Texture & Brushstrokes:
This photograph shows the actual size of the thick impasto paint of a 2" x 4" surface area on a 5 foot x 5 foot original painting. The organic brushstrokes and the consistency of the thick paint combine to provide the painting with unity, depth, abstraction and the qualities of sunlight filtering through the forest. I enjoy painting with heavy impasto because it slows down the process of creating and imbues the painting with substance. Concepts of time and depth in my paintings are represented in an effort to balance our current society’s insatiable need for speed, superficiality and disposablity.
Luminosity:
Technically, a traditional landscape painting commences in the distance and progresses through painted layers to the foreground. In the Light Through the Trees Series, I reverse the traditional approach by beginning with the foreground and passing slowly through the scene, finishing with the final brushstrokes of distant pure light bursting onto the surface of the canvas. Reverse painting results in a creation with no two colours painted over each other, consequently all the brushstrokes are laid upon a white canvas with the bright white ground exploiting the translucence of oil paints creating an effect similar to that of stained glass.
Abstraction and Reality:
Upon first glance, my paintings appear to be a traditional representation of the forest, however, upon further viewing one begins to see a more abstracted work of art, and a contemporary use of colour which is really an emphasis of the colours of a traditional forest.
The intensity of colour is used to give the sensation of being alive in a living forest, a reality that can only be created on the canvas by using pure translucent colours that vibrate with the energy of passion and light. It is the magnificence of light and life that I want my paintings to represent. Consequently, I paint very expressively with abstract organic shapes. The juxtaposition of reality and abstraction enable my paintings to hover on the verge of both perpectives with barely a franctional alteration in perception.
Colour and Energy:
I utilize technical colour theory in my work to maximize the visual energy emitted by the colours as they interact. For example, in an area of dark green, I will add small touches of red which will enhance the brain’s perception of the green and result in a lively vibration across the surface of the painting. However, I feel that just producing colours that vibrate or call attention should not be the only consideration when choosing colours. I believe that the opposing colours must form a separate but harmonious relationship with each other to effectivly recreate the pure process of the life energy of a forest. To acheive this, I have adobted a method of balancing the violence of these interactions resulting in an energetic, yet peaceful atmosphere creating an orginal painting that is not static, but changes throughout the day as the light changes.