Last month Russ and I were in the DC area doing the Bethesda Row art fair and visiting his sister Suzi. On Monday after the show, we went for a drive along Skyline Road, just at the beginning of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Oh, it was glorious. The trees in all that gold. You’d think you’d become blasé about seeing one gorgeous tree after another, but no, the eye continually seeks out the next visual treat. By evening, I was telling myself, I’ve got to paint with more gold.
So, in my studio last week, I took out a canvas, covered the entire field with shades of yellow and ocher, even using my hands to help spread the water and pigment (leaving me with yellow fingernails for 2 days after). After that dried, I did some trees, but not just any trees, some trees that resembled wise old witches! I learned this style from studying the works of early 20th century Chinese masters. The piece was starting to come together, but it lacked something I couldn’t put my finger on. After staring at it for two more days, it became clear that those trees needed some birds. At first I thought maybe a flock of blackbirds scattered over the branches. But no, that’s not meaningful enough. Ah… a pair of blackbirds in conversation, right off the center archway. Perfect, exactly the mood I wanted!
Julie
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