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Early Spring, Lemoine Point

Early Spring, Lemoine Point, oil on panel, 11 x 14 inches.

Painted in May 2023, at Lemoine Point Conservation Area, this piece marks a return to landscape painting for me; I had done a semi-abstract series called "Oak Dances" in 2019. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, and I got sidetracked with music theory and composition -- to keep myself mentally occupied during the lock-downs. Anyway, this landscape, while a bit rough, was a joy to paint.

The intense blue of the distant shore is purposely unrealistic: it works with the saturated yellow spots as the focal area in the lower-right third of the picture.

I began with a transparent brown wash, approximately indicating the dark masses (land and trees). You can see this layer at the image's left and right, and in the treetops. I like that the illusion "falls apart" this way: the picture isn't complete til you step back and your mind assembles the parts.

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