Forest in Greens and Mauves, oil on canvas, 40 x 40 in.

Forest in Greens and Mauves

Oil on canvas, 40 x 40 inches

Exhibiting: Sorelle Gallery, Westport, Connecticut

$6650 framed

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About this oil:

Living in Colorado, I'm around trees constantly. In early spring I came across some smaller sprouts with new, green foliage. They were in the company of taller relatives but young trees themselves, all with a bright yellow-green hue. That fresh spring look stayed with me so this oil was begun to capture that first impression.

As I often do, the color is exaggerated everywhere, creating a delicious wall of deciduous trees. (I couldn't resist that and I promise I won't do it again, maybe.) The tree color selection is pretty tight, yellows and greens, and I quickly found it necessary to go all out with the background and the earth colors to set it up.

Once all those colors were in, it turned into a kind of contest, which tree, which patch of soil could hold its own against everything else fighting for attention. It was a great pleasure to be in the middle of that, juggling all that zing within the tight boundaries of a square canvas.

Spring doesn't apologize for its colors, and neither does this painting.