Below the Horizon

Original Oil on Canvas 16" x 12" x 1.5" Galler Wrapped (painting continues around the sides). Inspired by a beautiful Hawaiian sunset.  I've always loved how when the sun disappears below the horizon, the colors of the sunset continue to change.  The pink and oranges became even more vibrant in the clouds, and the glow of the sun contrasts against the now dark sea.  Painted with brush and impasto palette knife. I am fascinated with clouds.  First off, I see clouds as a metaphor for thoughts, feelings, and sensations.  They pass through our consciousness just as they pass through the sky.  They come and go, and we can watch and observe them as they cross the landscape of our awareness.  Second, I am constantly investigating new ways to represent clouds in my art.  Just as clouds are always shifting and changing in the sky, my stylistic approach to representing and communicating their essence is always evolving and unfolding.  Recently, I have been working to break apart their soft billowy, featherlike qualities and instead render their various layers and qualities as rectangular strokes of value and color.  I am striving to give the impression of the layers and, perhaps even more importantly, the feeling that the strokes of paint create.  By using individual marks, as just the suggestion of clouds, there is a looseness and a freedom that allows us to feel their impermanence.