Garden Landscape, Louis Comfort Tiffany & Studio

Favrille-glass mosaic, 103×114 in (263×290 cm); in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Tiffany may have made this in preparation for work on the even larger Dream Garden mosaic, here in Philadelphia, on which he collaborated with Maxfield Parrish.

I love the subtle, painterly representation of the clouds.

Like a musician who prefers the emotional tone of downtempo compositions, Philadelphia based painter and printmaker Shushana Rucker finds visual fascination in the muted contrasts of overcast skies and the overlooked subjects of industrial buildings, railways and related structures.

Having had a fascination with railroads as a child, I particularly respond to her evocative portrayals of railroad tracks, along with the power lines, bridges and embankments that accompany them. In these, Rucker’s subtle palette and compressed values often emphasize the geometric and textural elements of her subjects.

Her prints likewise emphasize strongly geometric compositions and textures in her depictions of industrial buildings, rail beds and bridges, as well as the kinds of houses that one finds along the railways here in southeastern Pennsylvania.

Rucker’s work will be on display at the F.A.N. Gallery in Philadelphia in a solo show titled “Shushana Rucker – Connections and Observations“, that runs from today to October 31, 2015, with an opening reception tonight, October 2, 2015, from 5-9 PM.