The "Pond Project" was a series of 368 paintings, documenting a pond at different times of day and night, in all seasons, produced over five years.
From the publisher:
"The process of plein air painting elevates my senses and allows me to appreciate the moment, recording my emotions through a vocabulary of color. The colorful conversation that takes place on my canvas is a witness to life."
-- Kevin Macpherson
Over 400 color reproductions, 260 pages that capture the ever-changing daily and seasonal differences coupled with the moods and insight of the artist, Kevin Macpherson. Commentary by the artist and essays by editor Susan McGarry, Jean Stern, the Director of the Irvine Museum and art collector Roy Rose, grandnephew of California Impressionist Guy Rose.
Claude Monet and other Impressionists of the nineteenth century sought to capture the fast-changing effects of light in their paintings. Likewise, as Macpherson painted his Pond series, he was less concerned with the subject of the pond itself than with the effects of light at different times of the day and year. Macpherson observed and captured the colors he saw, rather than putting down the colors one might think should be there. This keenness of observation is one of the foundations of excellent painting, and as Macpherson points out to his students, it can be learned. Once you learn to see in this way, his students say, you notice the surprising variety of colors in your surroundings, and every day becomes richer.