9" x 12" acrylic on paper
- matted and ready to frame Available at Bella Maison - Dallas, Tx
 

This is another addition to my "funky" or "non-traditional" or "painted with made up color" series of landscapes.  The first "Tejon Spring 2007" was done a few days ago, and I truly studied the photo and tried to understand the important composition and design elements, proportions, etc.  With today's painting, I was more concerned with color elements.  I knew I wanted the hills to be "golden" because that's so California!  So - I made the sky purple!  Cool.  In painting, a color is not a color by itself.  It changes so much based on the other colors around it.  The golden tones are the basis for all the other colors in this piece.  I think it works - hopefully you do, too.

The first time I visited California was on a geology field trip.  The instructor said that California is called the "Golden State" because of the golden color of all the mountains and hills.  I always thought it was because of the gold rush.  That impressed me - not sure why - maybe just because the mountains and hills are so impressive in California.  I grew to just love those flowing hills and mountains and they influence much of my approach to landscape painting.  Sometimes I find myself thinking like a geologist while painting.  For instance, when I have 3 colors coming together, I think "triple junction."  And I can "feel" the earth move when I move the shapes of the mountains on my canvas.  Well - okay - I don't actually feel the movement (thank heavens), but I can pretend.  It's fun how all your various life experiences come together in interesting ways - and how they affect an artist's works. That's part of life's adventure!

Have a beautiful day!!