This is one of my favorite new paintings: Roots of the Mother Tree. I call it the “mother tree” because it’s the same tree from my painting, “Mother,” whose image I’ve now painted a couple times, but here it is depicted in a very different light.
I love this color scheme–to me, slightly reminiscent of Jasper Johns because of the red/gold/blue combo.
The gold tree is so completely striking against that saturated deep blue sky and fluffy white clouds.
Roots of the Mother Tree. 16″ x 12″, Oil on Canvas, © 2016 Cedar Lee
I’ve been playing with this cool effect–I painted the sky with a thin layer of fluid paint, and the gnarled tree with a slightly thicker texture, so that the tree physically stands out from the canvas in three dimensional detail. It is subtle, but gives the tree more of a feeling of a living presence.
Close-up: Roots of the Mother Tree. 16″ x 12″, Oil on Canvas, © 2016 Cedar Lee (^photographed in indoor lighting)
Close-up: Roots of the Mother Tree. 16″ x 12″, Oil on Canvas, © 2016 Cedar Lee (^photographed in sunlight)
I am showing the underground roots in this painting, like a cross-section of the earth–an imaginary envisioning of what a tree is, of which I’ve now painted many different versions. In this one, the earth is scarlet red and deep orange, the roots a gleaming gold shot through with pink and white.
Some of the roots weave behind or in front of others, little hints at the three-dimensional nature of the root system within this otherwise visually flat cross-section.
Close-up: Roots of the Mother Tree. 16″ x 12″, Oil on Canvas, © 2016 Cedar Lee
Overall, it is a uniquely energetic painting!
This one will be available for sale for the first time during my Spring Sale, May 15-30. All new works I’ve created so far in 2016 won’t be officially available until then.
I’ve found I can be more productive when I focus on one thing at a time, instead of continually multi-tasking between my work in the studio and my marketing/sales/invoicing/shipping etc.
So, almost all my time leading up to the sale is going towards my studio practice. In fact, I am heading back to the studio right now!
