Grateful Notices: Shadows Along the Path, oil on canvas, 36 x 36 inches

Exhibited: Renjeau Gallery, Natick, MA

Private collection, MA

My thanks to the collector of this oil.

About this oil:

This is a path with a row of trees in shadow and simple as it is, a number of opportunities were presented. As I was laying this out, numerous color options came to mind. My first thought was to use soft, greyed green and blues in a calming way.

When I began to sketch in that plan, some bright specks of blues were popping through, encouraging me to follow. What happened next was a bit of an adventure. The painting I set out to do is here but with a brighter variety of colors, all in a high contrast scene.

The oil was finished and photographed three times prior to this final version. In each instance, I saw how to improve it with richer color, increased contrast and depth, so I pushed the painting further. All of this resulted in additional color combinations and with care, they all merged seamlessly together.

What was once a flat, white canvas is now an illusion of a place that is alive, full of complexity and all aglow.