Cold Shadows

Cold Shadows

This is a scene just a short walk from my home, I used to be able to see it out my front door (until all the other homes sprang-up.)

I'm fairly certain this is a painting that only an artist can love...or at least THIS artist.  I've been around the art world long enough to know that there are certain paintings that tend to get a response above others.  People tend to gravitate toward warm tones, universal subject matter, fall colors and gently suggestive compositions.  In my experience this painting is the opposite of everything in the art world that is marketable.  Probably one of the reasons I like it so much.

The painting is cold.  Cold paintings don't sell well, nor do overtly green or blue paintings (this falls into all three categories.)  Dynamic paintings can also be hard for people to swallow, the shadows are nothing if not dynamic.  The composition could also be described as such.  The composition is a bit forceful, not just suggesting to the viewer to observe the tree, but almost yelling at him/her to do so. 

One critique about this image is that I feel it has a little bit too much sky.  If I were to do it again I would chop a bit off the top, as my barber would say :).  I originally painted it this way so as to shorten the foreground (since I wanted only a specific amount to show.) In the end I believe a shorter height would behoove the painting (don't you just love the word behoove. Such a great word!) 

I'm sure it will eventually find a home, but this is one of those paintings I did simply because I wanted to.  It will hang around the studio until it finds that one person that it is destined to find. I will lay down dollars to dimes it will be someone who is actually interested in the "art" of it, and not someone who just wants a pretty picture.