Roll Cloud
oil on canvas, 42x84
2012
Artist Veda Reed
Courtesy of David Lusk Gallery, attn, David Lusk
Although she's lived in Memphis since the 1950's after attending Memphis College of Art, Reed regularly travels to her birthplace in the Oklahoma prairie to observe cloud formations and other atmospheric phenomena. Struck by the land's distinct flatness where nothing interferes between the sky and earth except the horizon, she strives to convey the beauty and majesty of the natural world.
Roll Cloud, shows a type of long, tubular cloud that sometimes appears in advance of a storm. Stretching from horizon to horizon as they roll forward at speeds up to 40 mph, Reed encountered this particular cloud in late summer just before sundown. "As the sun dropped below the horizon the cloud changed from dark grey to red. It was an awesome sight. In my painting I wanted to capture the magic of that moment," she says of the inspiring scene. Reed has been recognized with the Tennessee Governor's Award in the Arts and serves as Professor Emeritus at Memphis College of Art.
