Birdsong Above

40 x 30″, Oil on Canvas

The branches of this ring of trees form an interesting-shaped opening to the sky.

There are several birds perched in the branches–after I added them I was delighted at the images of birdsong that immediately filled my mind, which inspired the painting’s title.

The little birds are nothing more than crude silhouettes, anonymous bird shapes, but even so they have a powerful presence and even personality. I can hear them chattering happily to one another!

The yellow sunlight kisses the tree branches and washes out some of the green foliage with its brightness, bringing the texture of the tree trunks into sharp relief.

The colors are intensely vibrant, intended to capture the vibrancy of the moment, the feeling of being alive and under these trees!

In some parts, the picture degrades into meaningless, playful, big blotchy paint blobs–something I am always a fan of, especially when at a further distance it makes perfect sense.

Like all of my paintings, it is on a gallery-wrapped canvas, with the painting continuing onto the edges. (Shown here on its drying rack in the studio.)

Cedar Lee