Redtree Times

Improving Outlook– At West End Gallery

There is nothing more harmful to you than improving only your material, animal side of life. There is nothing more beneficial, both for you and for others, than activity directed to the improvement of your soul.

–Leo Tolstoy

This new small painting, Improving Outlook, is part of the Little Gems show now on display at the West End Gallery. It’s a little under 3″ by 4″ in size but there’s a lot in it that has meaning for me.

First, it’s a return to style of my early work, done in watercolor on untreated paper. The process is one that I often refer to as reductive, one that has me first putting on segments of wet watercolor then flooding these segments. This allows me to remove much of the pigment from the inner segment, pushing the darker parts to the outer edges where it forms lines. I can then adjust the inner color to my liking, creating what I refer to as more complex colors.

It’s the way I first taught myself to paint and has remained with me over the years though it has played a smaller part in recent years. Revisiting this style rekindles a lot of my painting nerves, usually bringing along a sense of new possibility. Sparks a lot of ideas.

And that’s a good thing.

Another thing that draws me to this little piece is its simplicity and the iconic feel of the Red Tree on the small hillock. For me, this is a symbol of elevated thought or feeling. Rising above the material world in a way that Tolstoy writes of above. From its elevated position though the Red Tree could look down on those below it but instead, it gazes upward. This sense of elevation, of course, referred to in the title.

It is a small and simple piece, almost a meditation more than painting. Quiet and self-sufficient, without need. Without worry or anger.

A small reminder of something to be emulated.

Here’s song that I play every couple of years. I have played versions from other artists and they’re very good. But the original cannot be touched. Here is Stevie Wonder and his classic Higher Ground.

I’m so darn glad he let me try it again
Cause my last time on earth I lived a whole world of sin
I’m so glad that I know more than I knew then
Gonna keep on tryin’
Till I reach my highest ground