How Paintings tell a Story, triptych, 65 x 34 inches each. Care Dimensions, Lincoln, MA.
This grouping of paintings which I have titled How Paintings Tell a Story, was created for the new Care Dimensions Hospice House in Lincoln, MA. The subject for the paintings was inspired by the natural environment of nearby Walden Pond and its most famous resident, Henry David Thoreau, who lived in a small cabin on the property for two years following the death of his brother.
I returned to Walden Pond many times throughout the creative progress in order to visit Thoreau’s home as it was reflected through the seasons. I also visited the construction site in different stages of completion to ensure my paintings would be complimentary for the intended space. Going back and forth between the Pond, the job site, and then working in my studio proved important to make sure I was synchronizing the paintings, Thoreau’s essays and the new hospice house.
The paintings celebrate the beauty of Walden Woods as they simultaneously act as metaphors for life’s story, much as Thoreau did in his many written essays on the same subject.
The painting on the left suggests sunrise seeping through the trees, breathing life onto the earth. The light source coming from behind and casting a long shadow mimics stage lighting, giving the painting a theatrical quality. This sets the stage for a life to come, a promise of a future to be explored. The trees point to the right, guiding the viewer to the painting in the center.
The central painting includes a pathway in the composition. This suggests moving forward into unknown terrain, climbing a path that is a bit crooked and uneven, but guided by the light that is now in the background. The open space in this composition is on the right of the painting-the light blue of the sky which holds a sense of distance, a way forward, the bend of the trees guiding the wanderer into the distance.
The painting on the right contains the body of water that one expects to find on Walden Pond: calm, cool, and a deep Prussian blue value that bespeaks a brisk New England autumn day. In this composition, the trees shift to the left, allowing the viewer to return to the first painting and engage with all three paintings as a whole.
The trees are included in all three of the paintings to represent the rootedness of life. The water is symbolic of ephemeral nature, another visual and spiritual symbol recognized in many cultures throughout history.
As a naturalist, Thoreau understood that the path to a greater understanding of life is through an understanding of the natural world around us: “We can never have enough of nature”, he wrote. “We must be refreshed by the sight of the wilderness with its living and its decaying trees.”
It is my hope that visitors to the Care Dimensions Hospice House in Waltham find peace and serenity as they view these paintings, whose story imitates the people they have come to visit.
Photographing the wall the paintings will be mounted to.
Visiting the contruction site helps me envision how the paintings will look while I work on them. I make it a point to engage with the architects, designers, and constction crew as I work on the commision.
The autumn painting under contraction in my studio.
This short video shows my pulp painting process I used to create the panel two.
I am using a basic kitchen utensil, a turkey baster, to layer the pulp onto the surface. THe medium is cotton pulp pigmented with non-fading pigments. The cotton has a natural texture that mimics the textures of the landscape. The pulp has been beaten in my Hollander Beater for up to 3 hours, giving the medium a silky quality that flows smoothly and holds the pigment beautifully, giving the final work a vibrant surface.
When dry, the cotton pulp will maintain its textured quality, giving the painting an almost 3-D effect that recreates the appearance of the natural space.
My slogan “recapture the emotion of nature” comes from using pulp material as my painting medium.
I remember seeing your paintings at hospice when my brother was there. I thought right away it was one of your pieces. It honesly helped us get through that difficult time.
