Catskills, Summer/Catskills Estate Painting

“Look at the Color of the Sky!” Mountain shapes selected by the sun change color even as their profiles stay constant. Like friends’ faces, they have meaning in every fleeting expression. Emily Rauch’s collages of painterly moments create the feelings one has when looking at a familiar view and then commenting ‘it’s beautiful.’ Emily Rauch’s landscapes are collages, are inspiring for their holistic message. No matter the view, it’s how the artist— and the viewer— perceives the beauty. Given her background, it’s fitting that Emily Rauch would combine painting with collage. Senta Weil’s art of watercolor and pen and ink as well as the time and ‘tools of the trade’ showed a way to continue through life’s trials one line, one brushstroke at a time. As her grandfather, Hans Weil, told his students: “When we look deeply, we see that the things people do are surprisingly beautiful and can give a lot of joy”. This advice influenced Connie Weil Rauch in raising her children. During her life, Constance Weil Rauch always would say “Look at the color of the sky!” Her children always complied. This collage of influences growing up continued for Emily at Bennington College. Where she got to be in a perfect place at a perfect time, and where The Green Mountains of Vermont also influenced Emily. Since college, she has made her home in the Helderburgh mountains of upstate New York, in a house with an expansive view. A trip to Recco, Italy proved to be a life-changing event initiating an exploration of family roots and the effects of global war. The profiles of the mountains of Liguria seemed like old familiar faces. The light upon these landscapes is like a smile. One may be worried; there is so much to worry about. Emily Rauch’s collage paintings capture these thoughts and, like the profile of a mountain against the sky, distract the viewer with beauty. When one looks at Emily Rauch’s work, it’s like meditating on a familiar view that nonetheless looks new each day. Katharine Jackman Providence, Rhode Island