cottonwood creek 2 16x37 1/2” oil on portrait linen, following today’s work
1:32 PM: i continued work on cottonwood creek 2 this morning, following the discoveries i made with cottonwood creek 1 a few days ago, which by the way feels like a few decades ago. a muted black, reds & yellows play a critical role in transitioning this painting from a creek-scape to a mystery-scape. the central blue form, derived from the costume of a tokyo olympics skateboarder, gives the eye pause; is this a windblown version of the tree trunks on the upper right, or….and what does “this image” refer to?
i love the way i’ve been starting these first two cottonwood creek series paintings, with realist elements inspired by photos i shot a few years back during one of my plein air sessions at nearby cottonwood creek.
the relationship between these descriptive marks identifying rocks, water & branches and the geometric primary colored patterning is left to the viewer to decipher. but that muted black is where the imagination keeps returning, taking the eye further back than the blue sky on the upper right, into an unknown territory.
a lifetime of observing and painting the landscape laid the groundwork for this moment.
today’s palette
at work this morning on cottonwood creek 2