I LOVE to paint large. On the first day my kids went back to school this fall I stretched and gessoed the largest stretcher I had and set to work. I had recently driven to Houston through Bastrop County and on that late August day the burnt sticks which had once been an extravagant forest--the Lost Pines area--spoke to me more than they had before. I have seen the results of last year's record fires several times before, in pictures and in real life, but on that day the sky was dark with purple clouds and the recent rains had produced lime green new grass which made the black of the burnt pines look velvety rich, and the soil, which is typically a ruddy red, look incredibly orange. And as I passed by in my van, late for my Houston date, I saw one tree which still had it's branches--but with scarlet red foliage, probably a dying tree. When I returned home I immediately drew up a sketch before my memory faded. On the day I mapped the painting out in oil the local radio station I usually listen to had special programing, interviewing victims of the fires, each telling their very dramatic and heartbreaking stories--it was the one year anniversary of the historic fires. I immersed myself in the sounds of their voices and painted. This is the chronology of the painting.
This might be the halfway point, halfway to completion. I won't know for sure until it's done and I can look back, but I know this is the point where I glimpse infinity. Every part of the painting needs attention and detail which could go on and on and on. The job now is to decide how much detail, and where, and if those details actually serve the painting.
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| Earth has a Long Memory, as of 9/29/12 |
Please stay tuned....
