Progress and explanation of my original oil painting, Hidden Beyond the Woodpile.
Hidden Beyond the Woodpile, 2015-2016, Oil on Canvas, 24x36
I painted this painting at a time in my life when I was feeling trapped and 'stuck in a rut'. It's based on a photograph of a small town called Pacquet, on the Baie Verte peninsula of Newfoundland, Canada, where I lived at the time.
I love painting in a surreal style. It helps to emphasize some of the psychological themes of some of my artwork.
Pictured above is an early stage of the painting. I primarily used blues initially.
I made this painting almost dream-like, and included elements that distorted the reality of the original image, such as wavy, flowing forms. Reality itself breaks apart in the top left in the breaking apart of the hillside entering the scene.
Parts of this reality are reflected in the water, such as the wharf posts. The church at the top, middle has a cord coming from the steeple, which connects to where the municipal building resides in the town.
Here, I have worked out much of the composition. As you can see, I sometimes add elements, then later remove parts of them.
Not only is the small town hidden by this reality void, but it also is hidden by a large woodpile at the front. I spent a lot of time painting the various junks in this woodpile, which reminded me of bricks in a wall. The rings inside of rings of each junk of wood denote periods of time - a tree typically develops one ring in a year.
The painting is almost complete, but I decide to work on the grass in front a little more. I also removed the small boat near the stage and adjusted some of the colors.
Of course there are other elements here that I have left open for interpretation.
What do you think of the painting? What do you see?
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