Over the Rooftops, Robert Berkeley Green

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“This was in the American Watercolor Society traveling show. I painted it before Miriam’s studio was built; it’s the view looking from my studio over the rooftops of the neighboring houses. This one doesn’t have shadows. I guess the Zen idea is mainly in the Rooftops.
“I came across a book in the Spencer Art library, Zen and the Fine Arts, and that’s what got me started. It pointed out that there are only three countries that were oriented to this kind of painting: Korea, Japan and China. What’s different from it being a western painting is just that you didn’t put shadow in it. It’s completely without light and shade. It was an interesting challenge; I wanted to see if I could make a picture with space without resorting to cast shadows. Another watercolor I gave a Zen title, as well. That’s Lofty Dryness.”