Hubby and I are treehuggers. Not in a holier-than-thou, I-always-recycle, never-ever-use-plastic-grocery-bags kind of way ( though there may be a little of that ), we’re more the Babe!-did-you-see-the-size-of-that-tree, doesn’t-that-tree-trunk-look-like-the-Venus-de-Willendorf, oh-I-want-to-hug-it variety. As the days get longer and the weather gets slightly warmer, we’re beginning to plan lots of treks into the woods to do some tree-gazing. One of our favorite things to do is lay on the ground and look up at the trees and their branches. So to get you in the mood for perhaps a little tree-gazing of your own, here are a few artists who share our woodsy love!
Rumis Ladder by Adam Shaw, oil on canvas, 64×70Rusted by Liz Ruest, digital collage, prints availableAll Things Great and Small by Angie Renfro, oil on panel, 30×24Eastern Redbud II by Susan Goldsmith, white gold leaf with pigment print, oil pastel, oil paint & resin on panel, 36×36
This year, autumn has been a completely new experience for me. Having never experienced a full autumn outside of my home in northeast Florida ( short trips north don’t really count ), one of the things I was most looking forward to this year was enjoying a cool and brightly colored Fall. And Southern Oregon did not disappoint!
For me, there is just something about this autumnal time of year that makes the natural world more evident and magical. Things slow down, trees and animals prepare for the long winter ahead. Blazing sun is replaced with fog and clouds, making the amber colored leaves that much more striking. California artist Susan Goldsmith captures the essence of the natural beauty of autumn in her mixed media work. I want to buy one so that I can gaze at it in the middle of summer, dreaming of the return of cool days and warm colors.
Brandy Creek Falls I, oil, oil pastel and resin on panel, 20.5×20.5 ( via Davis & Cline )
In her work, Susan uses digital photographic prints as the base layer of her paintings, applying them to the surface then enhancing them with paints and/or pastels, so that the resulting effect is not one of merely an embellished photograph, but rather the impressionistic reinterpretation of the original composition.
Redbud, oil, oil pastel and resin on panel, 40×20 ( diptych, 20×20 each, via Davis & Cline )
What the viewer is left with is a lovely sense of atmospheric abstraction, light and mood, that bursting forth of vibrant color against grey skies which is so characteristic of autumn.
Hachiya Persimmons II, mixed media and resin on panel, 17×17 ( via Lanoue Fine Art )No. 153, mixed media and resin on panel, 24×24 ( via Lanoue Fine Art )
I first caught glimpse of Susan’s work at Davis & Cline in Ashland, OR, but have sense discovered her connection to another favorite gallery resource, Lanoue Fine Art in Boston. Of course, you can also see her work on her own website.
Featured image is Brandy Creek I, silver leaf with pigment print, oil, oil pastel and resin on panel, 61.5×21.5 ( overall size ).Images are via Susan Goldsmith’s representing galleries, as noted.
