Inside Constable’s storm

Constable's Rainstorm over the Sea made a huge impression on me. For a seemingly small painting, the scope of drama it suggests, through its wild brushstrokes and menacing palette, is colossal. I used to have a recurring nightmare that I was alone in huge seas at night, surrounded by walls of enormous waves. I imagine Constable may have suffered similar - but real - terrors during the time he painted Rainstorm over the Sea, due to his wife's terminal illness. I wanted to get inside that distant storm on the horizon and feel just how frightening it might be to be helplessly engulfed by it. This painting is also a reminder of how just how unconquerable the seas are.