Redtree Times

This past week on the blog, I’ve been putting up images from a group of work that is part of the Little Gems show that opens tomorrow at the West End Gallery.  I was going to show yet another snow painting in honor of our recent wintry weather- it’s hovering around zero on the thermometer and everything is covered with a white layer of snow here.  But this painting struck me this morning.  Maybe it was the warmth of the sky.

It’s called The Eternal Gaze and is about 4″ by 6″ on paper.  The large bird who seems to be overseeing the whole scene and the atmospheric glow give this an otherworldly feel.  Large birds, especially crows and ravens, have always had an otherworldly quality for me, their watchful intelligence always coming across as some sort of deeper and timeless wisdom.  As though they are and have been witnesses to our time in this world.

The contrast between the light of the sky and the darkness of the bony tree and the bird creates a nice tension within the picture but it’s the simple silhouette of the bird that changes the whole feeling and focus of it.  Without the gazing black bird this piece felt much different.  Again, the bird carries a certain cache in its symbolism.

Actually, since the snow piece I was going to show had several birds in a tree in a more wintry setting and also alluded to their watchfulness, why not show it as well?  This is Winter Watchers and is a mere 2.5″ by 3″  on paper.  Both are currently at the West End Gallery.