“Aspen Synergy” 48″ x 36″ oil and metal leaf on canvas – framed – $3,000
When I attended the featured artist opening at the Elsinore Gallery in Salem last month, there was so much discussion about the upcoming solar eclipse which will be experienced in the area that I got caught up in all of the excitement. I realized that the aspen grove that I have been painting for several years will lie in the viewing path and I started wondering how it would appear during the eclipse.
Well, obviously, mostly black, but I assumed that even at night the white of the trees would be somewhat visible and the bit of sun that would show as the moon slides across it would provide a small glow. My new technique using metal leaf could also give it a mystical appearance and since this is an unusual event, a little “other worldly” look seemed appropriate.
I had fun painting it and decided to show the painting’s development at certain points.
This is the oil under painting. When it was totally dry I added the adhesive and started applying bits of metal leaf.
At this point I’ve applied most of the metal leaf, started to develop the tree trunks and toned some of the metal leaf with thinned oil paint to give the painting depth. After that, I adjusted the foreground, completed the trunks and painted the aspen leaves black, adding more squares of metal leaf on the sides of the painting for contrast.
The completed painting is at the top of the page and has been delivered to the Elsinore Gallery in Salem in time for the August 2 opening.
