Red Movements
Oil on canvas, 36 x 60 inches
Exhibited: Dominique Boisjoli Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
Private collection, N.C.
This composition has always drawn me in—the feeling of standing in the shaded part of a forest, looking outward toward a place flooded with light. It presents an ideal stage for exploring contrast, depth, and energy.
In this work, I began immediately with bold colors and contrasts that set the theme for this oil.The focus here is nature at its most dynamic: a forest alive where shapes, depth and complexity are combined with a large variety of saturated colors, all contributing power to the piece.
At one point, the painting became almost unruly, like a three-ring circus of competing forces—all these vivid variables demanding attention. That’s when I listen to the canvas, open to instructions for what is needed next.
What followed was more color, intensity and depth, until the moment came to push the yellow trees glowing at the center even more.
Then there was a calm, a moment when everything stopped. It felt as though the forest itself held its breath—waiting for some signal that all was in balance. Then every mark, every part combined as one full chord of color and form.
The painting was finished.
