Romantic things: a tree, a rock, a cloud

A book exploring the intersection of the philosophy of things, romantic poetry and art by Mary Jacobus and the story by Carson McCullers with the same title inspired a series of recent works. Things in nature--trees and rocks and water--rarely make the primary subject list in my paintings--if anything they are grounding elements to the atmosphere and mood evoked by clouds and sky. But these subjects in nature hold meaning also and so I spent some time thinking about them, painting them, and reading a bit of poetry about them. I used the colors Italian Lemon Ochre and German Earth to create a nostalgic mood--one of yearning for the quiet stillness that nature provides as fortification for us to exist in this chaotic world.

Titled: what magnifies my spirit 48x48", a visible yearning 40x40" and mining the silence of stones 40x40". "a tree" work is still in progress.