Here is another new painting that is a continuation of the recent work. This piece that I am calling Sirensong for the time being, is about a 17″ by 25″ image on paper. The fact that it’s on paper makes a difference in the feel of the piece for me. The exposed edges create a beginning and an end to the scene and make the painting seem less like a painting than an object. This gives it a real sense of self-contained completeness, a quality that really appeals to me personally.
The last piece I showed a few posts back had a similar composition with the red tree as the very central figure , standing steadfast and strong in its beliefs and hopes. This piece has a slightly different feel for me. I see the central red tree here not as the hopeful figure of the last painting but as the object of and reason for hope and belief. The last painting showed the seeker and this piece, that which is sought.
Perhaps it is something as simple as the narrow body of water that separates the tree from the landscape in the foreground that creates this distinction. The path that winds toward it goes enigmatically around the final visible hillside before the water and leaves one to wonder if the path indeed finds a way to that tree or if it remains distant and unattainable across a watery barrier.
The last piece also seemed to be in the moment, now. Sirensong seems to me to be in the next moment, an ideal of the future that, as its name implies, pulls us always forward while always remaining slightly elusive.
Redtree Times 