This painting from 2005 is called “Towering Trunk.” It’s an exciting painting to me because it shows that at this point, I was fully into the genesis of my “Looking Up” series.
It was the first time I painted the thick bark of a tree in such sharp contrast.
The treetops in the aqua blue sky appear blurred, as if everything is underwater. The yellow sun covers everything in warm, buttery light. There’s a slight fish eye lens perspective. There’s a bit of an otherworldly quality to the image.
I can see here how I was exploring not only the theme of the forest, but all the myriad ways to depict a forest while also playing with the paint, playing with the color and the contrast of an image.