brings the rest of the day into the background.
The painting gives that experience a landscape: an open green meadow, darker trees and a light veil of mist. Your eye can travel across the foreground before resting on the distance. The spaces between the elements matter as much as the trees themselves.
Reflection of Silence: a light I return to
Reflection of Silence came with a different story. In my original post, I described five hours of painting and a sleepless night, followed by the rare feeling of being happy with the result. I am often critical of my own work. This canvas felt different because of the quiet warmth it carried.
A river bends through dark green banks beneath a pink sky. The light is held in the water as well as above it, creating a relationship between the two halves of the scene. When I look at the painting, that warmth still draws my attention first.
I called it a personal meditation. That is a description of my relationship with the work: a way of noticing and holding a peaceful moment.
Painting The Sounds of Silence
Galina works at her easel on The Sounds of Silence, a green meadow landscape with distant trees, mist and a luminous sky.
How to look at a quiet landscape
Begin with the part of the image that catches your eye without effort. In Reflection of Silence, it may be the warm sky or its reflection. In The Sounds of Silence, it may be the brighter stretch of meadow. Then follow the edges: the riverbank, the treeline, the change from a dark colour to a lighter one.
There is no single feeling you need to find. These paintings come from my experience, but the memory or atmosphere they suggest to you may be entirely your own. Taking a little longer to look is enough.
From the easel to the finished painting
The Reel shows me working on The Sounds of Silence in the studio. Beside the finished photographs, it offers a different scale of attention: the canvas in progress, the movement of a hand, the time given to a small part of the scene.
These moments connect to why I began painting at 38. For another expression of an inner world, explore The Wandering Angel and its traveller’s story.
A few questions
Are The Sounds of Silence and Reflection of Silence the same painting?
They are two separate works by Galina. The Sounds of Silence depicts a green meadow; Reflection of Silence shows a winding river beneath a warm pink sky.
What does silence mean in these paintings?
For Galina, it describes the attention and sense of presence she finds while painting, and the quiet warmth she wants to hold in a landscape.
Original stories & photographs
Adapted from Galina’s own Instagram notes. Follow the links to see the original posts.
