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| "Winter Mist, Chain Bridge" 30x30 oil on panel |
I created this painting in March when we were experiencing another rainy, misty season but something was not quite right. I ended up putting it away in the storage closet and forgot about it for awhile. I took it out last week while searching for a different painting and found myself lured in with a desire to improve it. Sometimes it is a photo of a painting that tells me what is wrong with it. In this case most of the photos I took were quite bland and I realized the painting was as well. Then one image taken with the studio lights on made the colors much more saturated with an overall rosy cast. I realized that what I wanted was somewhere between what existed and what I saw in that overly saturated photo. So, back to work.
I took my time and worked up some more transparent layers. I added more mist rising from the Potomac and made some adjustments to the bridge. I added more color to the tree masses. Then I propped it up for a couple of days and decided I had finished the painting!
Sometimes it is the tougher paintings that I end up liking the most. They are a challenge and make me work for it and when I work for it I stretch my abilities more. I also find that my recent paintings draw on my years as an abstract painter particularly when I was working in multiple sheer layers of paint as a color field artist.
I hope you enjoy this one!
