Enchanted Garden Painting

This is a twilight view in a childrens’ garden, part of an Arts’ Magnet School in Echo Park, Los Angeles, California. The lights twinkle on as the sky darkens. What a beautiful place! Classes, get-togethers, and festivals happen here all year. I am a member of a weekly painting group that meets here and enjoys the magic of nature and the light. Since my childhood in Wisconsin, I’ve been mesmerized by spectacular sunsets, the shock of storm skies, long late-afternoon shadows—all the dramatic push-pull between nature and the hand-of-man. These early impressions and experiences continue to inspire me today. They spark my imagination and shape my art. Greater LA provides endless inspiration for my paintings. I always have my camera ready to snap reference photos of quiet neighborhoods, rushing traffic, throbbing business districts—whatever stops me in my tracks during my wanderings. Then, in my studio, I bump-up the color and crop my images to fine-tune the composition, and start painting. My unique artistic language is expressed through intense color, deep contrast and broad brushstrokes. I paint in many layers, always trying to invent new colors. I ask myself, “Am I getting the same emotional response from my painting as I did from the scene I photographed?” If the answer is “Yes!,” the painting is done. I challenge myself to observe my surroundings with fresh eyes and, through my paintings, express wonder in the constantly changing world—rich in vibrant color, life and beauty. This work is rendered in many layers of oil paint. The front image extends around the sides of the deep-edge, gallery-wrapped canvas. “Enchanted Garden” is ready to hang—no framing necessary.