Green Chair and Kiva, Ghost Ranch 18

6 x 6 inches, oil on panel, © Ann Painter 2011

The shape of the kiva fireplace that is traditional to adobe architecture is very organic. Kivas were made of the same adobe mud as the walls of the house. Many were quite small but able, with very little wood, to warm the whole room in winter. Unfortunately, the kivas that still exist in Ghost House, are decorative rather than functional. I understand the reasons for this but none-the-less, find it disappointing, especially on cold days when fire would make painting in this room so much more comfortable. In this painting, I was interested in the contrast between the soft shapes of the kiva and the hard, linear shapes of the chair and space behind it. The glow on the interior wall came from warm afternoon light that steamed in through the window on the opposite wall.