Brilliant Closure

True colours revealed!

For most of the year, chlorophyll fills the leaves producing energy for the tree. The green is the reflected light spectrum we see. In the fall, the tree turns toward rest and energy conservation for the winter months. Energy production stops – no more green. The brilliant colours are revealed as the leaves die and return to the soil. 

Probably for survival, our evolution has made us highly tuned to contrast, movement and change. Perhaps is this particularly heightened during the fall – this Flaming American Beech being a wonderful example.

Guache, 12×12 on watercolour paper mounted on 1” cradled board – $160

Quaking Aspen

As humans and likely many other creatures, what we see, what we pay attention to and what interests us, is contrast –  light vs dark, brilliant vs muted, warm vs cold – and the more detail, the more focus.

The beautiful golden leaves, the graphic contrast of white trunks against the dark and the confusion of grasses in the foreground made this a compelling picture. Aspen need plenty of sunlight which is why they can be seen at the edge of woods or clearings, Grouped close together, these trees are often different shoots from the same root system.

I’ve often been drawn to aspen and birch, probably for all the above reasons, but I also wonder whether I’m influenced by paintings such as Tom Thomson’s “The Birch Grove, Autumn” or “In the Northland” – no comparison of course – his are memorable beautiful pieces.

Acrylic, 20×16 on gallery wrap – $360