I live out in the country southeast of Austin, Texas, surrounded by trees. Sometimes the lighting on the naked narly branches of oaks stops me in my tracks. Near my home, there is an open brown field in front of a row of trees. The drama came from the dark skies of an approaching storm coming up from behind. As I passed by, I had the impression of the trees being silver.
So, in this 9” x 12” acrylic painting on canvas, I tried to capture some memory of this lighting situation. I actually used metallic paints for the tops of the trees. As is often the case with most of my works, there is a point in which I do not like the work because I feel that I am failing. I began to wonder about having a subject and composition as simple as a mostly horizontal row of trees. But I know now to plod through this stage and usually, I can turn it around to rediscover what caught my attention in the first place. This happened with this painting as well.
As I worked and also as I approached this painting with a fresh eye after working on something else, and in different times of day, I began to see how the painting actually was reminding me of my interest in the original scene.
The other thing that I have been enjoying about metallic paint is that the image looks different in different lighting situations. I include a few images here, so you may see some of her changing effects. I also rolled the paint into the trees, hoping to adds a few bumps with which to catch the light.
For me, this painting grows on me more and more and I find myself at peace with all of the horizontal lines in the composition, with just a few subtle diagonals for a wee bit of variety. I hope you like.
“Silver Trees-Texas”
Acrylic on Canvas 9” x 12”
Copyright 2010 – 2011 Kelly Borsheim
$550
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