Here is “Mountain Storm” from 2005. This may be one of the most intense paintings I’ve done.
Boom! Thunder crashes; a lightning flash fills the dark sky. The thick clouds are roiling violently.
Mountain Storm. 37″ x 28″, Acrylic on Canvas, © 2005 Cedar Lee
The trees are black, bending, whipping around harshly in the night wind. I chose a vantage point from which hills rise dramatically into the sky right in front of us. In the lightning’s flash of light, the grass is eerily illuminated in fiery shades of gold and orange.
One of my painting professors that year told me my work was reminiscent of Charles Burchfield‘s work. I can definitely see that in this painting. It was later chosen to be on the cover of a literary journal.
Again with this moody painting, I was most fascinated with the battle between light and dark. As always, when I was painting, I was teaching myself new things about painting. By creating images of high contrast like this one, I would learn how to intentionally use contrast as a tool in my future work.