I have been pretty busy at the easel lately. I’ve been getting into a decent rhythm where one thing quickly leads to another, one creative spark jumping up toward the next tree. This is the result of one of these wildfires.
Measuring 24″ by 24″ on canvas, this new painting has been a pretty vibrant addition to the studio. It has excited me visually with its vibrancy of color and the massing of the clouds in the sky creates a different atmosphere than my often clear and empty skies. It just seems brighter and more optimistic in nature, more extroverted. While the red tree is still the central figure and stands alone and different, I don’t get the sense that there is exclusion here. Rather I sense inclusion, a feeling of connection to the world around it with the clouds being almost celebratory above and the surrounding trees willing witnesses. Jubilation is word that comes to mind for me. A sense of joy in just being alive.
This piece has a very intoxicating quality in the studio. I am constantly pulled to it which both excites me and makes me wary, suspicious of my own initial strong response to the work. I have been doggedly trying to find fault in it to give me a reason to curtail this excitement in case it is a mere episode of color intoxication, where I get somewhat mesmerized by the colors I am working with and can’t objectively see the work in its entirety.
But this work seems to fit, seems to belong in the continuum of my work. There is part of me that is pushing towards rushing into a series of this work while part of me is telling me to slow down and give it time. But the rushed part is winning, seeing new takes and twists in this work with which it’s itching to forge ahead. I’m already well into another of this series.
Well, maybe a series. Only time will tell. But for the time being, I’m drunkenly enjoying this painting.
Redtree Times 