Winter's Eve Painting

Inspired by the long nights of winter, the cool crisp air and darkness descending over straw-colored fields at twilight and nights spent beside the fire. This painting incorporates natural dye from walnut husks gathered and dried in the autumn, along with wood charcoal from fires and acrylic paint on raw canvas built up in many thin layers. The stain technique soaks into the canvas, creating a naturally velvety matte surface with neither the glare of glossy paint nor the deadening of matte paint. It seems to soak up light like a sponge. On a screen with a white background, it can be difficult to see the subtlety of greys, browns, and blacks in the real painting. Try viewing full screen, on a darker background, or cover the white borders with your hands to see more detail. My Fermata-series paintings are quiet sanctuaries for personal reflection. Painting is my antidote to troubling times, my way of contemplating the nuanced gray areas neglected by our increasingly polarized society. I create fields of light and darkness by staining raw canvas with layer upon layer of diluted acrylic pigments that soak into the fabric. These subtle layers of pigment reveal themselves gradually after several minutes of viewing, bringing the dimension of time to the two-dimensional surface. I also blur the distinction between object and ground to create an ambiguity of space. My intent is to create simple but elusive paintings that beckon a hectic world to slow down, pause, and reflect. This painting makes a nice pair with "Winter Oaks", listed separately, as seen in the gallery photos. DETAILS *Natural dye and acrylic stain on raw canvas built up in many thin layers. The stain technique soaks into the canvas, creating a naturally velvety matte surface with neither the glare of glossy paint nor the deadening of matte paint. *There is no need to frame this painting since the edges are the same background/border color with process artifacts of the underlying colors used to stain the canvas. *Signed on the rear canvas margin along with year and artist's inventory database number for provenance. *Colors: Black, grey, brown