There is usually a piece or two in most of my gallery shows that never get the attention that some of the other paintings despite the fact that I often think they are really strong and are often some of my personal favorites. It may be that the strength that I’m seeing is based on a different criteria than that of the average viewer. Maybe I am influenced by my knowledge of the history and process of the painting. Or maybe it is one of those instances where a painting has to find the place and time to shine fully.
The painting above is one of these pieces. Called Captain, it is a 12″ by 36″ canvas that is part of my current West End Gallery show, which hangs there until the end of August. It was a piece that really hit for me when I was painting it. I liked the color and motion of the trees in the foreground that reminded me of dance. The Red Tree seemed to be standing back,observing and supervising the movements of these dancing trees. A sort of choreographer or dance captain, from which the title is derived.
There’s a lovely color harmony in this piece, at least for my eyes. There is a mix of contrasting richness and transparency in the colors that makes the piece very musical for me. I can’t explain this fully and it sounds a bit goofy to even write this but seeing this painting reminds me of a piece of music, the dancing trees turning into notes that hover and dance above the lines of the musical staff.
Maybe it’s this lack of a single explanation that makes this painting an enigma for me. I see a lot of things here and hope that someone someday discovers it for themselves.
Redtree Times 