From the Art By Cedar Archives: Miami Sunset

This style of painting stormy skies was a short-lived but intense phase for me in 2005. The colors of the clouds form abstract, interlocking jagged shapes. The palette is high-contrast, neon.

I spent the first years of my childhood in Miami, Florida. The tropics are woven into my identity.

I painted this, “Miami Sunset” from a photo taken near my grandparents’ house there, when I was visiting for my Papa’s funeral. My beloved Nana had died five years before. It was the end of an era. I had just walked out of their home full of family in their time of loss, sorting piles of belongings. My grief was raw, which I think shows in this magnificent but angry big sky.

I love the lightning striking in the distance.

My style has changed a lot since I created this, but I still aim for this kind of unfettered expression. It’s the kind of thing that you lose if you try too hard. A funny paradox. I think the secret is to just feel your feelings, and let go a little while working, allow yourself to loosen up, forget “the plan” and be playful with the paint. Then it emerges on its own.